Day 21: 17 July 2010

Drove to Padua today to check out this nearby city.  Padua sort of a college town so there is a large student population there.   At one time, many intellectuals including Galileo came here.  Joe and I decided to continue learning more art history here by going to Scrovegni Chapel to see Giotti’s masterpiece.  In a way, this is kinda like Giotti’s Sistene Chapel, but it was actually painted two hundred years earlier from 1303-1305.  Like the Sistene, it has “The Last Judgement” on one wall and scenes from the Bible on the side walls and ceilings.  The scenes primarily depict the birth and life of Mary and Jesus underneath a royal blue ceiling of stars. Our ticket to the Chapel also gave us entry to the Musei Civico to see Giotto’s crucifix and paintings from artists of the 13^th through 18^th centuries.  We didn’t recognize many of the pieces so we didn’t stay long despite efforts of the excited museum workers around every corner who were eager to tell us about each exhibit. The air conditioned museum was a nice break, though, from the heat and humidity outside.   

Our next stop was the Basilica of St. Anthony, a pilgrimage site of sorts for many people.  Anthony was originally from wealthy family in Lisbon, but spent the last eleven years of his life as a Franciscan monk in Italy preaching and healing the sick.  Anthony is buried inside the Basilica in Padua, and people come from all over to pray by his tomb and leave pictures of family and friends who have been healed through his intercession.  We decided to stay for Italian Mass here with Lisa and Benson.  Unfortunately, the heat was borderline unbearable inside so it was hard to listen attentively to the priest or cute nun cantor. After Mass, we walked down to a park where Anthony use to speak.  Then it was time for our long awaited trip to Grom for gelato.  Grom is a chain that makes organic gelato in Italy and beyond.  We first tried it last April in Torino, and had been looking forward to having it again.  Their gelato is a little heavier (creamier?) than other gelaterias but it is delicious!  Decided to grab some foccacia on the way out of Padua, too, before heading to Venice for the rest of the night.

This weekend is the Festa del Redentore in Venice.  The annual festival is held on the third weekend of July to celebrate the end of the plague in the 1500s.  A temporary bridge is set up between Venice and the island of Guidecca for 24hrs, and in more recent years, a fireworks display is set off over the water in front of St. Mark’s. We arrived by 8pm and took a traghetto (ferry) from the parking garage near the cruise ship terminal to Guidecca.  I knew Venice was on the water, but I never realized that it is a group of islands connected to the mainland by a long bridge.

We took the ferry to Guidecca since we had heard that this was the best place to see the fireworks from.  It was already pretty crowded at 8:45pm.  Strings of lights on the lamp posts came on just as we arrived. Tons of families had tables set up along the water for what looked like potluck dinners.  Other people were camped out on towels and blankets near the water eating sandwiches and holding their spot for the fireworks.  We walked down to the Chiesa del Redentore, a simple Church that is the center of the festival.  I must have been feeling pretty confident because I asked a nun who was keeping watch what the history of the Church was.  She was delighted to tell us in Italian.  Fortunately, Joe caught most of it because I quickly lost my focus!  We found the special bridge directly across from the entrance of the Church, and decided to walk across it since you can only do this once a year.  To the right of the bridge, in front of St. Mark’s, tons of boats were lined up for the fireworks.  Picture a big tailgating party with lots of people, music, and food on land and sea…it was a pretty lively scene!  We wanted to walk to St. Mark’s Square, but already it was getting really crowded on the bridge and approaching 10pm, so we decided we better cross back to Guidecca and find a spot for the fireworks.     

I think we found the best spot possible for the fireworks.  We were directly across from St. Mark’s near the Zitelle traghetto stop right in front of where the fireworks were being set off!  Marked our spot with a blanket that Joe kept an eye on while I went searching for something to snack on.  Found a great place a little off the main street that was making inexpensive pizzas to order.  Enjoyed our pizza and met a local guy named Stephen from Padova while we waited for the show to start.  Stephen was an avid skier and gave us lots of tips on places to check out.  Hopefully we make it back here someday in the winter!

The fireworks began at 11:30pm and they were well worth the wait.  There were so many barges shooting them off, some shooting low fans and others reaching high in the sky in every color with St. Mark’s as the backdrop.  The show lasted about 30min, and we both agreed it was probably the best display we have ever seen!  Highly recommend it if anyone finds themselves in Venice in mid-July!

We were prepared to face the crowds and mad dash to the ferry after the fireworks, but it really wasn’t bad.  Many people stay out on the canals and continue their parties into the early hours of the morning.  When we got back to the Chiesa del Redentore, the lights were still on and people were still going inside.  Walked up the stairs for another look at the quaint church and found that Midnight Mass (really 12:25) had just begun.  We stayed for a lively Mass that included Music by a brother.  Didn’t catch a ferry back to the car until nearly 1:30am.  There were still lots of people out and they were filling the ferries to what must have been more than maximum capacity!  It was at least 2:45am by the time we got back to Montegalda…our latest night yet…and definitely our latest night out in a long, long time!  

The only issue of the night came when we got locked out of Lisa & Benson’s house.  Lisa gave us the key, but must have turned the dead-bolt, so we finally broke down and called them to let us in after 20 min. of unsuccessful attempts to open the door.  Not exactly the way we wanted to end the night, but minor incident aside, it was a great night in Venice!