Padua

5 May - Day 51

We drove to Arezzo today, a larger than Siena town about 64km northeast. On the way there we stopped at very quiet hillside village called Cititella in Val di Chiana for lunch. Being small and quiet didn't deprive us of an excellent meal at the, quaint if mildly pricey, Osteria L'Antico Borgo. Marcus had a spaghetti carbonara, and I a ravioli. We shared an artichoke compote, and were given a gratis jellied vegetable something after we placed our orders.

The restaurant itself was was more like a bunker and the owner said it used to be a grainery with a grinder which you can see behind Marcus.

The views over the Arezzo valley was pretty nice from up here.

In 15 mins or so, we were in Arezzo. Apparently, the hit Italian movie Life is Beautiful was based and shot here. I could not tell because I am getting piazza overdose, and one is beginning to look like every other one.

Arezzo has its share of nice cathedral, frescos and museums. We did not bother giving these too much focus, but instead wandered around the cobblestone alleys just admiring the structures externally, enjoying the warm weather (22c), and poking around at the flea market going on at the time.

 

6 May - Day 52

After a hearty breakfast at the B&B in Siena, we took the 240km drive to our next stop Padua (or to the Italians, Padova). It took just under 3 hours on intermediate twin lane motorways at 90/100kmh limits. There was no escaping the tolls, 14.90 euros.

We arrived early at the Padova Crowne Plaza, at 12.30, and too early for check-in. So I went in to use the bathroom. On the off chance, I enquired if our room was ready. It wasn't, but we could have an upgrade to a junior suite, as that was ready. For some reason, I could not say no to that, and checked-in. The very nice clerk also advised that our breakfast was half price at 6.50 euros and gave me 10 hours of free internet.

This is a four star hotel, less one star because it was 5km outside the city - but I didn't care because we have a car.

Driving in Italy is a mixed blessing. On one hand you can go anywhere. On the other hand, obscurities such as parking rules, restricted entry zones, narrow streets and tight parking are diabolical. I have collected 3 dings Italy after 1 month of accident free driving in Spain and France. Thanks Peugeot for excess free insurance. On the way home in Siena one time, I folded the passenger wing mirror driving too close to a parked car, trying to avoid driving too close to a passing car on my side.

 

Restricted entry zones, if you can't recognise them, costs about 82 euros per entry. There are cameras at the entry points to snap your number plate. I can't wait to find out how many fines Peugeot will be loading onto my Visa from Italy.

 

Once checked in we were again hungry. Padova has this drive and park scheme, where you park you car at the first tram stop for 50c (half day) or 1 euro (full day) and take the tram into the city.

So Marcus programmed the GPS to take us to the nearest drive and park tram location. Being Sunday, we did not have to pay the parking fee at all. So it was just the tram fare, 1.30 euro.

We wandered around Padova for about 2 hours. There was a local produce fare going in Prato della Valle.

We walked through some nice piazzas (Piazza delle Erbe) and popped into Basilica St Giustina.