When we decided to take our trip to Venezia and the surrounding area, we had not really planned on stopping in Padova.  When we left Asolo, our flight out of Treviso did not leave until 5:30 (and it was late so we did not actually leave until 6:15) so we decided to spend part of the day in a city we had heard many good things about.  It was almost on the way, so why not.  As I said in my last post, it was quite a wonderful surprise.  We loved it.

A little side note is that when I was a senior in college, I had the lead in the Shakespeare play we produced that year (I was also the assistant scene designer and scenic artist for the production).  The play was “Much Ado About Nothing” and I played “Signior Benedick of Padua”.  I always wanted to see my “hometown”.

The old center (Centro Storico) was everything you hope for in the historic center of an Italian city, with architecture, restaurants and markets that compare to any we have seen.  I really want to come back here for a longer visit.  For those of you who are looking for something a little different, by train it is only a half an hour from Venice, an hour and a half from Florence and two hours from Milan.

This city had one of the better markets we have seen.  Here are just a few of the vendors. It was too bad we weren’t staying longer, I wanted to buy a little of everything.

My lunch just before we left was a wonderful, warm octopus salad.  What a treat.

I have been a little neglectful for the past few months, but I am going to try to play a little catch up for the next few weeks.  I hope you enjoy.