Day 4 – Padua
Padua was another Italian city which I last visited when I was interrailing (30 years ago) but have always wanted to go back to. The only thing I could remember about it was the Basilica of St Anthony.
We arrived in Padua before lunch and after struggling to find somewhere to park started to wander towards the historical part of town. The daily market was still taking place so there were lots of fruit and vegetable stalls set up on one side of the Palazzo della Ragione and clothes and homeware stalls on the other side. Underneath the palazzo there were two alleyways with shops and stalls on both sides.
We walked through the Piazza dei Signori, which is dominated by the clock tower – Torre dell’Orologio. We then wandered behind the duomo and back towards the main square.
We came across a graffiti picture that purported to come from Banksy! but if you look at the rat in the bottom corner it admits that it probably isn’t.
We decided at this point that it was time for lunch and managed to find a restaurant with air conditioning. We all just wanted something fresh for lunch so Bethany and I went for salads which Michael chose bruschetta.
After lunch it was time to try to find the Basilica of St Anthony. We followed directions on my phone and were soon on Via del Santo so I knew we were heading in the right direction. We turned a corner and got our first view of one of the domes that the basilica is famous for.
I wanted to go and have a look inside but Bethany was stopped by a guard just inside the door as her shorts were shorter than what is permitted in the church. She wasn’t that bothered about going in, so I went in on my own and Michael and Bethany found a shady step to sit on.
Inside it was beautifully decorated and although you are not supposed to take photos I managed to take a couple.
Photography was allowed in the cloister next door so I didn’t have to do it undercover.
As I rejoined Michael and Bethany in the piazza, I noticed that it had got very cloudy and I heard a clap of thunder.
We decided at this point to head straight back to the car. As we were walking back we encountered a Padua tram. It ran on one track and had normal tyres like a bus. We had never seen one like it.
We had a short stop at DeSpar to buy something to eat for dinner on the way. The market square had also emptied.
We arrived back at the car just as it started raining. It turned out to be a pretty heavy thunderstorm which made the drive home a bit interesting for Michael.
Just a quick tip for anyone wanting to visit Padua in the future and wanting to see the Scrovegni Chapel (including the frescoes by Giotto of scenes from the life of Christ) – you have to book in advance as tickets are very limited. All visitors have to go through a 15 minute decontamination process and the following visit is only allowed to be a maximum of 15 minutes. I would definitely like to visit if we decide to come back to the area again.
As we had bought provisions in Padua I was my turn to act as ‘mein host’ and cook dinner. It wasn’t too taxing. We had bought fresh tagliatelle and meatballs in tomato sauce with extra tomato sauce because I didn’t think there was enough sauce to coat the tagliatelle. After boiling the pasta in a large pan and heating up the meatballs and sauce in the microwave, I served up my amazing pasta creation.
Bethany declared that it was as good as any other pasta she had eaten this week!
Unfortunately as we had eaten in, it also meant I then had to do the washing up 🧼🧽
Crouch Family On Tour 