11. Padova (Padua)… Walkable, Friendly, Lots of Churches April 21 2023

Ciao from Padova –

Today we walked and walked and walked. Padova is very walkable, but I think we overdid it. We are exhausted. Figure we are averaging about 5-6 miles per day… so by the time we get back to Oakland we will probably have walked more than 100 miles in Italy. Just thinking about that makes me even more exhausted. Padua is one of the few stops on this trip which is a new city for us… and I recommend it.

Began our day with breakfast at the Wine Tower… The hotel delivers a wooden box filled with lots of goodies for breakfast. It arrives on the outdoor patio, and they text a little picture of where they left the box, so you know it is there. The hotel only has 4 rooms so there isn’t any real restaurant. Still they put out quite a nice spread, Now about the Massiimago Wine Tower…It has a very complicated history dating to the 14th century as a defensive complex. Over the centuries, it was bought, sold, and rented by many different historical figures and was used for a range of activities and enterprises. In the 17th century a horrendous crime is said to have taken place here-–the murder of the owner’s pregnant wife (with fifth child) by her husband. Fast forward to the very beginning of the 20th century and the property was owned by a monsignor, until the end of the first world war… then sold to some very wealthy family who began to create gardens and vineyards. And then in the first part of the 21st Century, the buildings were restored and transformed into the little hotel and also some housing (although not sure where that housing is–maybe it’s for the manager).

Our room(s) have ceilings that are about 11’ with wood beams about two feet apart that are about 8’x8′ spanning about 14’. The floors are stone or maybe clay tiles. The bedroom sits above a living area and the stair is open so you have a sense of an even bigger space and even taller ceilings. Ok.. enough about our accommodation which I’d say was both a lucky and accidental choice.

We headed first to Piazza delle Erbe. There are several squares in the historic center of Padua, but this is the largest and is adjacent and connected to Piazza della Frutta. Together they form one of the largest markets in Italy and it’s dominated by the very large Palazzo della Ragione. The market takes place daily on the two squares and on the first level of the Palazzo there are tiny shops, selling mostly food, and also numerous restaurants as well. We visited the upper floors of the palazzo which throughout history encompassed the medieval market hall, the town hall, and the palace of justice. The upper floor was dedicated to the town administration; while the ground floor still houses the historical covered market of the city. The palace separates the two squares, and you can move easily through the building to get from one to the other. The upper floor has the “great hall” which is 270 ft long and 88 ft wide and about 40 ft high. The walls are covered with allegorical frescoes.

While Mike sat on a bench in the piazza, I checked out a few interesting shops and began a conversation with the owner of one. Turns out she was married to an American and has a child with him, but he has returned to the states—Memphis to be exact. He’s black and the child is bi-racial. She was talking about how shocked she is to hear about all the violence in the states and that her son does not like to visit the father in Memphis, because the father is very strict with him—fearful that the son who has grown up in Italy doesn’t understand the dangers in the states and about how police deal with Black teens.

And while I was having this conversation and Mike was outside, Mike witnessed an interesting event: Three cops, cabanieri, (two male and one female) were walking; she had a bicycle. The male cops were teasing her and they knocked her bike down and she almost fell. She was pissed. The guys took off –running across the plaza.. She left her bike and started chasing the two male cops across the plaza and they all disappeared but everyone at the plaza continued to be shocked and were talking about what had happened. An older gentleman who works for the city stayed by the bike to see that it wasn’t stolen. Do not know the outcome of the story.

From there we meandered around the city, walking in the oldest medieval sections and also headed to the Scrovegni Chapel which has a lot of frescoes by Giotto. Interestingly, they are ‘monetizing light’ in that church as it is difficult to see some of the areas and the frescoes since they are in very dark parts of the church. There is a machine, into which you can put one, two, or three euros and then lights go on and stay on for specified periods of time, based on how many euros you put into the machine. I guess they are trying not to leave lights on all the time as that could damage some of the art.

Then we strolled more in the medieval section (what was once the Jewish Ghetto) and eventually arrived at Saint Anthony’s Basilica— which is gigantic…. And filled floor to ceiling with art, sculptures, frescoes, and more. Given my rather simple tastes, this one was a bit much. As we were walking around inside the church, the music for the mass was beginning and we had to stay on the edges so as not to disturb participants. As you exit the basilica, you arrive in a very sweet courtyard and then walk through a narrow passage to get to the front plaza. From the basilica we walked back to the Wine Tower to relax and head to dinner.. very simple local pizza and salad.

We are beat. I’m sure more happened today, including a stop for gelato, but I think I will call it a night.

Tomorrow, we head to Trieste.
Be well.

Fern