Italy with Kids - Padova

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13 September 2008

Today we drove over to Padova (Padua). The guide books indicated Saturday was market day, which the kids expressed some interest in, and Kylie was keen to look at the churches. With four different maps to reference, we still found it difficult: we had two versions of the city Centro that didn't quite give all the street names, while the wider references didn't provided enough street names or intersection detail to work out if we were on the right road after leaving the Autostrade. Thankfully Padova had a reasonable sign system, showing Centro in black on white background, and we found a park readily enough.



We had a look in at the Chiesi degli Eremanti, again impressed by the frescoes, paintings, and interior sculpting. Joseph donated some money (I don't know where he got the money from), and lit a candle at a frescoe of the Madonna and Child. We didn't visit the Chapel of the Scrovegni, which was close by, because of the high entry fee of €12.00 (which I'm sure was justified).

A walk into town was charming. Some of the streets are cobbled, and some made of river stones. Like Treviso and Venice the streets are narrow and bend and turn and link in a pleasing maze with marvellous architecture around every corner. We located the information booth, and for Kylie's sake struck gold with a toilet that was only two blocks away! By this time it was raining steadily, so we bought two fold-up umbrellas for €5.00 each at a market stall, and wandered around for a bit.

The smaller piazzas in the town centre had lots of market stalls, while the main market at the Prato Delle Valle was mostly shoes (and the rain was very heavy by the time we got there). So yes, the weather dampened our spirits but we still checked out some of the huge range of specialty shops throughout the central area, even finding a Maori game kit in a store selling stuff similar to the Australian Geographic stores.



We also looked in at the Duomo. The front asp has a beautiful set of recent marble statues, with a lectern carved in marble in the shape of a tree (pictured).





When it rains, it pours, and Italy gave me a heavy dose of wet weather driving on the way home. It rained all the rest of the day so no pool today, boys, but I'd promised them a fancy icecream sundae after dinner so we're off to have one now.

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