Leaving Mantova // Padova Day #1

Leaving Mantova // Friday Morning

Our train was scheduled to leave Mantova (to Verona) at 5:55 from track 1 T. There was a train to Venezia on track 1 that was scheduled to leave just before our train. We figured there was no difference between tracks 1 and 1 T, so we sat down on a bench and waited for the train to Venezia to leave... which it did not. 5:55 passed and I checked our train again, and thought, "1 T, maybe that's a different track." Sure enough, I looked to the right, and there was track 1 T, train to Verona.... leaving... without us.

Not knowing what to do, we found out that there was a rail strike that day, which complicated our situation a little bit more. We got in a cab which took us all the way to Verona, € 80. When we arrived at the station in Verona, there were three trains going to Padova. The third train was our originally scheduled train. I thought we should ask information if the trains were actually going to go because of the strike, my mom wanted coffee. So she went off to get coffee and returned with no coffee stating, "The coffee is next to the tracks."

6:48

I send my mother to information to find out what is going on. The three trains to Padova are at 7:02, 7:20 and 7:45 or something like that.

6:58

My mother leaves the information desk, grabs her suitcase and says "Run. The 7:02 train is the last train leaving to Padova for the day."

7:01:30

We get on the train.

Here's the amazing thing. If we hadn't missed our original train to Verona, we would have never caught the last train to Padova.

First Day in Padova

We arrived in Padova about 30 minutes ahead of schedule, so we waited patiently for my friend Elena to pick us up. We greeted her (it had been four years since we last saw her when she stayed with us in Los Angeles) and then she brought us to her house. But first! We had a tour of downtown Stra (the town where she lives). Stra is really a cute town, it has a lot of narrow alleyways (like Paris or Rome) and then some shops, a farmer's market, etc. It's very nice. We had lunch at her house, whole roasted chicken and potatoes. I wish I had taken a photograph, it was beautiful and delicious. Then we had some fruit, and then my mom and I took a nap because we were exhausted from the earlier half of the day.

Chiesa Santa Giustina

After our nap, we went to Padova to walk around and see the town. We visited a few churches and walked through a beautiful park called Prato Della Valle. One of the churches we visited had a special service where the priests sing and pray, I am not a catholic, so I am unsure of the name of the service, but it was at the Chiesa Santa Giustina. I would love to attach the recording to this post, but that is too difficult so I have posted it on another blog and the direct link is here.

Prato Della Valle

Then we took my mother to the train station where we had an interesting photo shoot... just a brief one. My mother went off to Paris, and we went off to eat Indian food in Italy. Again, I wish I had taken a photo of the food I had at this restaurant because the Indian food in Italy was better than any of the Indian food I had in London. I think I ended up at the wrong Indian restaurants in London because this food in Padova (of all the places in the world) was incredible. I had Chicken Biryani and veggie Samosas, and also a Mango Lassi. Delicious delicious delicious. Then we went home and went to bed!

London, Day #15

Friday

Today I went to Bath all by myself!

I had the most amazing time in the first half of the day. I started out by getting off the train (still with laringitis by the way) and finding my way towards the Roman Baths! They are sort of tucked into the center of the town, so not the easiest things to find (but of course once I found them I walked past them about five or six times for the rest of the day).

I will preface my entry to the baths by saying that I read a book published in 1978 about Bath on my train ride, and so I knew a lot of information about the excavations, pieces they found, and where they fit together on the site, how the site was structured, etc. There is little information that has surfaced since 1978. The admission to the museum included an audio tour, which I tried but soon neglected as I wanted to concentrate more on the artifacts and the water than the audio commentary. The Baths themselves were quite interesting, and I really enjoyed walking around. I was there before noon (when several tour groups every day are scheduled to arrive) so it was not too crowded. I think that just being in a piece of architecture that is so old and still beautiful and mostly standing is really an amazing feeling, and it put a smile on my face.

