My Head is Full of History

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Day 6 Padova


After spending part of the day trying to use the free city wifi to no avail (but we now have a permanent membership card for the wifi and library cards from the city), we visited the park where the Chapel Scogvegni (1303) is located, along with the Ermitani Church (1276), which was heavily bombed in 1944. The Chapel has frescoes from Giotto, which we finally decided not to see since it would cost about $30, for 15 minutes inside. We did watch the introductory video from outside the waiting room windows.

We then headed back to the city center (all of these towns have been great for walking…many pedestrian only areas and short distances between sights) to visit the University of Padova, created in 1222. Galileo taught there starting in 1592. There are 60,000 students today! We especially wanted to see the anatomy theater built in 1594, right when doctors were beginning to understand the connect between anatomy and medicine…

It happened to be graduation day, and there were some bizarre rituals going on outside! Graduates were wearing large laurel wreathes…. Inside, the walls were covered with the coats of arms of wealthy families, and it looked like a hall in Hogwarts from a Harry Potter movie…

Hotel recommendation: Hotel Arcella, behind the rail station (use the Arcella exit from the station).

Day 7 Tuesday Venice

We spent our last day in Venice walking…We visited churches large and small…picnicked by a canal, got lost again, and watched the sun set over the islands and canals…

The highlights were visiting St. Marks, sitting in the warm sun and watching people walk by, and our last church visit: Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari. Just when we thought there wasn’t another possible variation of a church that could amaze us, here it was….We couldn’t take photos, so google it if you are interested….http://www.sacred-destinations.com/italy/venice-santa-maria-gloriosa-dei-frari.htm

We walked back to the train station in the dusk…moon and Venus overhead.

Off to Florence next…

Day 8 Wednesday Padova to Florence

Our train was late, a first on this trip...and we used our Italy Rail Passes for the first time, and they worked without a hitch. We had to pay a reservation fee of 3 euros a piece for our seats...we arrived in a suburban train station and changed to a commuter train for a five minute trip into Florence. We found a hotel right near the station and the Duomo for 50 euros a night...with free wifi.

We walked around and visited a few sights this pm...we will visit museums tomorrow. And then back on the train on Friday...we're not sure where to next.

I feel like I almost can't take in anymore history! We have seen so much and this is only the end of the first week...

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Photos

Moon over Courtyard U of Padova
Galileo's podium is in the room in front of us...we were waiting for a student to finsih defending his thesis so we could take a peek...

Graduate with Laurel Wreath
The caricature posters have something to do with all too...

Graduation rites Padova
These grads had taken off their suits and stripped to skivvies out in public...and had to run between rows of friends and get hit on the back!

Bill was the rep for Swiss Rail watches once upon a time...
The salesman gave him a souvenir bag....

Street Venice
Some are so narrow, you have to go single file.

Florence: looking across the Arno River
The Arno flooded in 1966 and badly damaged Florence, All the bridges except the Vecchi were destroyed by the Germans in WWII.

Baptistry Florence
11th century...Dante was baptised here....the golden doors behind Billare actually copies...three of the original panels were at SAM last year.

Purple is THE color this fall
For all you fashionistas out there, purple is being shown in almost every shop display in every town...

Duomo Florence
This is one of the largest cathedrals in the world. It is mostly open inside and looks immense....

Comments

[Maggie]

PURPLE!!!
These are beautiful pictures. I'm so envious - can't wait until I can do my own tour around the world. Glad you're getting to live your dream. As for the color of the year, I had to laugh because my hair has been purple for two months now and I'm loving it!!!!

[Susan Frisbee]

I know what you mean about too much to remember or even take in. Your head feels as though it is about to burst. I always feel this way after more than a week in Europe or anywhere when I don't take a break of a few days at least in nature. You say you don't know where to go next...any chance of a beach or a woods for a day or two. Probably not, unless your plan includes the Greek Isles. I am enjoying your blog though...thanks for keeping up the effort. Susan Frisbee