May 12, 2006 - May 14, 2006
I took the train to Rovigo on Friday and at the train station I met up with Giambattista. He was nice enough to pick me up from the station and then drive me back to his house in Conselve. We took a quick break and then headed out to Arre. There we stopped at the Cassanego farm to visit Barbarina and Giuseppe. After that visit we picked up Anna and Giulia and went to visit the cemetary as well. We then proceeded to go to Monselice and walk around the city. We went up to a hill overlooking the city that had seven chapels. Unfortunately, we weren't able to walk up to them since the site had already closed by the time we got there.
After all this moving around we went to have dinner at a restaurant in Monselice. We had a very good dinner with some appetizers (which I tried, many of them were quite good including the zucchini flowers), and then I had gnocchi. This was more than enough fill me up. During dinner a fashion show in the piazza outside of the restaurant had started. It was free and open to everyone who wanted to watch. After dinner we went back to Giambattista, Elena, and Ennio's house where I spent the night.
On Saturday Giambattista and Elena first took me to Arquà Petrarca, which as you probably guessed, is the small town where Petrarch lived for some time. We looked at Petrach's house and looked at the sights of the city. It was a beautiful little town on top of a hill. After that we had lunch back at Elena and Ennio's house and then met up with Anna, Giulia and Sofia. From there we headed to Padova.
The first thing that we went to visit was the Scrovegni Chapel painted by Giotto. It is a very impressive and beautiful chapel. We then walked around the streets of Padova and everyone explained a bit of the history of the city to me. Unfortunately, I'm sure I'd butcher it in a retelling so I won't attempt that here. We also went to see St. Anthony's Tomb in the Church of St. Anthony there in Padova.
After Padova we headed back to Conselve and met all the relatives for dinner. We had an awesome dinner that night. For the second course I shared a Bistecca Fiorentina with Giacomo and Giambattista. Aside from the food it was very fun to see everyone and try to speak Italian. After dinner I went to spend the night with Giampaolo, Laura, and Giacomo.
On Sunday we got up and took some picture before leaving for the city of Ferrara. Unfortunately, it was raining a little and so I wasn't able to really take any pictures of the city. Giampaolo, Laura, and Giacomo showed me around the city and explained a little about the history of the city. After leaving Ferrara they drove me back to Florence.