Padova Off The Beaten Path

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The Chapel of the Scrovegni is a very simple design with the warm colour of brickwork, however, inside of this walls you can see the frescoes which are celebrated all over the world. The best preserved and most authentic in existance are by Giotto.
It is a must see when visiting Padova.

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This is the main entrance into the Public Gardens, which isin Corso Garibaldi, where the Scrovegni Chapel is situated. Public Gardens is an huge area with greenery, centrally positoned, and favorite promenade place and playground.

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Piazza dei Signori has two faces, one in the morning which is ugly coz it houses open market place and other in the afternoon wvich looks very pretty coz the market is gone. That is the reason I have put this beautiful Palazzo del Capitano on "off the..." tip.
Palazzo del Capitano was built from 1599 to 1605, and it dominates on Piazza dei Signori. In the central position of the palace there is the tower which holds astronomical clock.

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The truncated Torre bianca del Comune (white tower of the Commune) stands here between the two palaces. This formed the twin of the Torre rossa (red tower) overlooking the Volto della Codra.
The palace looks very attractive in the twilight.

Bathrooms in Italy are, well, unconventional, to say the least. Now understand I am speaking from a North American point of view, and I'm used to much different facilities than are found in Italy.

For example, I like the idea that 'our' toilets have seats, not always so in Italy.

I like having a big round ceramic bowl to rest my 'seat' on.(as above) In Italy, you often find open holes, with ribbed foot rests. Nowhere do they display instructions on how to prepare for action.

I prefer our levers to activate the flushing action. In Italy they play hide and seek, is it hidden within a recessed hole (yuck), is it behind the little brush unit (another story), is it the plastic panel behind the unit at chest level, is it the foot pedal on the floor, is it the chrome dooey, and do you pull up on it....or is it the chain hanging from the ceiling?

I'm not fussy about the unisex washrooms in Italy. I know space is at a premium, but....

I really don't like the barrel bolt used to secure the stall doors. They're always greasy or something (once again, yuck)

I like the tissue that is usually available back home, I don't like remembering that I left my Kleenex pack in my jacket back in the dining room.

I feel great pity for the person who is employed to monitor the comings and goings of patrons entering the facilities, handing out small squares of tissue in exchange for a token of your appreciation.

LEARN TO MAKE USE OF ANY AND ALL FACILITIES AS YOU FIND THEM. THEY ARE NOT AS NUMEROUS HERE AS WE ARE USED TO.

I don't know why but in Italy every town hall looks artistic - not functional maybe - but artistic nonetheless. I really liked the one in Padova, too. It was started in 1919 and - obviously never finished (I did say "not functional". In the original plan it was meant to link up with Palazzo degli Anziani and Palazzo del Podestà. Who knows... maybe sometimes in the future... remote future??

Down the road and over the bridge friom the station, and next to the former "convento degli Eremitani" you will find a small park: if you can ignore the drug addicts there you'll have the possibility to see the ruins of a roman theatre where gladiators used to fight. Not much of it is left - but the ruins are still quite interesting: they're tucked away behind the little construction in the middle of the park

I bumped into this building, Palazzo Romanin Jacur, by chance - and immediately liked its gothic architecture. It's in via S. Francesco 9. I could not find much information except from the fact that in 1800's it was an important place of culture and that two literary magazines were published here. When I was there, all I cared for were the ornated windows: more interesting then its history