Venice: Doge's Palace

So we took the train (4.80 euro round-trip) from Treviso to Venice. About an hour all-told, including the bus from the camperstop to the station in Treviso. I think we did three very full days in Venice on this basis. It was already warming up considerably (mid-June), and the place was crawling with tourists; as always.

But first, a word about Treviso, a beautiful little city, northwest

of Venice, but loaded with (merely scenic) canals, and a very

helpful TI and attitude toward campers (free camperstop)

So here we are in Venice; we don't always try to wear matching

outfits, but with our limited wardrobe, it's inevitable...

Grand Canal: I am always reminded of the quip to an editor

"Arrived Venice. Streets flooded. Please advise."

Rialto Bridge

A bit down the road, as it were, St. Mark's Square; the usual

number of tourists, far less trash and pigeons than in years

past; the City of Venice now is apparently now "poisoning
the pigeons in the park," introducing pigeon birth-control

substance into the pigeon feed; a good thing 

Doge's Palace, off St. Mark's Square

Great Hall in the Doge's Palace; behind the backs of the

guards, I succeed in getting a foto of the place, including the

largest oil painting ever done, Tintorello's (or was it

Veronese?) last judgment; I tried for a second shot, but

she turned on me in an instant...

Nevertheless, I still got this favorite shot: in the

hall are portraits of all the Doges (dukes); this

guy somehow betrayed the city (renegged a

Japanese tour bus contract or somesuch) and

has forever since had his portrait covered in

black

View of the Bridge of Sighs, from the Bridge

of Wows (or possibly the Bridge of Huhs or

the Bridge of Whys)

View from the Bridge of Sighs to the Bridge

of Wows, etc.

My favorite art work at the Palace of the Doges

Arena Chapel (Scrovegni Chapel)

We went to Padua primarily to see the Arena Chapel (aka Scrovegni Chapel). It was consecrated in 1305, and built largely to ensure the salvation of the Scrovegni family, notorious usurers whom Dante had already damned (so to speak), adjoining their palazzo, built on the site of the old Roman arena (hence "Arena"). Nothing of the palazzo remains but the Arena Chapel. It has been venerated and preserved for centuries as home of perhaps the first great Renaissance painting masterpieces, Giotto's Mary and Jesus fresco cycles, which cover two of the walls; the rest of the interior is painted completely with a last judgment and various decorative and illusionary stuff. I'll include just a few pix, grabbed from http://www.wga.hu/frames-e.html?/html/g/giotto/padova/index.html, which has a great e-tour of the site. Visitation is by reservation, only 20 are allowed inside at one time, and only for 15 minutes; and this after having been de-humidified in an air-lock ante-chamber for 20 minutes. Needless to say, "no fotos!" But it's all worth it, even for just 15 minutes.

You know you have made it when they name a shopping center after you

Magnolias are a major part of the Italian landscape, and they have been blooming 
since we got here; this in the park next to Arena Chapel

There it is, Art History Ground Zero

Back side, including the de-humidifying annex (they also show you an educational 
video); there is also a museum with great hi-tech stuff; punctuality is enforced...
show up late and you have to buy another ticket, 15 euros, and hope there's an

opening in the next few days...

Inside; the walls are entirely painted, both with the paintings per se 
but also with decoration and illusionary stuff

Back wall: last judgment

Relevant detail

Entry into Jerusalem

Betrayal

Lamentation

Padua

From Ravenna we drove north on the blue roads, our goal to see Padua and specifically its Arena Chapel, and then to see Venice from a presumed camperspot in Padua. When we arrived in Padua the camperstops seemed already spoken for, by the weekly market and also by a carnival just being set up. We did a little quick research and decided to head for Treviso, to stay at the free camperstop there, and to take the bus or train into Padua and also Venice. This actually worked, although the commute times were a little more than hoped for. Treviso is a beautiful little city in which to hang-out.

