Italian Trip Diary -- Day #13 -- Along the Brenta Canal from Padua to Venice

Monday, June 25, 2001 -- Padua to Venice along the Brenta Canal:

Unfortunately, our trip from Padua to Venice was set for Monday.  It is the day that most of the villas along the Brenta Canal are closed.  In fact, it is also the day that there are no boats on the Canal between Padua and Venice (the way we had originally intended to make the trip).  Nonetheless, we took the road along the Brenta Canal and saw some of the villas designed by Palladio and his followers – two up close.

The Brenta villas were built along the Canal by the Venetian nobility as retreats from the unhealthy summer climate in Venice.  Many were designed by Palladio, although others were completed much later in a neo-Palladian style.

We stopped at the Villa Pisani near Stra, which was supposed to be open on Monday.  Unfortunately, on that particular Monday it was closed to allow an arts and crafts show to be set up.  We had to content ourselves with a walk along the front façade and garden walls. 

Villa Pisani on the Brenta Canal, built in the early 18th century for the Venetian Doge, Alvise Pisani.
Photo by Blomme-McClure

It is a very large house with an imposing central pavilion designed in the Palladian style by Giralamo Frigimelica and Francesco Maria Preti.  The house was built for Alvise Pisani, who was named Doge of Venice in 1736.  In later centuries it was used by Napoleon and hosted Hitler's first conference with Mussolini in 1934.  

Central pavillion of Villa Pisani with George walking away after finding it was closed the day of our visit.
Photo by Blomme-McClure

Detail of Telamones (male Carytids) on the central pavilion of Villa Pisani.
Photo by C. Koiveneumi

There is a large stables on the opposite side of the formal gardens from the villa.  The gardens extend in both directions and include a Belvedere folly and a formal maze with a viewing gazebo above it.

Stables across the back lawn from the Villa Pisani.  Photo by Blomme-McClure

Folly arising from the center of the formal maze in the gardens of Villa Pisani.
Photo by Blomme-McClure

Day lilies surrounding classical statue along the wall of the stables at Villa Pisani.
Photo by Blomme-McClure

We passed several more villas as we drove along the canal toward Venice.  We detoured along a side canal to Mirano to see the Villa Morosini XXV Aprile, which is now a public library surrounded by a park.  The Palladian-style symmetrical two-story façade with pedimented loggia on the second floor in the central bay is quite lovely.  

Villa Morosini XXV Aprile in Mirano is now a library.  Photo by Blomme-McClure

 We ate lunch on the terrace of the River Pub across the street from the villa/library.

Returning to the Brenta Canal we continued driving toward Venice through an increasingly industrialized area.  To reach Venice by car, you cross the Venetian lagoon on a bridge parallel to the railroad tracks and arrive at a huge parking garage where the Hertz office is located.  While I finalized the papers to turn in the car, George and Carl negotiated with a porter to take our luggage to the hotel.  They decided that I would accompany the porter with the luggage while George and Carl would take the vaporetto to Piazza San Marco and walk to the hotel from there.

The Piazzale Roma and the adjacent train station comprise one of the biggest intermodal transportation hubs in the world.  Everything and everyone coming into Venice must switch from a land-based mode of transportation (train, bus, truck, car) to some form of water-based transportation (water taxi, gondola, vaporetto, freight boat, barge).  It is a bustling place where porters and longshoremen move the baggage and freight from one conveyance to another.

Our luggage and I were taken to the side of a canal where luggage from a bus (probably a tour group) was being loaded onto a freight boat.  After all of the bus luggage had been stacked on the boat, the porter loaded our luggage, the luggage cart and me onto the boat.  The porter and the driver hopped on and we were off down the canals toward the hotel.  

Grand Canal from the back of the freight boat with our luggage.  Photo by McClure

At some point, after negotiating several smaller canals and crossing the Grand Canal we got mixed up in a huge traffic jam of gondolas, water taxis and other freight boats.

Traffic jam on one of the narrower canals from the prow of the freight boat.  Photo by McClure

At the next 'corner' the porter decided that the land route would be faster than waiting to get to the 'water door' of our hotel.  He grabbed the cart and the bags and the driver and the porter hoisted me out of the boat.  Off we went through a maze of small alleyways until we arrived at the 'land entrance' of our hotel (Albergo Cavalletto e Doge Orseolo, San Marco 1107, Venezia, 0039 041 52 00 955, http://www.sanmarcohotels.com/cavalletto/).  I paid the porter the agreed upon 100,000IL for transporting me and the luggage to the hotel.  I was graciously received by the front desk staff and escorted to a lovely corner room on the third floor.

