11.2.21

We slept in quite a bit again today and started our day around 10:00. We left at 10:30 and scootered to a tattoo appointment melina had made across town for herself. It was very confusing navigating the winding streets, but we finally arrived after about 30 minutes, where I left Melina to go explore some of Padova on my own.

The weather was amazing today! So sunny and warm, I was so thankful for it since I was anticipating rain all week!

I sat in a cafe and had my morning coffee and pastry (which has sort of become routine). I then walked for a busy street of university students and cafes. I didn’t realize Padova was such a student town! I walked along a canal to a peaceful garden where I sat and read, waiting for Melina’s tattoo appointment for finish. It didn’t take long though, and we met at the train station.

The train ride was only 15 minutes from Padova to Venice. Once we arrived, we were amazed! We walked along the chaotic tourist filled streets and were quickly captivated by the amazing pastries in the shop windows, colorful pastas on display, and chocolate shops! We went to a chocolate shop caller “N and Friends” and got barraided with samples, but I wasn’t complaining! We left very happy with bags of chocolate goods.

We kept walking, taking lots of pictures and of course getting some gelato, and began to hwas towards our meeting place for a gondola tour we booked.

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After being briefed on the history of Venetian gondolas we were given a very cool, very peaceful 30 minute ride! This was a lot of fun and definitely memorable as the views of the city and architecture from the canal were gorgeous.

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Once the tour ended, we went on a search for dinner. We got lost in the crazy, twisting streets (which were especially hard to navigate at night!) but ended up at an Italian restaurant. It was nice, but the accordion playing performer definitely gave it away as a clear tourist trap! We ordered a cheese plate to share and I had a HUGE calzone while melina had some calamari. The eating culture definitely interesting to observe. Me and melina were the last to get there and first to leave, as many menus have 5 course meals and couples spend hours at restaurants. We felt very american picking one entree and eating quickly before getting the check.

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We got a train back to Padova and, before going back home, we couldn’t resist a gelato place right next to our air bnb (our third scoop of gelato for the day!)

This gelato was so good though!! They filled our cones with chocolate and topped the gelato with whipped cream. This was a great way to end a long day of walking.