A weekend get-away! It was everything a girl (or at least this girl) could want! We left the kids in the grandparents capable hands (with the help of Uncle Shannon) and off we were on our weekend adventure...ALONE!!! We traveled up the Autostrada going about 130 km/hr zooming around cars in the Alps over bridges and through tunnels...Tobin is really getting into driving like an Italian! Any bets as to how long it takes him to get a ticket once we get back to the States?
Our first stop was Padova...it is only about 30 km from Venice, or should I say Venezia. We stopped here primarily because I have a Rick Steves' Guide Book and he recommended it and because I wanted to see the Basilica of St. Anthony. (If you are traveling to Italy, I HIGHLY recomend the Rick Steves' books...they have saved us countless hours standing in lines, money, and frankly, we just feel like we know what we are doing!)
We had thought we might take the train from Padova to Venezia so we parked near the train station and took the bus to the Basilica...missed our stop, but we got to see this lovely piazza...
And walked a few blocks to the Basilica...
Unfortunately, I couldn't take pictures inside :( I am bummed because this is one of my favorite churches we have gone to so far. It was a completely different style...more wood paneling and mouldings...There was also a priest reading something (it was either in italian or latin) and really set the mood for the church as his voice echoed down the nave (later there was someone singing something...they sure made those churches with great acoustics!).
As far as Catholic Saints go, Saint Anthony is pretty interesting. He is the patron saint of travelers, amputees, donkeys, pregnant women, barren women, flight attendants, and pig farmers in addition to his very popular 'finder of lost things.' Now I don't know how many donkeys need a saint, but they have one! And being from Montana, I just had to check out the patron saint of pig farmers...kind of close to home.
Then we mosey-ed through the town towards the Palazzo della Ragione where we ate pizza under one of those umbrellas and toured the large building...
Padova centro has these wonderful covered sidewalks...ALL of them...which is fabulous under the intense Mediterrean sun...
We walked to the car (we decided against taking the train) and drove to our destination...
Ciao a tutti!
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