padova. (6/3/11)

For my first day alone, I'm glad I was in Padova. I really, really liked it, probably for several reasons, but I also just liked the overall feel of the city. It was interesting but not too hectic. I don't know; it's a little hard to describe, but I think it was definitely worth a day's visit. :)
In the morning, there was some type of field day event going on in Prato della Valle, with tons of elementary-age kids grouped by their t-shirt colors participating in semi-athletic events. I actually don't know how else to describe it other than field day, haha. It was fun to watch for a bit, and it definitely brought me back to my days at Lovett. Good times! There was also an amusement park/carnival around the corner from the square...kinda random, haha.
I checked out St. Anthony's Basilica, which was pretty cool. One part of the church has his tomb, and it was interesting to see a lot of people praying to him while touching his tomb. I guess it's a bit weird for me, since I'm not Catholic and don't put that much import in the saints (I don't even really know what St. Anthony did, other than that he was a really good orator--which I learned from Rick Steves--plus his tongue is a relic in the chapel at the back, which I thought was slightly strange).
Since I had a Padova Card, which allowed me free admission to a decent number of museums and buildings, I went to the Loggia and Odeo Cornaro, a small museum showcasing a couple of old buildings. Since it was just me and an older Italian lady visiting at the same time, the tour guide, a young lady, conducted her tour in Italian. I tried really hard to understand what she was saying, using my years of learning Spanish, but it didn't help too much. I picked up key words here and there, but it was an interesting experience. Afterwards, I stopped by the Piazza Erbe again, which was a lot more lively and filled with fruit markets--yay! I got a peach and an orange for 35 euro cents, hehe.
Then came the highlight of my visit to Padova--going to see Giotto's frescoes in the Scrovegni Chapel. They're really awesome! He's just a great artist. The limitations on visiting are pretty intense--they only let in groups of up to 25 people for 15 minutes at a time to maintain the humidity inside the small chapel, but it was worth it, in my opinion. Most of the frescoes portrayed different scenes of Jesus' life and ministry, and they were just really realistic and well-done. The one that hit me the most was the one of the kiss of Judas. Jesus' expression seemed to clearly say, "Do what you came to do," (Matthew 26:50) and I was reminded again of the weight of Jesus' burden and obedience to the Father. Praise God for His salvation through Jesus Christ, again and again.
After our brief visit in the Scrovegni, I wandered around the neighboring Eremitani Museums, which had a lot of paintings and old ruins and artifacts, as well as Palazzo Zuckermann, which also had a collection of various items that were pretty neat. On my way back to the hostel area, I also stopped by Palazzo della Ragione above Piazza Erbe, which had a giant horse statue, as well as an exhibit on counterfeit money (talk about unrelated topics). I ate my first European kebab (yum!) for "linner", since it was around 4 p.m., lol...I also stopped by the small Botanic Garden, since I had a little more time before my train, where I saw a lot of college student-age artists sketching various plants. On my way out, I got gelato (that matched my shirt, haha), and the guy behind the counter gave me an extra sample, which was surprising but nice. Yay for random kindness :)
However, not yay for train fines...which I was subject to on my train to Verona. Apparently, I had gotten onto an inter-city train without paying the extra fee that came with it, so that was a little off-putting...oh well. It happens, I guess. But things didn't get better yet. I got to Verona and waited for the bus to the hostel area of town...for forever, it seemed (30 minutes, realistically). It started to frustrate me, since the sun was setting soon, and there was nothing I could do. While I waited, a little girl even talked to me for a bit, but only in Italian, so not much was communicated in that short conversation. Even when the bus finally came, it was hard to find the hostel after I got off the bus. After asking the bus driver plus a couple of strangers, plus following various street signs with a hostel logo, I climbed uphill for a bit longer before finally finding the hostel. Geez, it could not be farther from the train station...anyway, when I checked in (since that place doesn't take reservations), the guy behind the counter told me there might not be beds for two nights in a row, and I would have to check again in the morning. That was also unexpected, and pretty much the last straw for me. I managed to hold myself together until I got to my room, but once I got there, I broke down and cried for a little bit. It wasn't anything big, just a buildup of several frustrating things in the course of an hour or two, and I needed to let it out. Prayer definitely helped me calm down, too. I just spent the rest of the night organizing my things, figuring out the shower and trying to shower quickly (it was a weird, kind of corporate shower, and potentially very awkward...but the next morning, I saw girls go in with their swimsuits on, which would make sense...too bad I didn't bring that with me to Europe!), and then turning in early. Which I guess is something I'm not doing tonight...must finish updating!