Today, I finally pulled the plug on my planned February 2022 ski trip to Zermatt, Switzerland. While I had been expecting this for some time, it was still kind of sad to cancel the Zermatt hotel room that would have formed the base for most of my trip. However, even with three COVID vaccinations so far, I couldn’t justify the costs and complications of international travel at this particular time. Perhaps to compensate, I’ve decided to finally write the final post from my summer 2006 trip to Switzerland. The first part is here, while the second part is here.
Italy! Domodossola’s old town (August 11, 2006)
As we had a Swisspass allowing unlimited travel on the Swiss transportation system, we were highly motivated to stay within Switzerland. However, certain cross-border trips were covered. One of them was to the northern Italian town of Domodossola. It was a nice change of pace, and we really enjoyed having a relaxed lunch on an outdoor patio.
Zermatt’s new town, with the Matterhorn struggling to emerge in the background (August 11, 2006)
While it would have been nice to stay longer, we had to return to Switzerland. In fact, our next stop was…Zermatt! A big part of Zermatt’s appeal is, of course, the Matterhorn. Alas, the grim weather that characterized much of this trip continued. We could barely see the Matterhorn from the village. And as you can see from the photo above, I had to put the jacket back on even though this was early August.
Zermatt’s old town (after many failed Matterhorn photos)…August 11, 2006
While we saw little of the Matterhorn, the trip to Zermatt was still memorable. I didn’t have a digital camera yet, but the views from the train were still stunning enough to attempt some pictures from the train window.
Crossing a bridge by train, and looking at other bridges (August 11, 2006) – near Stalden, Switzerland.
The next day, we explored the popular Swiss city of Luzern. It was much more crowded than our base in rural Hondrich. Once again, however, we used our SwissPass to see something totally unexpected: the Bourbaki Panorama. The Panorama is a very large round room, and it contains a very unusual thing: a circular painting! It is 377 feet long and 32 feet high, but each end is connected to the other. It depicts the French army retreating through Switzerland during the 1870-71 Franco-Prussian War. It’s a very long story – you can read more about it here.
My ticket to the Bourbaki Panorama in Luzern, Switzerland (August 12, 2006)
We took a walk on top of Luzern’s old city walls (the photo at the top of this post was taken from the top of the walls), saw some other typical Luzern sights, such as the old Kapellbrücke (chapel bridge) and the “Lion of Lucerne”, and then returned to Hondrich for one final night at the farmhouse.
At one end of Luzern’s ancient Kapellbrücke – August 12, 2006.
Writing this post has been another reminder of how much we took for granted in the past. Imagine making spontaneous decisions to hop on a train to visit another country! I remain hopeful that international travel will become a part of my life again soon, even if won’t be this winter.
I won’t try to objectively rank the best ski areas in Europe… there are far too many for that! But why not try to rank the ones I know?
The question: in which resort would I most want to spend an entire week of skiing, without regard to cost? Everything else can be considered: the skiing, the town, the atmosphere, and the food are all fair game. I tried not to assign too much weight to the particular place I stayed: if I did, one otherwise fine Italian area wouldn’t have been on the list…as our hotel was located next to what seemed to be a sewage plant. Let’s start the countdown to #1!
The insane “Swiss Wall” starts at the French border, in the Portes du Soleil ski region. As you can see, some parts have a 90% gradient!
10. Morzine (Portes du Soleil), France. Full marks for the extent of this region: it’s the second biggest in the world, with 13 different resorts and 208 ski lifts! Some of the resorts are in Switzerland, and it is fun to ski back and forth between countries. I wasn’t as keen on the sheer numbers of skiers, and some of the resorts (Avoriaz in particular) are purpose-built with little or no character. The Swiss resorts are smaller and more inviting, but the skiing on the Swiss side is also relatively limited. But there’s always the Swiss Wall…
Believe it or not: this is on-piste in the afternoon above Borgata (Sestriere)
9. Sestriere (Via Lattea), Italy. Italian for “Milky Way”, the Via Lattea includes 5 Italian resorts and one French resort (and 70 lifts). But getting to the French resort is not easy, especially when conditions are less than ideal. Still, we found some spectacular pistes…that made us forget about the sewage plant beside our hotel. Fortunately, most hotels are located away from that plant. Sestriere is another purpose-built resort, but it is old enough to still be interesting (a cylindrical hotel, anyone?).
