Padua

---

Leaving Macau our journey consisted of a ferry, a 12-hour flight, two trains and a taxi to finally arrive in Padua. Before we knew it we were settled into our room at the traditional Scrovegni bed and breakfast, luckily Ron is fit as he was able to carry our not so light suitcases up the four flights of stairs. We had time in the afternoon to walk the historic centre of Padua before our pre booked tour of the Scrovegni chapel. We found the cobbled winding streets and buildings beautiful and were surprised how quiet and peaceful it was, although being a Sunday afternoon we guessed most people were inside escaping the heat of the day.

At 7pm we joined a small group to tour the Scrovegni Chapel, which contains a fresco by Giotto, completed in 1305 and considered to be an important work of art. Giotto and his team covered all the internal surfaces of chapel with frescos. Our group had to wait 15 minutes in a special chamber before entering the chapel to ensure the environment was kept stable to preserve the amazing artwork.

Afterwards we strolled along with the locals into the main square to enjoy an aperitif, lots of families were out enjoying the evening and we couldnt help smiling at the young people riding bicycles with small dogs in the basket. We enjoyed sitting outside in the warm summer evening people watching while eating a delicious dinner of al dente pasta followed by a gelato to finish, perfecto. The next morning we were back at the train station to travel the short half hour into Venice to board our ship, the Oceania, Riviera, our home for the next two weeks. We were sad to leave Padua, as we had both enjoyed our short stay.

---