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Published: August 27th 2008
Padua
The main square.I woke up this morning unable to believe that we had come to the last day of this trip. The weekend simply flew by and, as I finished up the packing, it felt as though we had just arrived. What a difference the leaving was from the arriving!
After breakfast, we all went down to the coach and climbed aboard for the relatively quick journey to Padua. We drove through the less historic and less beautiful parts of Verona and then out into the countryside. We passed the Soave vineyards, from which a lot of the copious amounts of wine we had drunk this weekend came from. Eventually, we arrived into Padua - another beautiful Italian city. We walked into the main square to take a look at the Basilica di Sant'Antonio. Unfortunately, some of the art was being restored so we didn't really have much of a chance to see it. But, we did get to file past the tomb and I was amazed at the number of people who were there praying and leaving offerings.
After a very quick stop, we got into the coach again for a trip to the other side of town. We arrived
in time for lunch, so a group of us found a cafe where we could get salads and cold, dry, white wine to wash it down with. Those of us who were heading home to England commented on the fact that we should enjoy sitting outside in the heat - this would be the last we would see of it, barring a trip away, until next summer. Enjoy it we did, finally tearing ourselves away as we had an appointment to see the Cappella Scrovegni.
What a treat! One of the highlights of the entire trip. Scrovegni Jr. had the chapel built to help his father out of purgatory. You see, Scrovegni Sr. was a money lender, so notorious for his usury that Dante puts him directly into hell. Junior didn't particularly like that idea, so he built a chapel hoping to convince Mary to plead on behalf of his father. Junior hired an artist from out of town that he had heard was especially good at frescos called Giotto. The chapel tells the story of the lives of Mary and Jesus and, second only to the Sistine Chapel, may be the most magnificent frescos I have ever seen.
Capella Scrovegni
The gardens outside. To preserve them, one is only allowed in for fifteen minutes - not nearly enough time to appreciate their beauty. The amazing thing was the continuity (to steal a cinematic phrase). The same building would be shown several times from different angles; people would appear in all sorts of guises. The thing that struck me, however, was that there are hundreds of faces around the walls and the ceiling. Except for the recurring characters, each face is different. Awesome.
We stayed as long as we could, but eventually were thrown out. Back into the coach and on to Venice airport for the flight home. Clearing security, we discovered that our flight was delayed. Everyone else had disappeared, so Michael and I found a bar and had a bottle of wine with some snacks. He pulled out a book he had on the frescos and I just stared at them again. I know I've said it before, but it is so much better seeing things like this with someone who knows all about them. I just sat and listened to Michael's stories and wished I could go see those frescos again and again.
The flight still hadn't been called,
Capella Scrovegni
More of the gardens. so we decided another bottle of wine was in order. This time, no art. We just talked about the tour and how it had gone. After such a bad start, I was completely won over. The hotel ended up being a godsend due to its location. The people were mostly wonderful and fun to spend time with. I learned more about art history in four days than I have in the past forty years. I got to see three operas in one of the great venues of the world. There are worse ways to spend a long weekend!
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susan HB
non-member comment
Beautiful photos
Thought I'd check out your blog and found the beautiful photos which brought back so many happy memories. Now I'll be able to follow you round the world and live vicariously, through you. Have fun - Susan