Lots of choices, high above Lenk and Adelboden (Switzerland)
8. Lenk, Switzerland. Linked to the resort of Adelboden, this is a sentimental choice. It’s my Heimatort (place of origin) in Switzerland, and I can ski with family members here. While not as extensive as the other places on my list, it still feels very Swiss and I didn’t find crowds to be a problem. It’s also a quick train ride away from St. Stephan, which is part of the separate Gstaad ski area (and home to more skiing relatives). I had one of my best powder days ever here.
Madonna di Campiglio
7. Madonna di Campiglio,Italy. Not as extensive as the Via Lattea area, but scores higher on things like atmosphere and food quality. Like Lenk, it caters more to a domestic crowd. Perhaps for that reason, I really felt like I was on vacation when I was skiing here. I don’t think I heard any English during the entire week. We also spent an entire morning at an outdoor cafe!
Stuben at night
6. Stuben (St. Anton/Arlberg), Austria. The Arlberg ski region is another vast area, including 7 different resorts (perhaps more by now!). I enjoyed tiny and remote Stuben, which retained some Tyrolean character, but still gave access to the larger areas such as St. Anton, Lech and Zurs. You really have to pick your base carefully: St. Anton, for example, is just too rowdy and “in your face” for me.
Our ski group passing through the rocks at Pomedes (Cortina d’Ampezzo)
5. Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy. Similar to Madonna di Campiglio, this is a major resort with a domestic focus. But I found the setting even more spectacular: skiing even closer to (and through!) the stunning Dolomites, and the legendary “Hidden Valley” actually lives up to the mystique of its name. With 12 distinct resorts in the Dolomiti SuperSki area, the options are endless even though there aren’t too many pistes in Cortina itself.
I’m enjoying the empty slopes at Piz Lagalb!
4. Celerina (St. Moritz), Switzerland. While St. Moritz is too posh for my taste, staying in nearby Celerina was the perfect way to experience this collection of five distinct resorts. Corvatsch had the best overall skiing, but the remote glacier areas of Diavolezza and Lagalb are unforgettable skiing experiences that few people bother to experience. The long-ish bus ride to Diavolezza and Lagalb is worth it: one day, there were only 10 other skiers on the slopes!
The jagged Dolomite peaks
3. Selva (Val Gardena), Italy. At the opposite end of the Dolomiti SuperSki area from Cortina d’Ampezzo, the town is perhaps not as elegant. But the combination of vast skiing options, unsurpassed food, and interesting culture made it one of my very best ski weeks ever (see the most recent post on this blog for proof!). This is the one resort that I keep wanting to revisit, and I would even like to return to the very same hotel. I never thought a hotel meal plan could be so amazing.
Me on the lower slopes of the mighty Eiger
2. Wengen, Switzerland. I have skied here (and the linked resort of Grindelwald) so often that I consider it my “home” ski area. So while it is partly a sentimental choice, I challenge anyone to find a more dramatic experience than skiing in front of (or on!) the legendary north face of the Eiger. I especially love the steep pistes (such as Black Rock or Oh God) just below the Eigergletscher, but there are challenges elsewhere too. One cannot forget the Schilthorn: despite being most famous for a James Bond movie, it’s a demanding and impossibly scenic mountain.
At the top of Klein Matterhorn, just before a wee bout of altitude sickness kicked in!
