One of the cool but scary things about this trip is that we did not come over with everything already in place. We mostly knew about the musical performances and military base visits, but we also knew there were time spans without anything booked. This has allowed us some flexibility as occurred a month or two ago when Sarah asked me about this week. She suggested slow down and again spend time in one city. Since we were already in Italy and I really wanted to visit the Scravegni/Arena chapel, and Tommy wanted to see Venice, we decided to spend a week in the Region of Veneto. And so, we find ourselves in an apartment in the old part of Padova!
To be honest, the only thing I knew about Padova was that it is the city where Giotto painted the frescoes in the chapel of the Scravegni family. The chapel is located next to the ruins of an ancient Roman arena and so some of you may know the building as the Arena Chapel and others as the Scravegni Chapel. This chapel is important to me for a few reasons: 1) Giotto and this chapel was the first paper I ever wrote as an art history student; 2) Giotto is probably the first artist I came to truly admire as a student; 3) although he is a medieval artist, he is often considered to have kicked off the Renaissance with the Arena Chapel even though it was only around 1304; 4) because of these things, I almost always find a way to get Giotto into my lectures!
Now that we are living in Padova I have realized it might be one of my favorite little cities in the world, and I want to apply for a faculty exchange to come stay here for a semester. It is a university town with lots and lots of kids, the streets are beautiful and easy to get around, the people are kind, and I love the food. There are plenty of green spaces, outside cafes, and home to one of the oldest universities in the world (Galileo taught here). It is also important in terms of social justice as they are the first university to award a degree to a woman! Her name is Elena Cornaro and she earned her degree in 1678!
There is also a lot of art around the city. From the well-known statues surrounding the water encircling the Prato della Valle (the second biggest square in Europe) to a weird old piano sculpture, to a modern art gallery outside the Scravegni Chapel with a statue of three boys I am calling Tommy, Henry, Josef!
I am ashamed to admit this, but the other big thing I did not know about Padova is that it is a major pilgrimage city. The Basilica of St. Anthony is here, and it is one of the major stops for those who are ill or have ill family members. There is usually a giant line to enter and touch the grave of the saint, but since it is not tourist time, there were only a few people there to pray. Tommy and I took one of our walking trips together and went in to touch the grave and say a prayer. It was a very meaningful day (oh and you can’t photograph inside St. Anthony so I am using a free stock photo of the saint’s grave since I could not take my phone).
Finally, I should say that Padova is less than an hour west of Venice and is considered the Sister of Venice. And so, at some point while here, we will be taking Tommy over to Venice to fulfill one of his requests for this trip!
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