day trip to Padua

Well, flashback to Art History 101 - or maybe 110, or 123 - anyway, I'm pretty sure I wrote an essay about one of the Giotto frescoes I went to see today.  That would have been c1989. The Cappella degli Scrovegni houses a nearly complete cycle of Giotto's frescoes, painted over a two year period (1303-1305) when he was, they say, at the height of his artistic powers.

A helpful map of Padua

Anyway, it was awesome.  You have to book ahead, then sit with the other (up to 25) people in a special air conditioned room watching an instructive video for 15 minutes, then they let the last group out and let you in, for another 15 minutes of wandering about the chapel.  AMazingly the next group in comprised four people.  Hmmph.

Sculpture garden outside the museum and chapel - lovely mix of old and new

It's hard to focus on the totality of the thing, but there was the coolest little piece showing a bloke's legs sticking out of a fish - Jonah? And the trompe l'oeil marble was great.  The lapis ceiling was so beautiful... and the monochrome pieces around the church - justice, prudence, etc, were lovely.

This sculpture is called Galaxy and it's by Angelo Rinaldi (2009)

So, big drop of culture in Padua. 

We also had time to wander about in the gardens, though not the botanical gardens (oldest in Europe), be bossed about endlessly by the Italian speaking docents in the rest of the museum (so bossy, so Italian, so old), and also enjoy the haughty service at the world famous (?) caffe Pedrocchi.  We gave their signature coffees a big swerve (apart from costing an astonishing 2.50, they also involve some kind of green milk froth - urrgh) and stuck with standard espresso and a lovely crema catalana, just because.  I felt a bit of pressure ordering, as the preceding people had caused the manager dude at the till a lot of grief, to the point that he gave me the complicit eye roll just before I started ordering.  Talk about pressure.  That's because even though my due caffe, and si, and grazie are becoming slightly more fluent, that's still about the extent of my Italian reo.  Sigh.  What it is to be a single-language barbarian.

 Caffe Pedrocchi was the bees knees...

We sneaked onto the fast train back to venice, even though we only had four euro tickets (as opposed to 15-20 euro tickets).  I felt terrible guilt and feigned sleep throughout in an effort to avoid a conversation with a guard.  Plan worked, but I think largely as the ride from Padua to Venezia SL is very short and they have mostly lost interest at that point.

It was fun to do a day trip, but by crikey it's a marvellous thing to arrive back in Venice.  It really is a crackingly good town.

The bells are just going bonkers again, as if to remind me that it certainly is that much awesome...  We toodled out to get a few supplies and stop for a last spritz or two - tonight at the orange caffe - where we witnessed the most athletic bird life (pigeons are real dare devils in this town, and the sparrows are feisty too) - a few hen parties (not actual hens, unfortunately), and the general passing wonder that is locals and tourists out in the late sun.  Saw my first/only venetian skateboarder in the person of the girl in the pink pants.  Yay her.

Skater girl, Venice - alas the skateboard is obscured

Also, we are staying near the fabulously named San Pantalon, which I can't help but translate as Saint Pants.  Could that possibly be the case?  Hoping... The skater pic also reminds me that the woman in orange on the left was part of a group of about five who seemed very cool and quite like a venetian book group out for a few drinks and a chat - the only discernible difference between their book group and our book group was that they were all smoking like chimneys (and possibly not discussing SL).

chip stealing sparrow, San Pantalon (or thereabouts) Venice

So, tonight we pack, tomorrow we leave for Bologna, half a dozen venetian glasses in tow (what were we thinking?).