1. Zermatt, Switzerland. It’s huge, in every sense of the word. The resort spills over into Italy. You can ski a 20 km-long piste!! It even includes the Matterhorn (see photo at the top of this post)!!! But the best summary of Zermatt is a simple one: it is a resort that is unquestionably meant for skiers. If you are a serious skier and can only ski once in the Alps, you need to seriously consider Zermatt. Not every run is 20 km long, but many of them do seem to go on forever. There is an exceptional variety of terrain, with the Swiss side in particular having some very challenging on-piste skiing. Now, if only cost weren’t really an issue…
One consequence of being the photographer for my travel blog is that I don’t appear in many of the pictures. However, the pandemic has led me to discover some stashes of photographs taken by others. Today’s blog features photos (and a video!) taken by my friend during a 2013 ski trip to Val Gardena, Italy.
Happy to be here!!
What strikes me most about these pictures is how happy I/we look. It is such a privilege to spend time in the beautiful Dolomite mountains of northern Italy. I see no worries in anybody’s face! (And while I feel some nostalgia for those recently-retired orange ski boots, I don’t miss that heavily-stickered white helmet.)
Group shots are always a challenge!
On trips like this, there is so much to discover. New mountains, new pistes, new food, new culture…even, in the case of Val Gardena, a language (Ladin). It may sound corny, but I hear the voice of Louis Armstrong as I type this: “…and I think to myself, what a wonderful world…”
My best photobomb ever. Sorry, Richard!
This trip (which also included a brief visit to Verona, Italy, as well as some skiing in Stuben, Austria) was my last European trip before I started this blog in early 2014. As I mentioned in an earlier post about Val Gardena, it really can be liberating to just live in the moment and not worry about capturing every aspect for publication.
Sometimes you just have to stop and look!
Having people in the photos can also emphasize our insignificance. Time and time again, we stopped to look up in wonder at the hugeness of nature. The Alps don’t really care about the tiny structures and the artificial borders created by people!
We never get tired of skiing in Italy
Seeing myself in locations all over the Sella Ronda series of interconnected resorts reminds me of just how much movement is involved in an intense ski week. And I’m also reminded of how much I love to move! In a pandemic, it’s really hard to maintain that level of activity.
Hard at work on a future blog?
I’m not sure what prompted Richard to record the following video. Maybe it was just a beautiful sunny day? I remembered a “skiing in a blizzard” video that he gave me right after the trip (I loved that one, and you can see it here on YouTube), but I had completely forgotten about the one that appears below. Although they’re very short, they immediately bring me back to when they were created 8 years ago.
Sunny cruising on the lower slopes at Val Gardena
Every year since 2013, I have thought about returning to Val Gardena. Each time, my ski posse and I decided to try a new resort. But when I look at all the pictures (these are just a sample of the hundreds that exist), I still think it would be really nice to return. The world is too big to see and experience everything. Why not return to an acknowledged “happy place”? It’s going to be really hard to resist the pull of Val Gardena once international travel is possible again!
Midway through our stay in Madonna di Campiglio, our hotel put on a special Cena Rustica (“Rustic Dinner”) for its guests. It featured hearty local winter food from this part of northern Italy.
Potato flan with Russian cabbage and local ham
Italian is a wonderful language for describing food. Even the simplest traditional foods sound spectacular when written (or spoken) in Italian. Our first course was Sformatino di patate su crema di verza con cavolo russo e steak di speck (a potato flan on cream with Russian cabbage and ham steak). The next course was Orzetto mantecato ai funghi Porcini (risotto-style barley with Porcini mushrooms), while the main course was the regal Cervo in umido con polenta di Storo e crauti (stewed deer with Storo polenta and sauerkraut). No pizza or spaghetti here!
Risotto-style barley with Porcini mushrooms
While this was not my favourite meal at the hotel, it was still fun to try food that I would never encounter anywhere else. The stewed deer was somewhat similar to goulash or beef bourguignon. After all of that weighty food, the light Torta Mimosa was quite welcome for dessert.
