Northern Italy...Vicenza and Padua
When we first began planning this vacation, we talked about visiting Northern Italy. That means staying in Venice, right? Not so fast! It was time to expand the horizons...westward. I had visited Venice 4 times in the past. It is a treasure from every palazzo to decaying, water-logged, warehouse. But on this visit to Northern Italy we conferred with an Italian friend who lives outside Ravenna and is in love with her own country. She is great to travel with. We decided to spend time in Vicenza and Padua...buona idea!
Both cities were easy to get to via train from Mogliano Veneto, our home base. It is a smallish (pop. 28,000), charming village, only a 10 minute train ride from Venice, and close to Venice Marco Polo airport (VCE).
Vicenza was our first stop only 37 miles west of Venice. I had been wanting to visit there for years, after I had learned of Andrea Palladio(1508-1580). He was possibly the most influential architect in the western hemisphere for the next 400 years. The most well known example of Palladian style in the USA is Thomas Jefferson's home, Monticello. His style is symmetrical and draws from the Greek and Roman classic designs.
Vicenza has 23 buildings by Palladio in the city and there are several Palladio designed villas in the surrounding area. It also has a museum with models of some of his designs, papers, drawings, and a simple, peaceful courtyard.
Basilica Palladiana
When we left the museum we headed out into the city center and it's numerous piazzas and parks. We found examples of Palladio everywhere. It was an overcast, but not rainy day. It seemed to enhance the look of these magnificent, and old, buildings. We also found lunch at a cobblestoned, outdoor cafe with a lazy crowd sauntering by. It filled up quickly after we sat down. Being in an agricultural area, you can find polenta, game, veggies and wine from the area...good stuff!
Walking around a more residential area after pranzo (lunch) showed us the charm of this city of 270,00. The Bacchiglione river runs through town. A US Army post/173rd Airborne, Camp Ederle is nearby. Vicenza is a prosperous town, founded in the 2nd century BC. It was the scene of much combat during WWII, then a period of depression, but has rebounded with steel, textile and computer component manufacturing.
Bacchiglione River runs through Padua too.
Then it was back on the train for a night at our Mogliano Veneto villa and off to Padua (pop. 214,000) the next morning. The train station was literally a 2 minute walk from our lodgings. The station in Padua (25 miles from Venice) is quite large and has 450 trains a day running through it! Very efficient too. We walked directly to the city centre from there. It looked fairly modern at first, after playing a large role in both WWI and WWII. But once we got into the center it was a maze of small streets, some with arcades over the sidewalks. We stopped in the Caffe' Pedrocchi , opened in 1831. It was elegantly decorated and obviously the place to be seen.
Padua was always intriguing to me because it has the University of Padua, started in 1222. Galileo was a professor there and Copernicus and Casanova were students. In 1678, the first woman to be graduated from a university graduated from Padua. We've come a long way, baby!
It was a brutally hot, sunny day. A stop for lunch in a traditional Italian trattoria with air conditioning and tuxedoed waiters was a treat. Trattoria da Dante alle Piazze turned out to be outstanding and amazingly not expensive. I opted for a local fish delicacy "Sardine Saor", a pasta dish with sardines in a sour sauce. Pasta is rarely my Italian menu choice, but this was lick-the-bowl outstanding! A glass of wine and about 90 minutes later we were ready to go again.
Church inerior
Padua is also where St. Anthony of Padua lived. The Basilica of St. Anthony that bears his name was started in 1235. No photos are allowed inside, but trust me, it's magnificent. There are many other beautiful churches also and we visited several.
We slowly wandered through city streets in the general direction of the train station and made out way back to Mogliano Veneto. This little adventure in Northern Italy turned out to be beautiful, filled with history and tasty...the Italian way of life!
Domes of Basilica of St. Anthony
