Today we took the train to Bologna. We walked to the center of the city from the train station and of course climbed up stairs for a panoramic view of the city. We weren’t that high but could see several of the landmarks. We walked around the city and visited about a dozen churches. We noticed a lot of scaffolding, but we have seen lots of scaffolding because a lot of historic
buildings need renovation and upkeep. However, there was a sign in one of the churches explaining that the scaffolding was shoring up some of the building because this area in Italy had an earthquake a couple of years ago. Then we started to notice the cracks in walls and in one of the pictures we think the tower is leaning because of the earthquake.
Sorry, there is no picture of food today. We stopped about 4pm for a snack and had sandwiches. Even though we walked all over Bologna, I couldn’t find a bologna (baloney) sandwich. There are no pics because the sandwiches were just that – sandwiches. Also the restaurants in this area seem to all have the same menu with little variation – lasagna, spaghetti with meat sauce and pizza. There are other courses on the menus, but very little difference from restaurant to restaurant. On the train back we though maybe we would like little snack before we went to sleep. It was late – after 8pm so we stopped at a cafe in the train station and Marsha got some fruit and I got a small tart and some coffee. We are back early and have our jammies on and our feet up. We think we are going to Verona tomorrow.

We went to the train station in the morning and the next train left for Venice, so that’s where we went. I have to tell you I have a ton of pictures on my camera, but it is difficult to take pictures with both the phone and camera.
When we got off the train we crossed the Grand Canal on the large bridge by the train station. See pics of Grand Canal from the bridge.

We then walked thru the streets (alleys) of Venice to St. Marks square. We crossed the Rialto bridge on the was to the square. There is a lot of steps up and down on the bridges over the little canals. We went into St Marks church. I saw a group of Japanese tourists taking picture, so I took some, butwas told no pictures allowed. After St Marks square we went to the Bridge of Sighs. See pic. I am blocking most of the bridge, but you can see some of it.

After the Bridge if Sighs we walked further to Harry’s Bar where we had Bellinis. See pic.

We then bought tickets for the public transportation – basically a boat that is really a bus on water. We went Murano where they are known for Venetian glass. The glass is beautiful and there are many shops and glass blowing demonstrations on Murano. I was surprised at how far this island is from what we think is Venice. From Murano we went to Burano, a city known for hand made lace. The houses in Burano are quite colorful – see pic – quite different from Tuscany with tan houses and red tile roofs.

Also see pic from water “bus” from Venice to Murano.

It was also quite a distance from Murano to Burano, which I found surprising. To get back to the train station we took 3 water “buses”. The last one going down the Grand Canal. This is an amazing ride and we are on public transportation! You would not believe the amount of traffic on the grand canal – boats everywhere including lots of gondolas. The train station is actually on the Grand Canal and we decided to eat in Venice and then return to Padua. We decided to share a cheese plate and each have a salad. After dinner we took the train back to Padua. Again it is 10:30. We just can’t get everything done without coming back late. We are undecided about where we are going tomorrow, but will let you know.

We had reservations to go to the Scrovegni Chapel in the morning. No pics allowed – in fact we had to wait in an ante room until the atmosphere was stable enough to open the door to the chapel. It is of course beautiful and I would urge everyone to look it up on the net. Then we walked to the train station and took a train to Vicenza. There we saw the Teatro Olimpico. This place is amazing! It was designed by Palladio, a leading architect in his time. He designed many buildings in Vicenza and other Italian cities. See pic of theater.

Palladio also designed the building in the other pic. We then went to the Palladio museum housed in the Palazzo Barbaran da Porto. I learned more about architecture than I will ever need. The museum had models of all his famous designs. I am suffering from information overload. Next we walked across the entire city of Vicenza to see the Villa Capra Valmarana “La Rotonda”
This building is supposed to be the concept Thomas Jefferson used when he built Monticello and Poplar Forest. Palladio built the rotunda in 1560. All of this was extremely interesting. See pics of “Rotonda “.