The main course for the “Cena Rustica”: stewed deer with polenta and sauerkraut
Our last stop before returning home was the city of Bologna. Although typically associated in North America with inexpensive luncheon meat, Bologna may well be the culinary capital of a country that has one of the most satisfying cuisines in the world. As we were there for only one night, we wanted to make sure that our meal was one to remember.
Some troublemakers I met on the egg-like Patascoss Express chairlift above Madonna di Campiglio
That was the theory. The reality was that we had been in transit for most of the day and we were famished upon our late afternoon arrival in Bologna. We checked into the “Hotel Il Guercino” in the Bolognina neighbourhood, just north of the train station, and immediately turned our minds to finding a nearby restaurant. We didn’t want to return to the historic downtown core, as it would have meant going back through the train station area…and that area felt a little seedy even in the late afternoon.
Waiting for the bus to begin the journey from Madonna di Campiglio to Bologna
This turned out to be a challenge. There were lots of highly regarded restaurants in “up and coming” (e.g. “still a little rough around the edges”) Bolognina…but they all opened at 7:30 p.m. or later. We tried to wait but hunger prevailed and we eventually decided to go with a restaurant that opened at 7:00 p.m. Although I had reservations about it, the best choice appeared to be “Well Done”, one of a small chain of Italian restaurants specializing in hamburgers and other locally sourced food.
Entrance of Hotel il Guercino, in the Bolognina district of Bologna, Italy
I can hear the gasps of anguish even as I write this. Hamburgers in Italy’s premier culinary city? But with their insistence on fresh and local ingredients, it actually turned out to be an inspired idea for our last Italian meal. I had the Lambrusco burger: the beef was braised in Lambrusco wine, topped with pecorino cheese and radicchio (itself braised in Lambrusco wine). To tie it all together? It was served with a glass of Lambrusco wine.
The Lambrusco Burger (and a glass of Lambrusco wine) at “Well Done” in Bologna, Italy
I had never heard of Lambrusco, nor had sparkling red wine ever really been on my radar. But that’s essentially what Lambrusco wine is…and I have to admit that it worked. Somehow, a burger goes well with a bubbly beverage. In the end, this modern Italian take on an American mainstay was quite enjoyable. We didn’t feel like we had squandered a dining opportunity on our last night in Italy, even if it was nothing like the dinner we had anticipated.
Our final two days of skiing were a roller-coaster of skiing emotions. The second-last day started with soft snow under a brilliant sun: while the powder wasn’t flying, there were lots of stops for photographs and sunscreen.
Ricardo enjoys the sun at Cinque Laghi
And yet, something wasn’t quite right. After skiing the Pancugolo piste, we felt unusually warm. We looked up at the chairlift thermometer and it said…24.5’C! I didn’t think it ever would be too hot to ski, but we were definitely approaching that point. We actually moved over to the Pinzolo area shortly afterwards, where some north-facing slopes would keep the temperatures at a more manageable level.
An incredible 24.5’C at the Pancugolo chairlift!
But, for every brilliant day in the sun, there are consequences. While we awoke to more sunshine on our final day of skiing, there was a sense of unease. We found our way to the bottom of the Miramonti chairlift…only to be shooed away by the staff. We tried the nearby Cinque Laghi chairlift…rejected again. What was going on?
Oh no! Every lift is closed!
Mass confusion reigned in the lift line. There was the occasional shouted message in Italian, but nothing in the way of official communications. Eventually, a kind gentleman translated the sad news for us: even though the weather was perfect in the valley, the surrounding mountains were all being pummeled by ferocious winds. It was too dangerous to ride the lifts. And nobody knew when (or if) the lifts would reopen.
La dolce vita in downtown Madonna di Campiglio – waiting for the lifts to re-open
It was hard to believe the ski area was closed. We eventually decided to do something that skiers rarely have the chance to do: enjoy a beverage at a downtown outdoor cafe. It was difficult at first, but we finally started to get the hang of it. Three hours (!) later, we noticed that the lifts were starting to move. Nobody was on them, but there had to be a reason. Just in case, we ran back to the bottom of the Cinque Laghi chairlift. And finally, at 12:30 p.m., they started letting skiers board the lift. Game on!
