Osteria Ai Pioppi – the Human-powered Playground

Picture me laying in my bed in a vacation rental flat in Northern Italy – in Treviso, to be specific. My family of 5 was traveling with my brother-in-law on a road trip through several European countries with most stops in Germany and Italy.

Now, I admit – I am a planner. Not just a planner but an over-planner. I research activities. I research restaurants and local foods. I research fairs, markets, events and more. I map out grocery stores, parking lots, distances, travel times and gas stations.

Yet, in the middle of this trip, I was in bed the night before a completely empty day and stuck. It wasn’t as if I hadn’t already tried to fill this day. I certainly had. But this time, I start the Googling on my phone and I found the answer. Osteria Ai Pioppi. Just up into the hills from Treviso.

What is it? Well I wasn’t completely sure from the descriptions given online. A man built a human-powered machine to attract people to his restaurant and it grew. Then he made more and more people-powered machines until he has a whole woods full of there machines. Along with his restaurant. And the machines are all free to try use.

“Hey Honey … I have a plan … I know what we are doing tomorrow.” That was not an easy explanation however, because I really had no idea what Ai Pioppi was. But it was close and it was not expensive so well worth the risk.

Still not really knowing what we would find, we drove up into the hills and find the spot. We pull into a rather large parking lot snuggled under and amongst the trees. We climb out and about 3 steps away we come to our first machine. The picture on the left above.

As a solid member of Gen-X, I grew up in a time of metal playground equipment and the nostalgic pull was strong. These were adult (and kid) versions of the playground equipment of my youth but on a whole new level. There were giant slides and smaller slides and slides where you pushed the cart up the hill to ride it down. There were trampolines and swings, and merry-go-rounds.

We had lunch in the Trattoria but at this time it appears to have been shut down. The Osteria, where we had an afternoon snack, continues to operate with reasonably priced food of the region.

These are the kind of days that I live for. The kind that create long-lasting positive memories. As I scroll through pictures of the day looking for the ones to share here, I see smiles all over my children’s faces.

Key Information on activity

Osteria Ai Pioppi

Currently the park opens at 10:00 am daily and is free of charge. The front kitchen/counter service is open from noon onwards but can get quite a wait as it gets later. You can take a number and monitor the numbers being called to avoid standing in line. Please make sure to clean up after yourself/ your table when you are done eating.

Closed Seasonally for the Winter