10. Bologna to Dozza to Padova …April 20 2023

Ciao from Padova – From the Red City to the Mural City to Padova
April 20, 2023

We left Bologna (the Red City – called this because of the proliferation of red tile roofs and because of its politics—Bologna has a history of being left leaning) after a brief stroll and picking up our car in the public garage not far from the hotel.. which included backing out of a one-way street after loading our luggage and being within inches of planters and motorcycles … and people. The garage guy had a news clipping tacked on the cashier wall.. so I took his picture and told him I thought he must be “Famoso.” Not a clue what the article was about.

Then we drove through amazing countryside—lush green fields with yellow wildflowers everywhere as we headed south to Dozza (a town of just 6,000 that we had heard about, It was a bit of a detour as we needed to head north to get to Padova (Padua). For a short time (maybe 5 miles) we were on the autostrada, and when we exited at the toll booth and stuck in our ticket the amount that came up to pay was first 83 EU (about $89) and then it switched to 53 EU (about $56)… we laughed and started to push a few buttons. And then tried to insert 3EU but the arm did not lift; then we realized that an arm came down behind our car so we were just stuck at the toll booth. Italy is more automated than we are in many ways… The machine started to talk to us— in Italian. Then we pushed a big red button on the toll machine, and finally a woman came out. She looked at the toll and asked in mostly Italian where we had come from. We said Bologna and she laughed. The toll was supposed to be 5 EU. She and another guy did some maneuvering with the machine, and we gave them the additional 2 EU and we were on our way.

We arrived in Dozza around 12:30 and began walking through the very picturesque little village that some years ago (I assume in an effort to build its economy through tourism?) began a biannual festival of painted walls, when famous national and international artists paint permanent works on the walls of the houses and commercial buildings. I’d say there is a wide variety of skill and talent but it’s a delightful walk and the cutest town ever. Stopped for a quick (well nothing is really quick about eating in Italy) lunch and as we left the restaurant it began to rain. We headed to the car and as we left little Dozza, we realized that on the outskirts of town there were more murals… and we had not had our fill of gelato for the day. So we stopped at a bar/gelateria and walked around to see these other murals. When we went for the gelato, we realized this place was a real mix of “services”— full gelateria with about 25 flavors, a full bar, sandwiches, and in the back room, slot machines!

Then we finally got serious about getting to our hotel in Padova which would be about a two hour drive. All was going well, but we never saw any signs for Padova.. just Verona and Milan. Jokingly , I said… “gee maybe there are two hotels with the same name”… and one is in Verona!!” We pulled over and googled to learn that there is a Massimago Wine Suites Hotel in Verona and a Massimago Wine Tower Hotel in Padova. When I entered the name into the GPS as we left Dozza the hotel in Verona popped up quickly and I never checked that it was Verona.. only looked at the name and focused on Massimago. Both were two hours from Dozza and fortunately both were to the north. Readjusted and redirected and we were finally really on our way. Made it to Padova about 30 minutes later than expected but then the GPS just could not find the hotel.. so we circled a bit and finally drove over the little river that goes through the city about three times and made it to the very lovely Massimago Wine Tower Hotel with just 4 rooms. We are in a two level “suite”.. The place is wonderful (and we’ll see more of it tomorrow.) It’s very centrally located but sort of nestled in a park-like green space that feels as if it is in the countryside. Too small to have many services, but we don’t need much. They deliver a box breakfast in the morning to your door.

Once we were settled and dry, we walked about 25 minutes to an amazing restaurant called Fuel – the most upscale place we’ve been to during this trip. Dinner was wonderful; more about that tomorrow.
Fading now…

Fern