Pancugolo from a distance – sheer ice not quite evident
After all that, the conditions were…abysmal. While there wasn’t a cloud in the sky all afternoon, yesterday’s soft snow had turned into hard ice. And the high winds had blown any loose snow cover far away from the pistes. There was absolutely nothing for our skis to grip. Our excitement at being allowed on the lifts began to dissipate. It wasn’t time to ski: it was time to skate!
It’s 5:00 p.m. at Patascoss but nobody wants the week of skiing to end
And yet, despite the horrid conditions, we stayed on the slopes as long as we could. The lifts stopped at 4:30 p.m. but we all knew that this was the end of another week of skiing. Even with the treacherous ice, it was still great to be up in the mountains. We must have waited for 15 minutes at the mid-mountain Patascoss junction before finally starting our descent to Madonna di Campiglio. Sometime after 5:00 p.m., we made our final turns and another week of skiing in the Dolomites was history.
While this is the last skiing post from Madonna di Campiglio, there’s still more Italian food coming up!
For our fourth day of skiing in Madonna di Campiglio, we set our sights on the only directly connected resort we had not yet visited: Folgarida.
An appealing lunch at Rifugio Solander, at the top of the Val Mastellina
The trek to Folgarida was not very challenging from a skiing perspective but it was still a pleasure because of the brilliant sunshine along the way. There were a few lift lines at Malghet Aut and the pistes were rather busy there, possibly because one of the main pistes was closed for a slalom race. Nonetheless, we enjoyed some easy cruising in the sun and were looking forward to a lunch to match the conditions on the slopes.
A less sophisticated (but still warm) lunch from Rifugio Solander
Some inspired map-reading led to the discovery of Rifugio Solander, at the top of the fun intermediate piste running down Val Mastellina. The rifugio was on top of a sunny crest but hidden enough behind a generic-looking cafeteria that most people weren’t even aware of it. It looked promising, and there was a table open at the edge of the balcony. Would this lunch live up to the expectations that had been set so high in Cortina d’Ampezzo and Val Gardena?
Ricardo enjoys the view at Rifugio Solander
Indeed it did! The warm dishes were delicious and, just as importantly after the past couple of days, still warm by the time we got to our table. There was also an assortment of appealing fresh plates of local meats and cheeses: we had the luxury of too many desirable choices. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves here and vowed to return on our sixth and final day of skiing.
The posse prepares to take on “Little Grizzly”, above Marilleva
After lunch, we did some more high-speed laps in the Val Mastellina and decided to take on another piste with a warning sign. It was called “Little Grizzly” and the reason for the black rating was immediately apparent: about 50 meters from the top, it dropped off quickly with a 67% incline! Even so, there was enough snow on it to make it a much more enjoyable experience than our ill-fated journey down Spinale Direttissima a couple of days before. We felt a sense of vindication, as we could actually link nice parallel turns here despite the steepness.
Not very busy on the “Dos Della Pesa” lift
After that, we hung around the Marilleva region for a while and checked out some of the pistes that we had missed on our first day of skiing. The crowds were much sparser than at Folgarida and we slowly made our way back to our base camp at Madonna di Campiglio.
This is where we ended each day of skiing: just above our hotel, at the bottom of the Amazzonia/5 Laghi pistes
As always, we ended with the challenging Amazzonia piste and finished our day with a hearty appetite. Coming up: details on our final two days of skiing, as well as the special dinner of local specialties put on by our hotel.
For our second and third days of skiing at Madonna di Campiglio, we visited the Monte Spinale/Passo Grostè and Pinzolo ski areas.
We had a bit of an adventure on Monte Spinale. Most of the pistes were quite easy: wide open and relatively flat. One “black rated” piste was noticeably steeper but nothing we couldn’t handle. However, there was eventually a fork in the road where a sign read “Expert Skiers Only”. I believe it also mentioned that the piste was not groomed. While two from our posse elected to bail out at that point, the remaining four of us decided to proceed. How difficult could it be? Ungroomed pistes are usually more fun to ski on.
