Padua University*Anatomy Lab*Botanical Gardens*Saint Anthony's Basilica
8 miles
I didn't know much about Padua, but I like this place! It's a University town. Padua University has a student population of 65,000. It is the second oldest University in Italy, founded in the early 1200s. Galileo taught here. The highlight of our day was touring a couple of the old rooms of the University, including the first Anatomy Theatre built in the 1500s. This is a small 4-tiered circular theatre where the students stood above and the professor dissected a body below. After Law, Medicine is the oldest faculty at this University. We also saw the podium that Galileo lectured from. Also, the first woman every to graduate from college went to this University. Maren's decided if she could learn Italian, she could study here.
We saw several graduates celebrating with their families wearing laurel wreathes and leis.
We also enjoyed an amazing fruit and vegetable market this morning. Too bad we are staying in a hotel and I don't have a kitchen to cook in. We bought several different kinds of fruits to eat with our cream brioche, including tiny strawberries - about the size of a large blueberry.
Padua is small and we returned to our apartment twice to relax, play cards, catch up on our social media and take it easy. We even had time to watch Mrs. Doubtfire tonight (well, just half, because we are going to bed early since we have a long day in Venice tomorrow).
We also visited the Basilica of St. Anthony which is different than most churches we have seen - more Byzantine with a golden angel statue on top (it kept reminding us of the Angel Moroni on our temples, except with wings). Inside were relics of St. Anthony including his tongue, vocal chords, and lower jaw. These things just creep my kids out.
Our afternoon was spent relaxing and wandering a beautiful botanical garden that would rival Red Butte. It was peaceful - we had a lunch picnic of Calzone and Fanta and played cards on the grass - Bang. An Italian western game (think western themed cards with Italian names and instructions) - we love it! (Emma had my camera and I have about 200 pictures of plants and flowers now).
Dinner was another picnic at a huge piazza/park where we attempted to back hacky-sac, but just made fools of ourselves instead!
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| Saint Anthony's Basilica |
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| Bang card game at the botanical gardnes |
Beautiful Padua. Susan served her mission there. Prato Della Valle, the town center, is suppose to be the largest town center in Europe and was filled with a remarkable flea market when we visited. We stayed there several nights, including Susan's October 20, 2001 birthday. Our rooms were in a convent that had been converted into a hotel. We were practically beneath the domes of St. Anthony's Basilica. The bells chimed every fifteen minutes from 6:00 a.m. on. It was glorious! We too waited in line to see St. Anthony's tongue. Susan said she and the other irreverent missionaries who served with her called the Basilica "Tony's Place!"
ReplyDelete😃love the nature pictures- good job Emma
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