Chasing the sun, Fri, 17 Sep 2021 | written by Simon
Jemma and Simon at a City, Temple in Europe, Italy

Our plan for today was to go to a few other Veneto islands – Murano, Burano, Torcello. But alas – Italian public transport is on strike today and vaporettos just aren’t running! As in, they might be running a bit, but who knows. Rather than getting frustrated about this, we decided to just change plans and go to Padua.

While driving, I once again noticed a peculiar feature of the Italian road signs. Judging by the behaviour of the Italian drivers, the speed limits on the signs are very much advisory only. Typically, people drive about 20-30% faster. In Italy, Google Maps shows position of speed cameras, how useful in that context!

Anyway, things didn’t get better when we got to Padua. The first attraction on my list, Galileo’s observatory tower, was closed today, so we only saw it from the outside. But the next point was great – the Padua cathedral itself might not be that amazing, but the baptistery is superb. It is entirely covered in 14th century frescos by Giusto de’ Menabuoi, with three walls showing the stories of Christ, John the Baptist, and Mary. The altar side is the best, with scenes from the Apocalypse. Pretty intense stuff for newly baptised babies!

Next, we moved towards Piazza dei Signori and Palazzo delle Ragione – the market centre of the town. We had a great spritz bubble tea and possibly the best lunch yet, composed of tomato and olive flatbreat, goats cheese, fresh pesto and tomatoes bought at the market. We ate them sitting on a fountain looking at the Palazzo – perfect food in perfect location!

The Palazzo itself is actually an old court hall turned into a market hall. Downstairs are the markets, upstairs is a massive – and I mean MASSIVE market hall. It’s covered in frescos and did I mention it’s massive?

Next, we went to Palazzo Bo: part of the university where the first classes in medicine and anatomy that used real human bodies were held in Europe. The first English tour was in over two hours, so we moved on for now.

But today was just not meant to be. Jemma was feeling increasingly tired and frustrated with a hip and knee pain. We were taking it slowly and moved towards what was going to be the best part of today: Capella degli Scrovegni: a chapel wholly decorated with Giotto’s frescos. And then we found out that it’s sold out for today, tomorrow and Sunday. The first time we can book is Monday afternoon – and by then we were planning to be far, far away. We wanted to at least see the museums next to the chapel, but Jemma was in pain and not feeling it, so we just gave up.

We cheered ourselves up a bit by visiting three other amazing places. First, the Basilica di Sant Antonio – a massive church with a somewhat Byzantine looking exterior, hosting the body of St Anthony: 13th century Franciscan monk who died in Padua. The basilica is stunning, with an array of styles that somehow actually work together – the chapens around the prezbitery actually looked like they were painted in a pre-Raphaelite, almost Art Nouveau style! St Antony’s grave is surrounded by fantastic baroque sculptures and reliefs. The freaky thing is the chapel of the relics, where a whole bunch of things are held, but the oddest are the chin, tongue and vocal chords that have been removed from St Antony’s body and are displayed here separately. Apparently his preaching was so great that this seemed like a good idea at the time…

We moved on to chill in the botanic gardens. This is the first botanic garden in the world, actually, and it belongs to the University of Padua. This was really nice, not least because it made us realise that we really need to get out of town and have some nature for a change. We reached a level of saturation with art where we just go to a place, look at the most amazing paintings and frescos and just don’t feel anything anymore. Desensitised. It’s time to refresh our palettes!

Knowing that we’ll probably be coming back here anyway for Giotto’s Capella at some point anyway, we decided to forego the Palazzo Bo as well. We did see one more church though, for good measure. It was on the way! That’s the huge Abbazia di Santa Giustina, an abbey with an unfinished facade.

But that’s it. We did some shopping and drove off towards the volcanic mountains and thermal towns south-west of Padua. Jemma found us a fantastic parking spot for the night, on top of a hill with a great view of Padua. And then she cooked the first proper meal in the Baron! It’s hard to believe, but although we had the van for nearly two years now, we only ever reheated things in it. This is the first time we had a pasta with vegetables and pesto made from scratch. Naturally, it was a great success, especially with the view!