Padua

We don't always eat out! Some of our airbnbs are apartments with kitchens, others, like this at Padua, are just rooms but that was a good salad. And that is actually wine in the apple juice bottle 

Another day with temperatures around 33 degrees. We slunk around in the shadows where possible. Padua is an amazing city but we got a bit fresco-ed out.

First stop today, we were lucky to get into the Scrovegni Chapel (usually you book online 24 hours in advance, we just got there early). The frescoes were painted 1303-5 by Giotti. Small groups go in at a time. You go into a temp controlled waiting room for 15 mins, watch a video about the chapel and how they are protecting the frescoes, then you are allowed in for 15 mins.

Next we walked to the centre of town where this building stands between 2 markets. The lower floor houses more cheese and meat stalls etc and upstairs is the Great hall.

In the Great hall (which is HUGE) there are frescoes painted in the early 1400s. The giant wooden horse was made in 1466.

Then we went to the Cathedral with attached basilica where you weren't supposed to take photos but everyone was surreptitiously doing so, blocking the attendant's view. I'm sure he knew but didn't care!

Finally we had another drink and a pastry here (too hot to eat lunch) looking across to St Anthony Basilica.

It is picturesque as you see but we didn't go in - there are only so many frescoes and religious paintings you can view in one day. There was a large gallery of paintings in a monastery beside the first place we went to, we spent ages in there. very few tourists.

Prato della Valle, canals, bridges, statues, gardens in what was once a Roman theatre. Then back to the bus, back to the airbnb for cold showers and wine.