Paduaaaaaa

10/16/2009

We left a very tense Venice hostel. There is a lack of hot water issue. Luckily, I had taken a shower the night before and wasn’t planning on showing again until we got to Padua, but this problem really got a couple of people bent out of shape. Apparently the men’s dorm did not have a shower in it and so early in the morning this German guy would creep through our women’s dorm and take a 45 min shower in our shower. Not only did people dislike his disrespect of time, but they also didn’t like him creeping through our room. Then there was another guy, who was completely outraged of the price of the hostel and demanded that the lady running the hostel call to another hostel and inform them that he was coming. Obviously he was a complete newb to hostel staying and the lady pretty much told him to get a life. He ended up staying and pigging out on the free dinner and breakfast, going back for thirds, which everybody noticed. Lastly there were two girls, who looked like older women in their faces but acted and dressed like 17 year olds. When they came to the hostel they thought that the down payment that they had made online with hostelworld was the full payment (even though the confirmation emails say blatantly that you owe some amount when you arrive). Well they had made a bunch of bookings and plane reservations (they were traveling using RyanAir, a cheap airline around Europe) and had no money and were essentially stranded. They were ridiculous how much they were fighting and cussing at each other. Needless to say, I was ready to get out of the tension.

We took the vaporetto (waterbus) for the first time in an efficient manner. We got the good advice from a girl that was also leaving our hostel and heading towards the train station. She was a very nice Asian girl, traveling by herself. I had had a couple of conversations with her during our stay at the hostel. Using the vaporettos in an efficient manner was great for us because you cant have backpacks on when you are on the boats. Obviously this was a bit of a problem for us because we had to lug our packs with our arms once we got on the boats. The efficient way used lines that were not crowed so we could sit during the ride and also get to the train station faster.

We took a short train ride to Padua to meet up with Katherine’s dad’s girlfriend’s best friend’s sister, Patricia, who lives there and is a professor at the university. Patricia picked us up from the train station, gave us a little driving tour around Padua, and then we headed out to her house in the country. On the driving tour we saw Galileo’s tower, where he did a lot of his work and a very cool palazzo. The countryside was beautiful. It is in thermal hills, which create thermal pools from the water rushing off the Alps. Patricia told us that people from all over come to these pools to heal their aches and pains. In addition to that, there were grape vines everywhere. It was a beautiful day and the drive was quite breath taking. We saw people cycling all over and mostly cycling uphill (I only saw one lucky guy going down hill). Patricia said cycling was an extremely popular sport and right now her husband was at the equivalent of the Tour de France in Italy. Her husband, Pinot, is a retired professional soccer player (he played for Padua) and not is a sports writer.

When we arrived at her house we put our stuff away and had some lunch. Patricia lives in a very old Italian house. She just redid a small house next to hers that she uses as a guesthouse, which is where Katherine and I stayed. I absolutely adored these houses with the woodwork and the decorations of Italian tiles and ceramics. They were very cozy feeling. We had lunch that consisted of cold cuts (bologna and proscuitto), cheese, a delish salad done with a balsamic glaze, bread, and a little bit of wine.

Patricia was extremely welcoming to us. She has some fascinating stories about her travels all over the world. She met her husband when she was in Bali and moved to Italy and learned how to speak Italian once she was here. She said it took her a while because everyone spoke in dialect, which is much harder to understand and pick up on than proper Italian. Also is varies throughout different regions of Italy so much so that a dialect in northern Italy could be completely not understood to a dialect in southern Italy. She was so lucky to travel when it was a little more financial feasible and people weren’t so aggressive with trying to take advantage of foreigners. She has a son and a daughter that she talked about very fondly. Katherine and I are hoping to meet up with her daughter, who is an actress, and maybe get a cup of coffee with her. Its just nice to know a friendly face. I really enjoy meeting up with familiar people while traveling. By visiting an area where you know a more permanent resident you get a better feel for the area, learn more, and get to experience the hidden secrets. I am hoping that I will have many friends in my life that will live abroad. I will definitely take advantage of the opportunity to visit them.

After lunch we went with Patricia and her dog Lucy, who is a spaniel mix, on a hike through the chestnut forests behind her house. To say Lucy was excited to be on this walk is a huge understatement. She was elated to be running around through the forest. She was a sweetheart. Apparently, eating roasted chestnuts (castanyas) is a big thing there. This was the first time I had actually seen a chestnut. They come in very prickly balls that you break open and there are about three inside. You cook them over an open flame and they expand like potatoes and are a very filling snack. We tried to get some later on, but the spot that normally sells them with wine was closed. We will have to be on the look out for them in Florence. It was a very pleasant hike because it was a gorgeous day and the air was on the chillier side so it felt good to get our heartbeats up. We hiked to the top of a hill and had a drink (a real coke that is made with real sugar cane) at this little restaurant and enjoyed the view. It took us about an hour and a half to get to the top of the hill and then about 15 minutes to take a quick but steep route down. My foot did ok with the hike, but it needed to rest for the rest of the night.

Once we got back home we rested for a bit and chatted in the kitchen, while Patricia prepared dinner. For dinner Patricia made gnocchi with a butter sage sauce, meatballs, salad, wine, and bread. It was delicious. She loves wine, we love wine, it was a great match. At this point, I would like to explain that I have taken my mission of trying native foods has been taken to a whole new level in Italy and I am loving every bite of it. I am eating and trying everything and it always ends up being good! We talked for a while around the table and then moved into the living room to relax and watch some tv. Patricia also has Sky, so the tv was in English. We watched the end of the movie Alex and Emma, a silly chick flick. It was about 10:30 and Katherine and I were pretty whipped from the hike, so we retired early. Our bed was so comfortable with down comforters. It was a wonderful change from hostel sleeping.

The following things Patricia told us and I found them to be interesting. People normally grow their own grapes and make their own wine. Actually they do this with a lot of things like jam, eggs, etc and then give them to friends or trade with them. I thought this was great. Garlic is a southern Italy think. This kinda bummed me out. “Grana” is the word for parmesan cheese and also a word for money. I thought this was great because I love the idea of using parm cheese for money because it really is the best cheese ever! I noticed there are lots of churches in Italy, all over the place. Patricia commented that it was funny because to stereotype Italians, most don’t go to church, only on Easter.