We took a bus back to the train station. We boarded the train to Padua and while we were on the train we decided to go to Venice for dinner. Sorry no pics of the food. We both had pizza and all the restaurants have wood fired brick ovens to make the pizza. I did get to see the Grand Canal, but we will tour Venice on another day. Tomorrow is another adventure.

We are now in Padua. After we checked into the hotel we went to the tourist info center and bought a 48 hour pass for the city. The pass is for free admission to museums and free rides on public transportation. We took the tram ( designed for tourists) to the end of the line and started walking back to the hotel visiting churches and museums along the way. St Anthony’s was really beautiful and houses the tomb of Luke. Of course no pictures were allowed, but we took a picture of an outside area.

We then visited a museum about early Venetians See pic. We walked around town and of course dinner. I had fried olives and penne with a spicy sauce. Marsha had a linguini with cream and zucchini.

We slept in because today we needed to do chores. First on the list was laundry. The laundromat was close to the hotel, so we got there fine. The directions were only in Italian and we needed exact change. We figured out the machines – we thought. Marsha’s washer started fine, but mine did nothing. In the meantime I went to a store next door and got a few coins. We would need more change so I went to a bank across the street. The banks here usually do not have money, but I thought they would at least tell me where I could get some coins. To enter the bank I had to push a button, an outer door opens and I entered a metal detector. The the inner door of the metal detector opens and lets you enter the bank. Now remember – no one speaks English, but I was able to show them some coins and a €20 bill and they understood and gave me a roll of coins. Believe me they could understand how grateful I was as I thanked them many times. Back at the laundromat a woman and her daughter tried to help me get my washer running. They called the owner of the laundromat and he must have told them how to get that particular washer started because it began to work. But I had paid twice, so the woman told him I needed a €6 refund. Remember these people do not speak English, but somehow we communicated. The owner was coming to give me a refund. The owner did arrive and give me my money and he was just in time to help us with the dryers. Finally our clothes were clean and dry and we headed back to the hotel.
Also in the morning Marsha was on the computer looking for hotels at Heathrow airport and Irish ferry schedules for later in the trip. This is time consuming stuff.
After the laundry was the post office – also close to the hotel. We had decided we would mail some of our clothes home. The weather has been very nice but we are headed to much cooler areas so we will not need our summer clothes. At the post office we purchased mailing boxes with no problem. Marsha’s box was fine – mine turned out to be too big. We now have much lighter and roomier suitcases. Back to the post office to mail Marsha’s box and I bought a smaller one and packed it from the big one in the post office. I wanted to give the larger box to the woman at the post office because I couldn’t use it. I didn’t ‘t ask for a refund, but they told me to buy something the value of the large box. Post offices here sell all kinds of things and I am now the proud owner of spaghetti tongs. The laundry and post office took us 6 hours. The post office told me my neighbor would have to pay duty on the package when it is delivered in the US. I don’t know why.
Everyone was extremely helpful. As you can imagine it is hard with a language barrier trying to explain weights and how to fill out forms. We are going to dinner soon and plan on attending a concert tonight. Will let you know about the rest of the day. I took a picture of one tower but cannot tell if it is leaning.

We went to dinner and picked a restaurant just outside the entrance to the concert. Marsha had pasta with tomato and porcini mushrooms and a salad and I had a local cheese with figs and honey. They serve this with piadina, a locally made flat bread. The piadinas can contain all kinds of filings or have different ingredients baked into them. All is yummy.

The organ concert was held in the Basilica di San Vitale, the #1 recommended tourist spot for Ravenna. We went in and said WOW. The church is beautiful and the mosaic floors are amazing. I took some pictures, but I don’t think we were allowed to, so I took them without flash.

After the concert we headed back to the hotel, but we passed a gelateria (ice cream shop). Here is a picture of some of what they sell. Marsha got one and said it was the best gelato she ever had.

We are now at the hotel watching Columbo in Italian. We can’t believe we walked all over Ravenna for 2 days and didn’t go uphill once. Tomorrow we go to Padua.