40th Anniversary Trip – Day 9 – Tuesday – Padua
We have a comfortable night’s sleep, right in the center of
the city and enjoy coffee (the apartment has a coffee maker) along with the
cheese and bread we bought yesterday.
Alina arrives at 9am as promised.
She’s young and delightful. Her
English is better than my Italian, which isn’t saying much, but with the help
of a translator on my computer we’re able to communicate.
Alina has brought her baby daughter Rebecca. I go over and give the baby a kiss, and she
reaches out to me. I ask if I can hold
her, and she snuggles up in my arms, much to Alina’s surprise. I guess she doesn’t usually take to
strangers. I hold her for a while, which
gives Vicky and Alina a chance to discuss some things (including getting us
more coffee and directions to the boat for tomorrow). Finally, Rebecca gets restless and tells me
(thru body language) that it’s time to go back to mommy. We say “Ciao” to Alina and consult over how
to spend our day.
It's a sunny morning. We walk around and find some shops. Both of us find shirts that we really like,
and buy them. We continue to wander –
and wonder at an astronomical clock – take a look!
Next, it’s off to the duomo.
Once again, we study the architecture and the decorations. When we go into the church it’s raining, but
by the time we leave, the sun has come out.
We head for the old city hall, which is now a market. We get more cheese, and marvel at the
beautiful layouts of some of the market stalls.
Finally it’s time for a cappuccino, which we have at an outdoor
café in the square. After a leisurely
walk back to the apartment, we enjoy a lunch of bread and cheese, and rest for
the afternoon.
Our ticket to the Scrovegni Chapel also includes admission
to Padua’s historical museum. We head
over there midafternoon. Not only the
artifacts, but also the building itself are steeped in history. The first description plaque is in both
Italian and English, but then we find ourselves looking at display cases of
pottery, coins and more with descriptions only in Italian. That’s when I remember seeing a sign in the
gift shop offering audio headsets in multiple languages for only 2 euro each.
We spend the next couple of hours following the history of
Padua from the Etruscans (7th Century BC on) through the Roman era
(including a fascinating description of the advanced road building techniques
they used) and up through the middle ages.
There are statues, wall carvings (in stone) and a huge collection of
lifelike images. I’m particularly
excited by a contemporary bust (head) of Caesar Augustus, the first Roman
emperor.
My interest in that civilization was nurtured by Mrs.
Ferguson, my high school Latin teacher, who spent several months teaching us
about that history before we ever learned a word of the language. Her philosophy, she explained, was that since
we were learning a “dead” language, we ought to know about the people who
actually used it as a living language.
Can’t speak for my peers, but Mrs. F. engendered a lifelong interest on
my part. Some years ago, Vicky and I
read Colleen McCullough’s “Masters of Rome” series, which traces the fall of
the Roman Republic and the rise of the Empire - hence my interest in
Augustus. The books are historically
accurate novels and I highly recommend them.
The first one is “The First Man in Rome”.
Eventually it’s time to head over to the chapel. So what’s the excitement? Enrico Scrovegni commissioned the building of
the chapel at the beginning of the 14th Century and hired the artist
Giotto (di Bondoni) to Decorate it. It
appears Enrico’s late father was a notorious moneylender and he may have built
the chapel to help dad’s soul!
Whatever the reason, Giotto covered all the walls and the
ceiling with frescoes depicting the lives of Christ and the Virgin Mary. One end wall has a “Last Judgement” probably
influenced by Dante’s work, complete with apostles, saved souls and rather
nasty devils. Giotto was the father of
the Renaissance, and his realistic figures (you can see the folds in the
clothing, and the faces look like real people) were a complete break from
previous work. They were also the inspiration
for the art that followed.
The chapel and frescoes are amazingly preserved, and I get
lots of photos (flash not allowed but not needed). To preserve it, only 30 people are allowed in
at a time, and only for 15 minutes. It’s
a sealed environment and you spend time in a waiting room (with videos to watch)
to get acclimatized before your visit.
This is definitely a highlight of the trip. Vicky had wanted to go to Siena, the site of
many of Giotto’s works, and neither of us was aware of this chapel until I
researched Padua. I’ve added a few of
the photos.
After our visit, we look for the cats who were in the
gardens as we approached, but they’ve gone about their business. We search for a place for dinner and stumble
on Caffe Pedrocchi, a popular hangout for Padua locals since 1831. It has several rooms of different ambiance,
but we’re seated in the elegant main dining room. Two American ladies at the next table are
eating Caesar salads that look amazing.
We strike up a conversation, discover they are sisters traveling Italy
and the Balkans, and they love the salad.
Vicky orders one and it tastes even better than it looks.
I try a “specialty” of the Veneto – veal (calf)
liver with caramelized onions and bacon.
This being Italy, it’s light and flavorful and since it appears on every
menu we see for the next week I guess it really IS a regional specialty. A great choice and a great ending to our all
too short visit to this wonderful city.
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