I get cultured in Padua

OK, so where was I? A couple weeks ago I spent a few days in Italy, staying at my favorite hotel and spa in the whole world (which has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that the manager is a good friend of mine, I swear), which is in a small town just outside of Padua (Padova). I can’t go to Padua without feeling an intense urge to move back to Italy, and this trip was no different. It’s just so…. Italian. The cobblestones, the cathedrals, the art, the public humiliation of graduates… and of course the food. Why am I not there right now?

When we weren’t watching Italians spread food substances on each other, we actually managed to take in a little culture on this particular trip. First there was the Scrovegni Chapel, a fresco-covered room painted by the master Giotto in 1303-1305. Much like at Da Vinci’s Last Supper in Milan, visitors must enter through various sealed chambers which are supposed to help with the preservation of the precious frescoes inside. You have to buy a ticket for a specific entry time, and you only get to spend 15 minutes marveling at the chapel. Unlike the Last Supper, these frescoes are actually in pretty good shape, and there’s a lot to ooo and aah over. I didn’t want to leave.

We also paid a visit to the Basilica di Sant’ Antonio. St. Anthony is one of the Catholics’ most favorite saints, so he has been honored with a particularly fabulous church, even by Italian standards. Although I declared myself all churched out years ago (a non-life-threatening condition reached by people who have visited too many Italian churches within a short amount of time), this one was actually worth breaking my abstinence for. Every square centimeter of the place is ornately decorated. And, in addition to housing the tomb of Anthony himself, this basilica boasts quite a collection of other dead saint parts, too (they call them ‘relics’ and display them in custom-made decorative vessels; don’t get too close if you’re easily queasy).

Hungry for more art, we also took in the De Chirico show at Palazzo Zabarella. I was disappointed to not see my favorite work by him (Melancholy and mystery of a street, which looks exactly like the street I used to live on in Bologna, only creepier), but it was an awfully thorough and enjoyable show nonetheless. It’s on through May 27^th, so quick, plan your trip to Veneto now.