Excursion to Padua - Tuesday

We took the train to Padua right after breakfast this morning. It took 20 minutes to get there. Padua or Padova, as it is called here, is a university town with about 60 thousand students. It did seem to be filled with young people:  lots of energy in the streets, tons of bicycles, and storefronts catering to a younger customer. We enjoyed the day. Started with a visit to the Scrovegni Chapel with its world famous frescoes by Giotto. Visits are pre-booked for this visit and each group of 25 visitors has 30 minutes, 15 of which is dedicated to an introductory video in the acclimatization chamber and 15 in the chapel itself. It's really just time enough for a quick peak at these amazing frescoes and this time limitation was frustrating for us as it was for others, I am sure. We walked all over town, toured some famous churches including St. Anthony's and the Bapistry of the cathedral. We enjoyed an outdoor lunch in a cafe and found "the" place to buy pan de pescatore, recommended by David. These treats  are a dense scone-like biscuit filled with whole blanched almonds and raisins.  (See last pic.) The photos from our excursion will give you a sense of what Padua looks like. It has some very impressive buildings and most of the sidewalks in the historic centre are arcaded. These were especially appreciated today as the temperature was in the mid 20's.  It was a long day with lots of walking, but we rewarded ourselves with a nice supper once we returned to Vicenza this evening.