The enormous Palazzo della Ragione in Padua; town hall type place

Originally the interior was adorned with Giotto frescoes, but a fire in the 14th 
century destroyed them

Completely functional solar clock; no moving parts

Italians are really into their aged balsamic vinegars; from the 
market nearby the Palazzo, this 3 ounce bottle of 100 year 
old Grand Reserva Oro can be yours for only 225 euros
(about $310); Vicki bought a small bottle of 100-month old, 
surely the most expensive vinegar we ever have bought; not 
for fish and chips, she has cautioned me

Padua street scene

First full-sized  bronze equestrian statue done in the west
after the fall of Rome, Donatello's Gattmelata; outside
St. Anthony's duomo

Across the street, "Donatello slept here"

Inside St. Anthony's, at the shrine, some incredible reliefs depicting the saint's 
many miralces; here, he prevents a man from killing his wife; well, he did kill 
her, but St. Anthony resuscitated her, as he apparently did with many others; 
as a miralce worker, Jesus was a veritable piker compared with your average 
medieval saint

It's a beautiful church, but too dark for the forbidden fotos

Across the nave, looking at the St. Anthony shrine; this is the first church we 
have been in where the pilgrims/faithful clearly out-numbered the tourists; yes, 
including St. Peter's too

Just a peek at the altar, adorned by six Donatello bronzes

St. Anthony's Duomo, Padua; another Byzantine monstrosity on the outside; 
beautiful on the inside

Much interesting and old architecture in this town

Ravenna: The Non-Mosaic Bits

Ravenna is usually a day-trip from Florence or Venice, not really on the way anywhere. The old town is very scenic and pedestrian-friendly, and clearly the city has cultural/touristic aspirations. It's already a World Heritage Site.

They have my vote for 2019

Main square

As I said, pretty much everything of age in

these precincts leans; here's a pretty good

(bad) secular example; the whole place is an

estuary, I think, and from here on north one

gets nothing but the huge lagoons, e.g., the

one Venice sits in; the area west of Ravenna,

after you cross the Apennines, is about the

most intensively cultivated place we have

seen, with every imaginable fruit/vegetable

cultivated; and it is totally flat country; many

canals, although unclear to me whether they

are for drainage or for irrigation...

Being a bit off the main tourist track, Ravenna doesn't get many

tour buses; we did see a few of these out in Classe

Many of the shops feature...mosaics

Actually, mosaics are everywhere; unlike many cities one

sees, Ravenna seems to have a pretty clear sense of itself

The Dante Alighieri Theatre

And Dante's tomb

Dante, reading his email, seems surprised at

something on the monitor; he spent his last

19 years in Ravenna, exiled from Florence;

wrote most of the Divine Comedy here; died

of malaria; I got several bites...

Even though we had seen the Adriatic before, sailing from

Patra in Greece to Bari in Italy, I wanted to see it at this

latitude; I was sorry I did...off-shore natural gas drilling is

very big here

Oops, almost forgot: here is the one picture of one of these

6th century churches, this one St. Vitale and its tower; the

mausoleum of Galla Placidia is on the same grounds

Ravenna Mosaics II

Now in the Neonian Baptistry, more Arian symbolism, very

early 5th century

A very Roman-looking figure (to me)

All around the middle register of the baptistry, empty chairs

awaiting the new converts, and the four gospels

Now in the duomo museum...a 5th century stone tablet for

calculating Mardi Gras, I mean, Holy Week 

And in the 6th century bishop's private chapel

this most unusual portrayal of Christ as

warrior, carrying the cross as a sword,

treading upon the lion and serpent, symbols

of evil

And now in the Basilica St. Apollinaire Nuovo; the official

church of King Theodoric of the Goths; Christ and perhaps

the four gospel writers, who have sprouted wings; or maybe
just angel body-guards

Another depiction of Jerusalem

Interior of St. Apollinaire Nuova: 6th century, very much in

the fashion of the Roman basilica (town hall, law courts); on

upper register, girls (virgins, proceeding to Mary) on the left

and boys (martyrs proceeding to Jesus) on the right

When Justinian retook Ravenna, he had most of the Arian/

Goth stuff mosaic-ed over; enlarge and look at the white

marble columns and you'll see some stray hands and arms
they missed

And now in the basilica of St. Apollinaire Classe, out by the

camperstop where we parked (free) two nights; Classe is a

couple km from Ravenna; in Roman times it was the great

naval base for the Adriatic; consecrated in 549

Huge mosaic over the apse; no Pantokrator!

St. Apollinaire himself (no relation to Apollo), who brought

Christianity to the area; rancid with Christian symbolism