It catches you every time

When you turn on the tap with C on it the water comes out hot not cold as you would expect - hot in Italian is "caldo" while cold is "freddo"!

And talking about hot the headlines on the newspaper billboard in Padua (or Padova if you prefer) were:

Emergency HOT 6 die in 24 hours

Luckily there was some relief from the heat as it only reached 39 at its highest this afternoon - it could have been 40!!

There were two features of our drive today - the A4 and the train crossing.

The A4 is the motorway which runs from Turin to Trieste and is 517kms in length and is one of the most highly trafficked motorways in Italy and today was no exception with trucks galore on the three laned motorway - we take to it again tomorrow as we continue to travel east.

As we came into Padua we stopped at a red light at a railway crossing and we stayed stopped for at least 15 minutes while we and plenty of other vehicles waited while 3 trains went passed.

There are two main attractions in Padua, the Basilica of Saint Anthony and the Prato Della Valle.

The Basilica which is across the road from our hotel is simply stunning.

Externally it has many bits and bobs making up its immense size

while internally there is so much grandeur and colour it leaves you awe struck (unfortunately taking photos is prohibited). Built in the 70 years 1238-1310 it commerates the life of Saint Anthony of Padua who was said to be a great teacher of the faith.

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It attracts literally millions of pilgrims from across Europe and further afield each year and as a consequence Pope John Paul II in 1993 declared it an International Shrine being only one of nine such shrines in the RC church

The Prato Della Valle at 90000 square metres is said to be the largest square in Europe, even though it is oval not square. Being of that size a photo is impossible but I took the following Video

Late in the afternoon as we were wandering the town random hailstones fell from a thundery sky but the "storm" amounted to nought being all over in 15 minutes without the road actually getting wet

And so another stopover is completed.

 

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