I set off from Venice this morning to the pilgrimage/university town of Padova, home of Saint Anthony’s assorted body parts.  Some of you may be wondering why I am continuing to travel after I’ve already reached Venice, the destination in the title of this blog.  The answer is fourfold:  a) I’m interested in Venice’s context among its neighbors and rivals, and the resultant transitions, b) Padova was technically part of the city-state of Venice for centuries, c) Venice was prohibitively expensive after four days, and d) flights out of Milan are half the price as those out of Venice, so why not visit some places along the way.  My next stop is Verona, where, in addition to paying some more respects to Scarpa, I’ll be attending an opera in an old Roman coliseum.  I must say, however, that I had a hard time leaving Venice this morning, which was really only made possible by the fact that I couldn’t bear another day in the hotel where I was staying (this mosquito-infested dungeon ranked somewhere between awful and hell).

Unfortunately, I only have very limited access to internet tonight, so I need to quickly post only a couple of images.  I’ll hopefully have more as soon as I can find a reliable internet connection, preferably tomorrow.

Padova is great, and it’s a town from which, despite it’s relatively small size, I would have a hard time leaving if I stayed a whole year, and a couple of days will be pretty tough.  Tomorrow, I have a morning appointment at the Scrovegni Chapel (often called the Arena Chapel), and I’m looking forward to seeing Giotto’s frescoes in person after years of interacting with them in books.

Unfortunately, for now, this is all that I have time to write.

-Tad

PS:  Allez, Andy!

Padova is one of the livelier small towns that I've visited, especially at night.