Day 13

PADOVA! (June 8, 2011)...Late post!

 Today we took the train and traveled to Padova. It's only about a 40 minute train ride to a cute little city outside Venice. I say little, but really it felt bigger then Venice.

The main reason we went there today were to see the Giotto Frescos inside the Cappella degli Scrovegni. Our appointment was at 2:00 so we went to the Basilica of St. Anthony to kill time beforehand. That church was absolutely beautiful inside and it was a clash of eras architecturally and visually. I really liked the blue ceilings with the gold stars on them (a frequent motif in the churches we have been seeing). We were looking at Donatello's work by the high altar, and Cathi asked one of the workers about them. I think he thought she asked if we could go look at them, because then he took us inside the high altar area. Some tourists tried to come inside after us and he told them no and shut the gate. It was really cool and we were like 2 feet away from his reliefs.

Inside St. Anthony's they had some relics in a glass box like his teeth, tongue and voice box. That was really weird to see and it makes you think how different cultures can be.

We made our way back to Scrovegni for our appointment.They first put you in a room for 15 minutes to stabalize the air and the humidity. The environment was very controlled, and I liked that they were taking care of such a wonderful piece of art history. We only got 15 minutes inside to look at Giotto's paintings, but it was worth it. His painted architecture looked real to me, I didn't realize until a few minutes of looking that he had actually painted it in. The way he composed his pictures too, were unlike any other fresco we have seen. I think Matt said thay they were 14th century paintings, yet I could not believe how modern it all was. I also couldn't wrap my brain around how long 700+ years is. That is definetly a room to see in person--pictures could never do it justice.

After Giotto we went to this cute little restuarant together for lunch. Most of us had the special of the day: spaghetti, and it was delish! I think that was my first plate of spaghetti since I have been here though. We were eating outside, and then it started to rain so we all ran inside for the rest of the meal. After lunch we walked around and shopped for a few hours, while some people took the train back home (party-poopers!). The shopping there is so much cheaper, and the girls may go back this weekend but not sure. There were so many cool stores!

Later that night, a group of us hung out in the third floor living area. We had prosecco and red wine, and I got really giggly and hyper. Then we went out for dinner to a place nearby and had pizza. Ohhhh so much pizza. I think I am pizza-ed out after this trip.