After the Bath I stumbled upon an art store, and of course I went in, and instantly found the ruler I have been searching for.... for over a year! In Bath! Of all places! So I bought it and moved along to the Postal Museum. Bath is the town where the postal service originated, and in the basement of their post office they have a historical museum with artifacts and the like about the beginnings of the royal post! It was very interesting, and the best thing was they let you perforate a sheet of fake stamps that you can take with you!

Then guess what I found? A store entirely dedicated to kitchenware? Yes! It was marvelous and made the smile on my face even larger (now you must remember that I have laringitis). I was the mute woman walking through the store with a smile from ear to ear. I had the staff coming up to me asking if I was alright, rather than if I needed help. It was like heaven. I could have slept there. Even under the knives I would have been comfortable because they were beautiful knives!

Then I went in search of what used to be a bookbinding museum. I found it. It is now an antiquarian bookstore, so I browsed around at the £6,500 books they had on the shelves. I wandered around again until I found Sally Lunn's, the oldest house in Bath. I had lunch there, smoked salmon on a Sally Lunn Bun (a recipe from the 17th century at least). It indeed was a good bun, kind of just like a nice soft bread. They also had a small museum that just showed what the kitchen looked like (in the basement) etc.

After lunch I walked up to the Jane Austen Centre, but I did not go further than the gift shop, because I paid, what I considered to be, too much for my lunch and didn't need to run up an even greater tab by looking at this house for £6. I then walked to the Royal Crescent, a really beautiful piece of architecture, and I proceeded to relax in the park there and read some essays by Woody Allen. It was indeed a pleasant afternoon. By the time I was finished it was just about 4 o'clock. I went to Topshop (a clothing store that has many locations in London) because I figured the one in Bath was probably not nearly as crowded as the one on Oxford Street in London, and I bought a cute blue blazer on sale for £54 less than it's original price. After that I was done, and it was nearly 4:30 when I realized that I had another 4 hours before I could use my train ticket to get back to London.

Speechless and alone I wandered the streets of Bath, slowly becoming more upset at myself for not buying an open return ticket for a slightly higher price. I sat in a cafe and had three cups of green tea, and struggled to skype with my mother using my phone and my lack of voice. I then ate dinner at a Thai restaurant called "Mai Thai," where even getting a table for 1 at 6:30 meant you had to be gone by 7:45. So I ate my salty noodles (unhappy that they were salty) and then read more Woody Allen in the train station. Of course the stories I stumbled upon were not as funny as the ones I had been happily reading in the Royal Crescent Park.

Now if you don't want to be in my even sadder state of mind, I suggest you stop reading here.

Finally 8:43 came around and my train arrived. My reserved seat, however, was not reserved, and was instead occupied by three burly, drunk, rugby fans. I sat nearby, thinking that when my ticket was eventually checked, I would need to be in the right part of the train. That was stupid as these drunken old men decided it would be fun if they yelled profane words at the tops of their lungs (well I guess you could say more profane words for body parts like "tits" and "arse"). It was quite rude, and horrid. Finally the lads passed out when a baby started to cry, making the audible portion of the train ride a true gemstone amongst loud trains. To add to my misery, the train was delayed 30 minutes. By the time I arrived at Paddington station, I practically ran off the train (not wanting to be present for the awakening of the drunks) to the tube station. Once I was on the tube I tried to laugh it all off, but instead ended up with the randomest of bloody noses.

Miserable, I took a £5 cab ride to my house, where all the lights were turned off and so thank goodness my keys are attached to a flashlight or else I would have truly cried (well I did cry once I got upstairs and into the comfort of my bed).

I promise you that Saturday was a much better day (even though the first half of Friday was wonderful) and I will write about it once Sunday is also finished.

xooxoxoxoxoxoxo

Photos of Bath and the other portions of my trip as well.

You can also see photos of my 21 year old teddy bear on her blog as she visits many places in London alongside me.