Departure from the States and Arrival in Italia!
I was very excited to head out from Chicago to Italy. I had a long layover in Frankfurt, but passed my time with some airport shopping and eating. I flew into Venice and after my arrival, I easily found the bus to Padova. I caught the bus about 2 minutes before it departed, so my timing was great. It was a very simple way to get from Venice to Padova. Once the bus arrived at the station in Padova, I took the tram to the hotel and checked in. (Only one slight misadventure - I got on the wrong direction first!) I arrived the day before the tour and after checking in, decided to go for a bit of a walk to avoid falling asleep. It was about 3 pm in the afternoon, so I needed to move around a bit before finding a place for dinner. I decided to go to St. Anthony's Basilica. It was good timing as there were very few people there, so I got to take some time seeing the sites. They did not allow photography inside, so I do not have any pictures. (I tend to respect the rules of places, even if a large number of tourists do not.) After visiting the Basilica, I walked around a bit, got some gelato, and returned to the hotel to plan dinner. I ended up eating at a pizzeria, Pago Pago, and had a nice welcome meal. It was an early night for me, but I was excited to meet all of my tour members the next day. |
For each Rick Steves' Tour, you get a daily itinerary. It is a good idea to take a picture of this each day so that you have it handy to refer to and to help you remember what you did each day.
Since I arrived a day early, I had the entire day to explore Padova on my own. I had chosen to visit the Botanical Gardens in the morning and then walk around town a bit in the afternoon. This was the only day that it rained during our tour, so it was not the best for just wandering. I did visit the market and picked up some great strawberries. Once the tour started, with our group meeting, I was able to meet my roommate for the entire trip, Julie. I did not pay the single supplement and was paired with Julie for the trip. We got along very well and I enjoyed sharing a room with her. After the group meeting, we did an orientation walk of Padova on the way to our first group dinner. Group dinners are always a great time on the tours. We had a wonderful dinner with lots of great food and wine. It was nice to get to know some of the tour members. We had a nice walk back to the hotel after dinner and then headed off to bed to prepare for the next day of adventures. |
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The slide show contains pictures from the Botanical Gardens. The gardens were first opened in 1545 and are the oldest in the world. There are around 7000 botanical species in the gardens including a palm tree that was planted in 1585 and a hollowed out Oriental plane tree. I really enjoyed the large variety of water lilies in the gardens.
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Day 2 started with trip to the Scrovegni Chapel to see the works of Giotto. The chapel was completed in 1305 and the frescoes by Giotto were revolutionary in the art world. I especially enjoyed the Last Judgement and the series of Vices and Virtues. You can see some of the pictures I took in the slideshow below.
After visiting the chapel, we met up with our local guide, Cristina, for a walking tour of Padova. We were able to visit her parish church, which was bombed during WWII and learn about the restoration of destroyed frescoes in the church. I found an interesting article on the restoration of the murals which you can read here. We then walked past several other historical places in Padova before a tour of the inside of the Ragione, which was the former home to the courts of Padova. The walls have frescoes depicting the astrological theories of a Padova University scholar. After the walking tour, our group enjoyed a spritz and some sandwiches before having the afternoon free to explore. I spent my afternoon eating gelato, visiting the art museum at the Scrovegni Chapel, and enjoying the Prato della Valle before enjoying a dinner with a couple from my tour. |
To the right is a short video that I took while sitting in the Prata della Valle. There was a flea market going on on the outside loop.
Below are pictures from the rest of the day. You can click on the pictures to enlarge them! |
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