The fearsome 70% gradient of “Spinale Direttissima” in the Monte Spinale area right above Madonna di Campiglio
We proceeded down the immaculate Spinale Direttissima piste for about 400 meters, wondering what all the fuss was about. Then, after a sharp turn, we saw it: the final portion of the piste had a stunning 70% gradient. This is seriously steep. While it may have been ungroomed (which in itself was not a problem), it was also heavily mogulled and consisted mostly of huge bumps of sheer ice. All of the loose snow cover had been scraped away by petrified skiers snowplowing down the slope. We abandoned all pretense of style and skidded our way down one of the scariest pistes I’ve ever been on. Above, I’ve included a photo looking up at the piste from the relatively flat bottom section: keep in mind that slope steepness NEVER shows up very well to photographs…and neither does ice. It was much worse in person.
The bleakness of a blizzard at Passo Grostè, the highest part of the Madonna di Campiglio ski area
That afternoon, we ventured higher up to the Passo Grostè area. With increased altitude generally comes increased weather volatility…so we emerged from the gondola into a spontaneous blizzard. The photo above shows the tail end of the blizzard, once some visibility had been restored.
About to ski down “Rododendro” in the Pinzolo area
While the second day of skiing had its challenges, the third day in Pinzolo was spectacular with beautiful scenery (see photo at the top of this post) and excellent skiing. We were really close to the Brenta range of the Dolomites and people were constantly stopping to take pictures or just admire the view. Once again, however, the lower part of a black-rated piste (Tulot) had turned to ice and was barely navigable. I vowed to return later, once the sun had softened things up on this otherwise long, steep and enticing piste.
Skiers frequently stop to admire the view! This is the “Brenta” piste in the Pinzolo ski area
Each day, we finished by skiing down to the base of the Pradalago lift. From there, it was only a short walk to our hotel. We quickly developed a liking for the black-rated Amazzonia [sic] piste as the final run of the day, as it featured relatively steep slopes that were generally uncrowded and retained abundant snow cover.
The innocuous top of Amazzonia, our favourite black-rated piste so far (Pradalago area)
The food at our hotel continued to be excellent, although the on-slope restaurants we visited for lunch generated a lukewarm response (partly because the food was often not even lukewarm by the time we sat down to eat). However, the weather still allowed us to eat outside every day – no complaints there!
Downtown Madonna di Campiglio in the late afternoon
Stay tuned for more skiing…and find out whether we eventually found a lunch that measured up to the scenery!
After 5 days of spring in Orvieto and Padova, it was finally time to jump back into winter with a week’s skiing in Madonna di Campiglio! Within Italy, Madonna di Campiglio is known as being a rather posh resort…perhaps second only to Cortina d’Ampezzo in terms of prestige. Outside of Italy, however, it seems to be attracting mainly skiers from eastern Europe.
Madonna di Campiglio, as seen from the slopes
We took a train from Padova to Verona, where we caught a shuttle bus that would take us directly to Madonna di Campiglio in just over three hours. Well, it should have been just over three hours. In reality, a massive snowstorm struck as we neared the village and the road to the resort was closed at Pinzolo. We patiently waited on a bathroom-less bus for nearly 3 hours until the road had been cleared (and I use that term lightly) and we were able to proceed.
Preparing for the first run of the day, at the top of the Pradalago lift
Yes, a three-hour delay was an inconvenience. We never really knew when the road would eventually reopen and, even once we got going, the steep and winding road was pretty scary in the snowy darkness. However, this sort of thing needs to be viewed from the perspective of a skier: we were getting 41cm of fresh snow on the eve of our first day of skiing! This is awesome!
