1st away day - Padova

I have been to Padova today. There was a Caravaggio exhibition I wanted to see. On my walk into the centre from the station I checked with a lady wearing a fur coat, very Italian I was going in the right direction. Her English was wonderful - I had asked in Italian & we walked along together. She told me her son was a lawyer now working in London but he had done some training in Hull. She checked what I had seen - everything except the university so she took me there to check on the tour times. 3.15 today. I walked around the centre, looked at the market - the stalls are wonderful and here are some examples. Some stalls just sell fruit & others certain types of veg. Fascinating.

I made my way to the Eremitani museum & got a reduced price for both the Caravaggio & the Scrovegni Chapel - I know I have already seen Giottos frescoes four times but I couldn't not see them. There were five of us in my time slot which was great, many more in the previous & later groups.

Then I went into the caravaggio - ONE painting - they did this last year with Canaletto in Treviso & at the Academmia a couple of weeks ago there was one Leonardo drawing. But from the advertising you wouldn't know this! Anyway in the gallery there were some lovely Mangtegna's & a Bellini which were worth seeing.

I finally found somewhere for lunch, I didn't have much time & as it was after 2 o'clock I felt like more than a sandwich. In the small bar - no menu waitress just told me what was on offer today I had pasta with speck & cheese & a glass of good red wine all for E8. A bargain.


Then I made it ack to the university to book my tour - I asked again in Italian.

Padua is the second oldest university after Bologna. The students moved here because the church in Bologna was too much in control of the university there. It was founded in 1493. The courtyard is surrounded by a dual loggia & on the walls are some of the 3000 coats of arms of the noble students. We saw the special podium Galileo lectured from, the main salon & a smaller lecture room. Then we went to see the anatomical theatre. Our guide who was speaking in both Italian & English said the English speakers should go into the room first - I walked towards the door & she stopped me & said, no you wait for the Italian version. I replied no I was English. She said no I thought you were Italian, you booked the tour in Italian. I was THRILLED & told her so.

The table was in the bottom & there are six standing tiers above for students to stand & watch autopsies being performed. As it was illegal in that period there were no windows & the bodies were often raided from graveyards or were given by lectures when they died.

A fascinating hour.

Finally we saw the statue of the first woman to gain a degree - 1598. No other women got one at Padova for another 100 years - & much later in the UK.

The train back home was uneventful. I almost got into trouble going as I forgot to validate my ticket!!

Tomorrow it is an early start as I plan to get the train to Bologna.