Only an hour north of Venice, close to Bassano, you find the small village of Asolo, where Freya Stark the travel writer, used to live, and where she died in 1993. The houses of Asolo are built along the steep hill, with an amazing view. On clear days you can see all the way down to Venice and the laguna.

Unfortunately Freya Stark’s house, its garden and the surrounding park is closed for renovation these days, but the village is still worth a visit. If only for the nice walk along narrow street where the houses seem to lean against each other, and where the spirit of several celebrities live on; among them Robert Browning who came here after the death of his wife Elizabeth.

A European trip is so much more than visiting the main places where everybody else goes. Why don’t treat yourself and factor in a few days to paths seldom taken when Europe travel planning?

Asolo can be one such. A perfect place to walk around, breathing the air, planning new trips (like Freya Stark must have done so many times). I can easily find myself living here between travels, with the possibilities of a cappuccino in Venice at least every week-end. And if you walk around the cemetery you might ever be able to find Dame Freya Stark’s grave.

The biography of Freya Stark is to be found in Jane Fletcher Geniesse’s book  Passionate Nomad