Well here we are, Sat evening and preparing to leave Padova tomorrow morning. Padova is about midway between Venice and Vicenza and still in the Veneto region.

Padova is bigger, busier and more vibrant than I had imagined, but then so were Verona and Vicenza. The economy everywhere seems to be bustling. The stores are busy, people are shopping, and young people are out everywhere, enjoying, it seems, the Italian way of life. Judging from the smiles on their faces, the clothes they wear, their general comportment and the lovers in the streets catching a not-so- furtive embrace, they must be enjoying it indeed!

This morning we visited the Scrovegni Chapel, built around 1300, the interior of which was adorned by the famous painter, Giotto. I cannot possibly describe it here-if at all. It took him 2 years to finish painting the frescoes inside, they are remarkably well preserved and one must actually wait in an air-lock room for 15 minutes before entering the chapel-only 25 at a time and max 15 minutes.

Almost all the streets, except for the major thoroughfares, at least the ones we've driven on in the old town, are on a one way system - makes driving around quite a challenge which is why one does not drive here. You drive the car to the hotel, hand them the key and don't see it again until you leave. We however, were a little more adventurous today....!

Having heard of Strada Di Vini (wine route) in the Colli Eugenei (Eugenei hills), an area about 10Km just south of here, we decided to take our chances and see what it was about. So with map in hand we set out explore. Although we did not get lost we could'nt quite figure out where on the map we were (hmmm...what is the definition of lost?)! The route took us from flat, plains like terrain to hills suddenly appearing before us climbing 400 - 600 metres elevation and very steep, windy roads....this of course is where the wineries were located-just to make it a little more challenging.. Anyway, we did manage to find 2. The first, in typical Italian hospitality insisted we taste their olive oil as well as grappa. After several tastings we bought a bottle of wine from each.

We found our wayback to the hotel without a problem-thanks to my excellent navigator.

>From here we head to Ravenna with a stop in Ferrara. Ciao for now, Harvey & Carol