Blogs from Padua, Veneto, Italy, Europe - page 4

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 ... read more

I was absolutely horrified! I only stopped in Verona for a day trip, I had just come back from Amsterdam, Germany, Austria, and Switzerland and so of course the train passed through gorgeous mountains, and I spent time with some old friends that live in Austria and Liechtenstein, so I took many photos of that... I had been travelling previously for about 2 weeks, so I clearly had about 600 pictures already taken of different European places. And I lost it. IN PADOVA. I will never look at this town the same way ever again. I was walking to my hostel in the late afternoon, and I the streets were very packed with people. I had the camera in my bag next to my shoulder, it was in a little open pocket so I could easily ... read more

Day 10 *Drove from Austria to Padua, Italy *Tour Geox Shoe Plant *Free time to look around Padua Day 11 *Drive to Venice *Free time to look around Venice *Tour the glass blowing factory *Tour of Venice *Gondola Ride Day 12 *Leave Padua *Visit Ferrari plant *Drive to Montecatini and visit an Alabaster shop and learn how people carve and color the alabaster stones *Eat dinner with an Italian family and spend time with them to walk around the town Day 13 *Visit the American cemetary in Florence, Italy *Free time to look around Florence *Florence Art Exhibit to see Michelangelo’s David *Tour of Florence Day 14 *Pisa- see the Leaning Tower of Pisa *Tour the Nestle/Parugina Chocolate factory Day 15 *Assissi, Italy for our "Full On" experience, a program to help students l... read more

Padova's beautiful scenery includes Italian shoes! Padova is a very old city with old bridges over canals and vine encrusted medieval city walls in the background. There are even some Roman ruins south of the train station. The city is situated along the Bachiglione River, between Verona and Venice. If you find yourself wandering about that train station (which can be a dangerous place) walk south immediately to the oldest part of the city. Padova is an amazing place if you like 13th century architecture and art history. Its one of the Petrie dishes in which the Italian Renaissance was spawned. I recommend visiting the Palazzo della Ragione, built in 1285 by the architect Leonardo Bocaleca. Admission is four euros and there's many stairs to climb, but the upstairs bathrooms are probably the best in ... read more

Today we are here in Padova, representing the first time we have gone some place new in Italy. Since Friday, we have been in Venice, that was just as wonderful as the last time we were there, and more comfortable. Yesterday, we went on a wine tour of the Venezia Friuli region, with the Collio wines mostly. These are wines grown on collinas or aka hills. Friuli produces many white wines and a few reds. One is the sweet pignoli, which is developed from a disease on the grapes and can only be made in this area. Another here is the Tocai Friuliano, in which they have lost against the Hungarian Tokay to keep the name of their wine, a sweet white that will now be called Friuliano instead. We had a wonderful lunch in a ... read more