We are staying in Padua for about a week to ring in the New Year; it’s a city about a half hour from Venice by train. Our friend Mary suggested we stay here instead of Venice and we are so grateful she did. It’s much calmer and, although it doesn’t have as much “romance” as Venice, it’s charming and a bit more reasonably priced.

It also contains a really important church. Below is a picture of the Basilica of Saint Anthony of Padua.

This basilica is most famous for its Chapel of Relics. For those of you who aren’t Catholic, relics are objects of divine power that have been consecrated by the church. They can be anything that has come in contact with a saint or martyr.

In this church, the relics are the tongue, jawbone, and larynx cartilage of Saint Anthony. I know, right? Super cool religious magic! Each relic had its own special, gilded niche. I couldn’t take pictures, but the tongue still looked like a tongue even after all these years (Saint Anthony lived the 13th century)! The info pamphlet in the church called the tongue a “perennial miracle” and an “inexplicable fact.”

Here’s an intense sculpture from the inside of the basilica. Check out the skeleton angel. I know that the sculpture just some sort of symbol or allegory, but it seems wrong that the skeleton is playing a wind instrument.

A few more pictures of Padua. It really is lovely.

Venice

We spent a beautiful, cold day in Venice. The city is exactly as you imagine it to be–canals, narrow streets, ornate storefronts and buildings–all in a state of beautiful decay. It’s an incredibly photogenic place.

We went to Saint Mark’s Square, of course, which is the heart of the city.

We visited three museums there, including the doge’s palace. We’re pretty jaded about palaces at this point, but this was a pretty nice one. Very gilded.

The palace was just okay, but the doge and his Council of 40 really outdid themselves with the prison. I’ve never been to one so large and so oppressive before; it was like being in a fantasy novel dungeon. Check out the prison courtyard. Nightmarish, right?

Here’s the famous “Bridge of Sighs” as viewed from the prison. I always thought the ‘sighing’ referenced in “Bridge of Sighs” was that of lovers, perhaps meeting for secret trysts in the moonlight. I was wrong. The bridge actually got its name from the ‘sighs’ of the condemned prisoners that would echo around the canal. I imagine the word ‘sigh’ is a bit of a euphemism.

Venice was altogether a wonderful place to visit. We have a few more days in Padua, so we may go back again, but I don’t think so. It must be high season for tourists, because the crowds were pretty intense and overall it’s really draining to be around so many people. I think we might be a bit worn out–it’s been six months that we’ve been traveling. We’ll be back to the States in mid-January and can’t wait to see you all! Happy New Year!