Friday was exhausting, but exciting! I woke up at 4 O’CLOCK IN THE MORNING. SO. EARLY. My weekend excursion through JCU to Veneto started at 6 and it takes like 40 mins to get to school and I wanted to do at least some of the regular morning routine. I left the apartment around 5:15 and walked to the bus stop. We were meeting at Piazza Trilussa, about half a block from school. The bus came after a little bit of waiting, and I maneuvered my luggage into it. Met up with everyone at the Piazza and luckily there was a little bar/pasteria open (at 6am whaaaat thank heavens) so I grabbed a capuccino and a croissant.
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| sorry it's blurry - the bus was going fast! |
Tara and a few other girls I know were going on the trip also (Kaylie, Debbie, and Ashley are going to France this weekend), so we sat together on the bus. It was probably a bad idea to get the coffee, because it was hard for me to fall back to sleep! The bus left at 6:30am, and I had rented “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” from iTunes so I started watching it on my ipod since I wasn’t too tired yet. After 20 minutes, I was completely out. Changed my iPod from the movie to Joshua Radin/Caroline Mauck (my 2 go-to chillout/sleep artists because they’re so amazing). The bus was completely silent because everyone was sleeping the whole time!
At 9 we took a stop (the bus didn’t have a bathroom ah!), but I was so exhausted at the point that I slept right through it. Around 11 I woke up and looked out the window - there was a snowstorm outside!! Everything was completely covered in white. It was soooo beautfiul. We must have been passing over the mountains, because about 45 minutes later we were back to the snow-less landscape. It was so exciting to see snow! I miss it!! (Especially since yall have been getting lots of it lately in the states). The next stop was at 12:30 for lunch, and this time I got off and split a pizza with another girl. Not the best pizza I’ve had, but I was starving so it tasted amazing to me anyways!
We got to Padova (where our hotel is) around 1, unloaded the bus, and walked to the hotel. Padova’s a cute, quiet little town half way between our two main destinations for the weekend: Venice and Verona. The hotel is so cool! It’s so artsy - there are interesting mixed media pieces all over the places, and every room has its own special little theme. Ours is orange - the walls, art, and lampshades are all covered in orange paint. It’s pretty neat! I’m rooming with Lauren and Tara, and the two other girls - Ally and Katie - are in another room nearby. We immediately dropped our stuff in the rooms then passed out until our walking tour at 3.
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| St. Anthony's Basilica. I couldn't take pictures inside or I'd show you the amazing Relics Chapel! |
We walked all around Padova, visited St. Anthony's Basilica and got to see St. Anthony’s remains - tongue, jawbone, and vocal chords (honestly I find this a little weird and creepy, but it’s all good). My favorite part of the chapel was the Relic Church. Although the relics kind of turned me off, the artwork was amazing. It was the only baroque-style art in the church, and it was filled with tons of little putti (the chubby cherbin sculptures/paintings) that were so cute! It was exactly what baroque was all about - fancy, overwhelmingly showy and exquisite art. Amazing.
We walked all over the little town, and actually ended the tour 1/2 an hour early because we were all about to freeze to death! Luckily the tour ended outside of their famous cafe, so of course we headed in there to de-thaw. We heard that the specialty was their mint coffee, so Lauren and I thought that we ordered that but we ended up getting a regular capuccino - the language barrier wins again. We were ready for a little snack before dinner (it was only 6 so we had a few hours until real dinner), so I asked the waiter what he liked best on the “pasteria” section, thinking I’d get a little pastry.
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| Tara and I with our interesting food at the bar.. |
WRONG. He came out with a cup full of a thick yellow substance - it almost looked like cheese - with crackers. It tasted like a mix of thick sugar, lemonish, with a hint of caramel. But then again, my tastebuds were so confused I’m not sure if that’s even a good description. We all tried it out, and the verdict was that it wasn’t our favorite. It was called “Zabaione Stendh”. I kept the receipt to look it up online to see what it actually was...which I still need to do but I'll let you know when I do.
Headed back the hotel, got lost for awhile and had to ask for directions (twice) which was more difficult than Rome because English isn’t as widely spoken here, so I had to exercise my Italian skills. Finally made it back, freezing to death (I definitely should have brought my bigger coat!), so we warmed up in the hotel until dinner watching the Italian version of MTV - curious.
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| Hello, Padova |
Dinner. Was. SO. Good. We were all starving and completely exhausted from the long day, so we were ready for a good dinner. And boy did we get one - a 4 course meal including lots of bread, an amazing chicken pasta, rosemary potatoes, pork, tiramisu, and topped it off with a cappucino (to help with digestion apparently). It was wonderful! I sat with a group of girls that I hadn’t met before and they were all so nice. We exchanged stories of our awkward encounters with Italians and the whol language barrier issues, and gave each other advice on the best places to get pizza in Rome. Yum! :) Headed home after and was soooooo ready for bed. But not after a nice HOT shower!
I am SO ready for the shower here in the hotel..it’s an actual real shower!! With doors! That close! That was the first thing Tara and I checked when we got here...our shower at home is not holding up for us.
I’m more than excited for tomorrow!! It’s our Venice day! It’s an early morning so we’re getting in bed early before our train to Venezio. I went to Venice and Verona when I was in 7th grade with Greater Richmond Children’s Choir for a competition in Italy, so it will be interesting to see what I remember and how different it is from my memories. I can’t wait! :)
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