In the meantime, George and Carl took Vaporetto #81 (it turns out that there are several different routes and both local and express versions with this number) down the Giudecca Canal

Gesuati (Church of St. Mary of the Rosary) on Giudecca Canal viewed from Vaporetto #81.
The church was designed by Giorgio Massari in the Palladian style and built between 1726 and 1743.  Photo by C. Koiveneumi

and around the Dogana to the San Marco stop.  

Punta della Dogana (foreground) and Santa Maria della Salute (behind).  The Dogana was built between 1678 and 1682 on the point where the Giudecca Canal joins the Grand Canal.  It was the customs house for the Republic of Venice.  Photo by C. Koiveneumi

From there they made their way to the far end of the Piazza San Marco 

Piazza San Marco, the 'Times Square' of Venice.  Photo by C. Koiveneumi

and thence to the Cavalletto, arriving nearly an hour after me and the luggage. 

The Cavalletto is through an arch near the northwest corner of Piazza San Marco and over a small bridge.  It is on a 'corner' where the canal broadens and then turns – running directly behind the buildings on the north side of Piazza San Marco.  

Water Entrance to Hotel Cavalletto (Albergo Cavalletto e Doge Orseolo).  Photo by C. Koiveneumi

Our room was on the corner of the building overlooking the canals on two sides.  When the windows were open,  it was filled with the cacophony of the gondoliers and their customers, since the corner of the canal opposite our room was where the gondolas were loaded, unloaded and tied up for the night.  

Gondolas on the canal from the windows of our room at the Hotel Cavalletto.  Photo by C. Koiveneumi

However, when the windows were closed the room was extremely quiet.  Carl had the single room next door which also overlooked the gondola basin.

That evening we walked through Venice to the Rialto Bridge on the Grand Canal.  

Rialto Bridge over the Grand Canal in Venice.  There are shops in the pavilion in the center of the bridge.
Photo by Blomme-McClure

Like the Ponte Vecchio in Florence, it is always packed with tourists.  It is one of only three bridges over the Grand Canal, although there are several tragettos – the wide gondolas that cross the canal on a regular time table.  Since the Rialto is a very high bridge, it affords lovely views of the palazzos lining the canal in both directions.

View from the top of the Rialto Bridge looking up the Grand Canal.  Photo by Blomme-McClure

On the far side of the bridge we found Trattoria alla Madonna (San Polo 594, Venezia, 041.5223824) which had been recommended by a New York friend.  It is in a narrow alleyway off the Fondamenta del Vin which runs along the canal from the end of the bridge and was readily apparent from the line of customers waiting in the alley to be seated.  Apparently it is always packed and anyone who wants to minimize the wait should be there when it opens.  There are no reservations, although some customers appear to get preferential treatment.  The specialty is fish and seafood and all of the varieties that we tried were fresh and delicious.  The prices are reasonable (for Venice) and the service is friendly, but fast paced (not a problem for New Yorkers, but possibly annoying for those accustomed to a more leisurely meal).

After dinner, we took another route back to the Piazza San Marco.  The square is never uncrowded (actually Carl got up early and went jogging several mornings and reported that it was quite peaceful in the early morning).  In the evenings the orchestras of at least four outdoor cafes create an aural competition offering jazz, show tunes, light classical and Venetian (Vivaldi, Scarlatti) music.  The one playing Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons” received the loudest cheers that evening.  Even with all of the people milling about and the clash of musical styles it is a magical urban space.  

While we were there (the Biennale was in progress) there was site-specific installation called 'Water and Fire' which lit up the second floor windows on the west side of the square.  LED screens alternately showed licking flames of red, orange and yellow and falling water of blue and white.  The square itself was alternately bathed in a warm red glow from the 'fire' and an icy blue glow from the 'water'. 

Basilica of San Marco bathed in light of 'Water and Fire' installation.  Photo by Blomme-McClure

It was a lovely work of site-specific art that brought added uniqueness to an already indelible place.

Italian Trip Diary -- Day #12 -- Padua

Sunday, June 24, 2001, Padua:

Sunday morning we walked through the old town to the Basilica.  There was a huge throng trying to get into the church for mass, so we elected to visit Oratorio di San Giorgio and the Scuola del Santo on the south side of the Piazza del Santo.  

Oratorio di San Giorgio (right) and Scuola del Santo (left) on Piazza del Santo in Padua.
Photo by Blomme-McClure

We were admitted by a very old custodian who did not speak English.  He gave us some rather stern instructions in Italian (which none of us speak).  The Oratorio is completely covered with frescoes recounting the lives of three saints – St. Lucy, St. Catherine and St. George.  The paintings are by Altichiero da Verona (a contemporary of Giotto) and Jacopo d'Avanzi.  

