10-5 Padua and Vicenza

Monday dawned foggy and cool.  We were up early and headed out for our day trip to Padua and Vicenza. Walked to the train station, half an hour through streets filled with children on their way to school and locals on their way to work. As we neared the train station, the crowds began to thicken with university students and tourists descending on the floating city.

We caught the 9:15 train and were in Padua a little after 10.  We headed straight for the Scroviglia chapel – hoping to get tickets. They only allow 25 people in at a time to keep the chapel climatized and protected. you normally have to book well in advance (some times weeks) but we were lucky and got tickets for 11:30.

That gave us enough time to wander into the central part of town, walk through the market and gaze at all the fresh meat, poultry and seafood available for sale. 

Back at the chapel, we waited our turn to enter the building.  Everything is synchronized so the doors only open once every half an hour. If you are even 1 minute late for your tour, you will not be allowed in – and you’ll have to pay for another entry.  We made our tour time and sat in the anteroom with about 15 others while we were brought to the same humidity level as the rest of the chapel.

After watching an informative video explaining why the chapel was designed and built (the son of a wealthy userer built the chapel as a gift to the church to try to get his father – and of course himself – a place in heaven) we were finally admitted into the interior.  the frescos and murals (all by Tinteretto) were phenomenal.  The colors and depictions of the final judgment day and the stations of the cross were incredibly detailed.  Well worth the wait and the “climitization”.

Afterward, we headed to the train station to go on to Vicenza.  Even though we knew the museums were closed on Monday, we still wanted to see some of Palladin’s work and the architecture there.  The train was quick – only 30 minutes, and the weather so beautiful. We walked through the streets, looking at the buildings, had a quick snack at a pasticceria then hopped the train back to Venice to meet Gaby and Sigis who had just arrived from their weekend in Lake Garda.

We had a very happy reunion – and a great surprise!  Iris and Matthias came along as well, so all of us were together again. A lovely surprise that led to a lovely evening!  We had drinks at a restaurant with a terrace right on the water out front of our hotel.  Then cleaned up and on to dinner at a seafood restaurant  recommended by Matteo.  The boys (Pietro and Victor) thoroughly enjoyed being together again – as did all the adults in the party as well!

Dinner was a great affair full of pasta, salad, vegetables, mystery meat for me and Matthias (we taught the Rageth’s a new American slang term) and seafood for just about everyone else.  A lovely reunion!  And tomorrow the fun continues with our Lagoon Island tour.