Tues & Wed, Sept 13 & 14

A travel day. Set off early from the hotel in Venice and and headed north to a very unique house named Villa Barbaro. The villa was built in the mid 16th century for two wealthy Venetian merchants, the Barbaro brothers. Every room wall on the floor level is covered in beautiful frescoes by the Venetian artist Veronese. Scenes of Italian landscapes and mythological figures-all in gorgeous colors. Its a private home so not all rooms were available to us. No photos allowed so unfortunately no pictures to show you. Picture of me below outside the house.



Then on to Padua. We are in the old city, with torturously narrow streets. But we made it and even the police ignored our driving in the car-free zone. Padua is a university city with one of the oldest universities in the world- Galileo actually taught here! Off to see St. Anthony's Basilica and the frescoes in attached buildings. It is a real business for the Franciscans. If ever in Padua, we recommend Osteria dal Capo for authentic Padovan food (try the rabbit).





Padua is known as the city of frescoes and it lives up to that moniker. Incredible amount of Renaissance period art to see in churches and museums. If you've ever taken art history courses it is fascinating to see the works you have studied, often in the buildings for which they were painted.

The highlight of Padua is the Scrovegni Chapel. In 1305, the artist Giotto painted every square inch of the walls of the chapel with frescoes, depicting scenes from the lives of Mary, Joseph and Jesus. He is universally recognized as the first artist to paint in the modern style ie not the rigid one dimensional style of the medieval artists. To see these beautiful frescoes is an amazing experience. There are strict rules around viewing. Groups of no more than 25 must enter together and are given only 15 mins to view the frescoes . You then leave, the chapel is dehumidified for 15 mins and the next group enters. This process is done to prevent further deteriotion of the frescoes. Alas, no photos allowed but here is an external view of the chapel.



For our second day in Padua we visited more churches, strolled the narrow cobbled streets, sat in cafes - very lively cafe life here. Outdoor cafes are a very popular way to pass time and socialize for Italians. This is a typical Paduan street.



The most gorgeous shoes and purses in the stores. I'm restraining myself until Milan!

Temps still in low to mid 30s-we're not complaining though!! On to Verona tomorrow.
Sean & Liam, hope your birthdays were great!

Location:Maser / Padova