"Coronation of the Virgin' (in the lunette) and 'Crucifixion' (above the altar) frescoes by Altichiero da Verona and Jacopo d'Avanzi, in the Oratorio di San Giorgio, circa 1377-1384.  Photo from Wikipedia 

The custodian apparently has closed-circuit television surveillance of the Oratorio, because he came storming in when we started taking pictures – which is apparently against the rules.

Scenes from the life of Saint George by Altichiero da Verona (a.k.a Altichiero da Zevio)
 in Oratorio San Giorgio.  Upper panel 'Saint George Baptizing Saint Servius'.
Lower panel 'Saint George Liberated from Torture by Two Angels'.  Photo by Blomme-McClure

He had to unlock the Scuola next door which has magnificent frescoes about the life of St. Anthony at least partially painted by Titian.

'Saint Anthony Grants the Gift of Speech to the Newborn' by Titian, fresco, 1511.  Photo from Wikipedia

Both Carl and Doug decided to take pictures and the custodian first blinked the lights and then when we didn’t stop, he came storming in again and gave George (who had never even held the camera) a stern lecture (in Italian) with much gesturing.  We were saved by the appearance of a young man in jeans and sandals who let himself into the Scuola and began arranging music on the top of the organ.  We later saw the same young man in monk’s robes preparing to lead a prayer service there.

Somewhat shaken by ours encounters with the custodian, we left and made our way into the Basilica through the crush of people now leaving at the end of the service.  St. Anthony of Padua is apparently a place where families from all over the area make Sunday pilgrimages.  The Piazza was very festive after the mass, with lots of families gathering children darting all over the square and assisting doddering grandparents through the crowds.

The Basilica is a preview of the Byzantine style of San Marco in Venice with multiple domes and minarets springing up above the triangular pediment of the façade in an incredibly complex configuration.  

Basilica of Saint Anthony of Padua.  The side aisles were added after the nave was finished, 
accounting for the slight 'barn' silhouette of the pediment.  Photo by Blomme-McClure

Basilica of Saint Anthony of Padua from the rear cloister.  Photo by Blomme-McClure

Angel Gabriel atop the highest spire of the Basilica of Saint Anthony of Padua.
Photo by Blomme-McClure

Inside, the Basilica is filled with art -- frescoes, mosaics, sculpture and reliquaries.  The chapel behind the altar contains more than a hundred relics of saints – all in elaborate gold and silver cases encrusted with precious stones and crystal.  The actual tomb of Saint Anthony in the north transept is covered with photographs of people seeking the saint’s help.  Filled with worshippers at midday on Sunday it has a powerfully solemn, yet festive effect.

Coming out into the sunshine on the Piazza, we decided to stop for lunch at an outdoor cafe on the south side of the square not far from the famous equestrian statue by Donatello.

Equestrian statue of Erasmo da Narni (Gattemelata) by Donatello, bronze, 1453.  
Photo by Blomme-McClure

We sat near a large family group who had obviously just come from mass at the Basilica and were enjoying the early afternoon with a festive lunch.

Caffe Bar Gattemelata on Piazza del Santo in Padua where we stopped for lunch.
Photo by Blomme-McClure

After lunch we walked back through the old town with its University and coffee houses where the Risorgimento was enthusiastically embraced. 

University of Padua's Main Building.  Photo by Blomme-McClure

Palazzo del Bo (part of the University) with Cafe Pedrocchi on right.  Photo by Blomme-McClure

Cafe Pedrocchi, founded in 1772 and expanded to the present cafe in 1831-39, was the meeting place of
intellectuals from the University and leaders of resistance to the Austrian Empire.
Photo by Blomme-McClure

These rather ribald posters, apparently satirical commentary on politcal figures, were posted on walls around the University area.  Today I'm wondering if the one on the right is a caricature of Silvio Berlusconi.  Photo by Blomme-McClure

Then we visited the Municipal Gallery (Erimitani Museums) at the other end of town.  It is recently renovated and has a well-presented, if mediocre, collection of art and a well-reputed collection of antiquities.  Since it was a hot day, we were not very enthusiastic about being in a rather stifling space with no air conditioning.

The Scrovegni Chapel next door was closed for renovations, so we couldn’t see the famous frescoes by Giotto that are inside.  (It has since reopened with a spiffy new air filtration and humidity control system).  So we headed to the Caffe Cavour (Piazza Cavour 10, Padova, 8751224) for gelato before strolling back to the hotel.

That evening we had dinner at the Ristorante Cavalca (Via Daniele Manin 8, Padova, 8760061) not too far from the Hotel Belle Arte.  Dinner was fine except for a very loud, very drunk French Canadian at the next table who made the meal intolerable for everyone in the small dining room.  The charming young waiter seemed very apologetic and tried to be extra helpful with his limited English.