Misty Mountains: Italy Adventures II

Day three in Italy was Padova! Padova (or Padua in English spelling) is completely different from Verona and Venice- it’s not built for tourists, but for students! There are universities all over town, and things are student-priced from renting a flat to cafés. Another fun fact is that nearly all of these old universities are housed in palaces. So, when you are a university student in Padova, you go to a palace for class. Not too shabby. Downtown Padova contains the very impressive, large Herb and Fruit Squares, which as you might guess, are markets!  They are situated on either side of the Palazzo della Ragione, the bottom two stories of which continue the market in a covered area.  Besides being a university city, Padova also gets to boast about having the largest open squares in Italy, maybe one of the biggest in the world! It’s called Prato della Valle:

Markets! Fruit Square

More markets!

A lot of the impressive things to see in Italy are generally cathedrals and basilicas, which can get rather boring after a while. However, they also sparked some really interesting conversations in our mini group of international travelers. We got into some cool discussions on religion and Catholicism having the perspectives of a devote Muslim, a Muslim, a Christian (me) and a strongly raised Catholic who has turned away from the Italian church. It was really interesting to listen to everyone’s opinions and beliefs.

My other favorite thing about Padova was the Botanical Garden. Not really on the list of things to visit in the city, but I loved it. Only one euro to get in, and then we could lose ourselves in the garden, splashing in green all around and only the sounds of a bubbling fountain. All spring break, I suddenly became utterly content and happy when I found myself in a garden or a park or a forest. I think I’ve been going through nature withdrawal living in Brussels- even in our few parks, you can never forget that you’re in a city. So I had to soak in the greenery whenever I could!

After trying the famous Spritz drink in Padova- white wine mixed with Aperol and sparkling water, which everyone was drinking at nearly every single café or bar in Northern Italy- it was time to visit Illy’s home town of Brescia!

Spritz!

There was a graffiti artist in Padova that was really cool- he always has this guy with a top hat and a cat in it somewhere. I made it a kind of scavenger hunt to find them

Brescia is a small town, but beautiful, surrounded by those green misty mountains again; crowned by the Castello that gives a spectacular view of the city and the mountains. I got to meet her kind parents, and have some more simple and delicious Italian food for lunch and dinner. Brescia was a resting sort of day, which was fine for us!

Brescia from the Castello! Mountains surrounded the city

Brescia's Castello

My last stop in Italy was Milan, and a small town just outside called Busto Arsizio. There, one year later, I got to meet up with some of my friends I met last year in Glasgow and spring break! It was so nice to see them again, and to just catch up a bit, meander around the slightly-familiar Milan and see a new sight or two as well. Plus, I had two Italian men cooking for me, which is fine any day.

Milan, Parc Sempione

Time in Italy flew by, and suddenly it was time to take the plane to Paris, France! Leaving Italy, I got once last glance of my misty mountains. Now onto France!