The Past Few Days

We are acutely aware that we haven't blogged for a few days, but it's not because we can't be bothered or there's nothing to write about.  In fact we are having a wonderful time, just relaxing and taking it all in, which was always our intention on this trip.  We never intended to rush around "doing stuff", and that's the beauty of it. 

In the mornings we get up around 8:00 or 9:00am and if we feel like it, we eat breakfast here in the apartment, which generally comprises cereal, toast and tea, but quite often we go to one of the nearby cafes called Brek, which is so ridiculously good that we repeatedly wonder why we ever have breakfast at home.  One euro (about $AUD1.34) at Brek will buy you a wonderful coffee (any kind you like) and a pastry - this pastry comes served hot, freshly baked and you can choose either: a plain croissant, a flaky pastry filled with Nutella, a croissant filled with custard, a plain donut, jam-filled donut or custard-filled donut or a muffin. So, one euro = one coffee + one pastry.  Does it get any better than that?

There's always something going on in Padua.  We are happy to walk around the different market stalls every day and buy this and that while observing the "theatre". 

Sometimes there will be a guy playing the piano accordian, or a juggler or a balloon artist.  This morning there was a brass band - we don't know what the celebration was, but the uniform was interesting, featuring feathered hats and much pomp and ceremony.



I am enjoying cooking dinner most nights as I find the ingredients are of much higher quality than I am able to buy at home (even the eggs are better - so yellow and so fresh that I think they are laid on the day we buy them).  I haven't cooked anything that I wouldn't have made at home, but we think the meals have been very good.  We've also been sampling some AMAZING cheeses, sausages and breads here in Padua;  I've never seen such a variety of smallgoods as we have seen in the marketplace here.  Photos of a couple of the dishes I've prepared, follow:

Last Friday I went to see the synagogue here, hoping to just pop in for a moment, take a look around and then leave.  I realised that it was Succoth, a special holy day in our calendar but I didn't think that would make a difference.  An hour and a half later I emerged, having stayed for the whole service and been plied with sweet cake and wine, as well as being invited back to come again as often as I can.  There were only 18 in the whole congregation but everyone was SO nice to me that I felt very welcome and included from the moment I arrived, when I was given a prayer book and shown which passage they were up to; it was all lovely.  To travel to the other side of the world and find your own people waiting for you is very heartwarming.

We have been blessed with wonderful weather since arriving, with temperatures around 20 degrees each day as well as clear blue skies most of the time.  It can be chilly in the evening but we came prepared for that and manage perfectly well with an extra jacket and scarf when we walk after dinner.  Last night we walked to the piazza and bought gelati around 8:00pm but we came back to the apartment to eat it, as there was a bit of a cool breeze blowing and it was easier to just head back home.  Most afternoons we sit in the piazza and have a glass of wine while doing some people-watching before we have dinner.  There is quite a sport of that going on here, it seems.  Many couples and small groups seem to do the same as we do, perhaps on their way home from work.  There is a fellow roasting chestnuts in the piazza late each afternoon and we usually choose a spot where we can watch him throwing the huge pan in the air and chatting with everyone who walks by.

Today we made a day trip to a little town called Este, which is about 30 minutes away by train.  It is an historical town with a castle, and every third Sunday there is an antique market in the piazza, so we thought that might be fun.  It was OK, but not as good as we expected.  It doesn't matter, though, because when you have a month to do things, there will be some days that are better than others.  Here's the obligatory photo of the castle in Este, anyway:

Incidentally, for the first time today since our journey began, I heard the "f-word" and not just once but about 87 times.  It wasn't an Italian saying it.  A group of young Australian boys boarded our train, apparently on their way to watch a rugby game (?) in Verona.  They were loud and obnoxious and every sentence was punctuated with swearing and carry-on.  We were not proud.

Is it wrong to say that we're missing TV?  We have about 300 stations on our TV but none of them is English-speaking.  Sometimes in the evening you just want to sit down and watch a movie, a documentary or any old thing, but it's not possible.  I'm grateful for having the Kindle with me, as I've read four books in the past two weeks and am nearly finished with my fifth.

OK, enough from me for now.  Hope all is well, wherever you are reading this.

D1

Ritual

I'm still reeling from the surprise that is Padua.  It was so different in 2009 that I hardly recognise it now, except for the familiar sense that here in Padua all is well.  It's a very surrounding and enveloping town, cosy like a warm blanket and welcoming like an old friend.  Below are two photos taken looking each way down the street from the window of our apartment, early this morning.

A huge part of the community here is made up of university students, as Padua is an old university town - the University of Padova was founded in 1222.  The young people provide colour and light to this old town and their laughter and joy is apparent.  How could anyone be sad, in this town which offers so much?

It appears that today is graduation day for some of the students; further, it appears that there are some interesting rituals which take place on this special day.  After the official ceremony, students parade down the main street to the piazza (public square), wearing a wreath of bright green laurel leaves and bells around their necks, so that everyone can easily identify the students out of the general throng.

On arrival, their friends and family form a kind of guard of honour for them and the student runs back and forth through this, while being slapped on the back.  At this point, they are still wearing their graduation outfits, but soon thereafter the family surrounds the student and another set of clothing is dragged out for them to change into; this second outfit has been put together by their friends and might be a superhero costume, a great big nappy, funny hat or another strange costume of some kind (one boy we saw was dressed only in his jocks, with a beak on his face - more of this later...). 

A pedestal is erected and the student must stand on it and recite a long funny poem about his life which has been written and transcribed onto a huge scroll along with a large caricature of the student, by his friends; in the meantime, the mates spray him with shaving lotion, pour water and flour on him, throw eggs at him, squirt tomato sauce or any of a number of other concoctions at him in order to distract him from the reading - if he makes a mistake while reading, or hesitates, he must take a swig of the(reasonably alcoholic) beverage which has been brought along for him.  By the end of the poem, the student is generally covered head to toe in a mixture of all the things he or she has been sprayed with.

The aforementioned student wearing only jocks, was covered in something very sticky, followed by a pillow-ful (?) of feathers, so that he looked like a 6-foot chicken.

All of the swigging is of course accompanied by chanting and laughter and it's all great fun to watch.  There might be a limbo stick or the local fountain to be contended with, too - all with great hilarity, of course! When it is over, the graduand is wiped down and tidied up enough to be able to put his proper clothes back on, then everyone goes off to a big celebratory meal elsewhere.  The theory behind the ritual is that this is the fun part at the end of the studies and before the serious part of real life begins. Good theory.

D1