9/16 Tues – Padua
Well, guess what? Our time for the Scrovegni Chapel was 11 am. We woke up at 10:45 – and if you miss your time they don’t give you another so you have to start all over again – missed breakfast as well. We were starving so we thought what the heck, we’ll just set out to see Padua.
Found a cute little bar right on Piazza delle Erbe where a open air fruit and vegetable market was going on. This market has been renowned for centuries as having the freshest and greatest selection of herbs, fruits and veggies. The other side of the piazza is the grand 13th century palazzo, commonly called il Salone (great hall) at one time it was adorned by Giottos frescoes (a fire destroyed them) also once held the medieval law courts. Beautiful building. I took many pics of this square. So fun for people watching. Rod used his high school spanish to communicate with a very nice young man for croissants and coffee.
Now to see and feel this quaint town of Padua. Within two blocks of our hotel we’re on the main street Via Roma which ultimately runs into Corso Garibaldi where Scrovegni Chapel and Giotto’s Life of Christ frescoes are located.
Voila! Immediately came across the University (founded 1222) either 2nd or 3rd oldest in the world that hosted Galileo (inventor of the thermometer among many other inventions), Copernicus, Dante, and Petrarch. Students graduate on any given day all thru the year anywhere from 1 to 10 per week and their fellow students place caricature posters on the wall facing the street pointing out all their indiscretions while in university. Some were very explicit. Here the first woman to receive a university degree was in 1678.
Across from the university is city hall, old and new – we toured this beautiful courtyard – they light the facade of the new building at night.
Piazza Cavour – Caffe Pedrocchi built in 1831 is of neoclassical design, we stopped and had a glass of wine on the porch – another great people watching spot. They also practically serve you lunch whenever you have a drink in this country. The waiter told us the upstairs is now a museum so we had to check it out. The Piano Nobile (noble floor) is more elaborate. Each room is either done in Greek, Etruscan or Egyptian style and very elaborate. Here we also found a small museum of the Risorgimento which traces Padua’s role in Italian history from the downfall of the Venetian Republic (1797) to the founding of the Republic of Italy (1948). Also a 30 min. tv monitor showing Mussolini’s rise to power and pictures of the town in the 1930’s. Very interesting.
All this takes us several hours, window shopping (very upscale), people watching and taking many pictures of the wonderful old architecture (even a pic of the old post office for Dolores). We wind up at Scrovegni around 5 pm, no line. There is a 5 minute audio wait in the ante chamber where they acclimate you so as not to affect Giotti’s masterpiece. We luck out as there are only 6 of us so the guide is at our full disposal. (you have 15 minutes to take it all in.) This definately was worth the stop in Padua.
Tonight we dine at a little, teeny, tiny ristorante “Osteria Dal Capo – vie Soncin” recommended by the Majestic Toscanelli hotel. We were seated between two groups of men – they place you practically in one anothers laps so the conversations cross over. Next to us, 2 Italian, 1 german, 1 english talked to us a lot. Everyone it seems wants to know who we are going to vote for. They all have strong opinions about America and are very well informed. Fun and interesting. Our meals were superb (as were they all in Italy), 1 pasta and 1 swordfish, wine of course; we also split a yummy dessert. Not large portions as in America and of course everything is a la carte. A great ending to a great day.
Tags: Travel
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