Just above the Orti Rifugio, near Marilleva
Our arrival in the resort was wondrous: with all of that fresh snow still fluttering down and the narrow streets lined with wooden “alpine” architecture, Madonna di Campiglio looked like a old-fashioned Swiss mountain village on Christmas Eve. Our hotel was strategically located just above the Piazza Brenta Alta and just a short walk from two ski lifts. When you consider that our hotel last year in Sestriere was next to what smelled like a sewage plant, we felt incredibly lucky to be in Madonna di Campiglio.
Lunch at Orti Rifugio
We awoke to mostly sunny skies and a vast new ski area to discover. We spent the first day mostly in the Marilleva area, adjusting back to life on two skis after nearly a year away from the slopes. By lunch, the weather was warm enough for us to have lunch on an outdoor terrace overlooking the slopes at the Orti Rifugio. With disco-schlager music (Anton aus Tirol never seems to go away) providing the pumping soundtrack, it seemed like just yesterday that we were last skiing in Italy.
The paparazzi are everywhere, even at the top of the Cinque Laghi lift!
Our first impressions: the mountains here are beautiful and there is a huge amount of snow. The pistes were not too challenging…but we suspect that some worthy challenges are just around the corner. And the dinners at our hotel have been fabulous so far, with an antipasto-laden open salad bar in addition to the three-course meals.
A reflective pause from one of my posse members, high above Madonna di Campiglio and near the summit of Monte Pancugolo
There is more to Padova than laundry, pizza and gelato. Our visit included two exceptional sights that attract people from all over the world.
South end of the Scrovegni Chapel
The first was the Scrovegni Chapel. Having already seen the Sistine Chapel in Rome and “The Last Supper” in Milan (as well as Orvieto’s Duomo just a few days ago), I was somewhat skeptical of another church full of art. In this case, however, there was something special about the time when the art was created.
Close-up of one of the “panels” in the Scrovegni Chapel
The artist Giotto was born in 1267 and created the frescoes inside the Scrovegni Chapel from 1303 to 1305. Like Michelangelo, Giotto had many talents: the crucifix shown in this post was also created by him.
Giotto was a talented guy: he also made this crucifix
The art is more than seven centuries old and is still in the place it was originally created. It predates “The Last Supper” by almost 200 years and the Sistine Chapel by more than 200 years. Besides its great age, it is also remarkable because it is really the first example of modern art: the realism of the art, the depiction of real people, the depiction of three dimensions and even the simulation of marble through paint had no real precedent. In a way, the Scrovegni Chapel marks the beginning of the Renaissance.
Side view of the Scrovegni Chapel
The creation of the chapel itself also had an interesting story. It seems that Mr. Scrovegni was a money lender charging high interest rates. His son was concerned about how his father would be treated in the afterlife: with good reason, apparently, as Dante’s Inferno included the senior Scrovegni in one of the levels of hell. In an attempt to buy forgiveness for his father’s sins, the junior Scrovegni financed the construction of the chapel and contracted Giotto to paint the frescoes.
Close-up of one of the sins portrayed by Giotto (and fake painted marble!)
Later in the day, we visited St. Anthony’s Basilica. Once again, there was something special about this place that distinguishes it from the many other basilicas to be found across Italy and Europe. This is the final resting place of St. Anthony, who lived from 1195 to 1231. He was a gifted orator and apparently a prolific miracle worker. Pilgrims come from all over the world to pray here or to give thanks for prayers answered. We saw a number of pilgrims while we were there…as well as a number of souvenir stands immediately outside!
The Basilica of St. Anthony
What is unusual about St. Anthony’s Basilica is that St. Anthony’s tongue, lower jaw and vocal cords are still intact and on display in the basilica’s reliquary. His body was first exhumed in 1263: he had mostly decayed to dust but his tongue was still unspoiled and red. When his remains were examined again in 1981, the above parts were still intact and have remained on display ever since.
The tomb of St. Anthony, in St. Anthony’s Basilica
A final point of interest is that the Basilica is actually considered part of Vatican City! As with the main Vatican location in Rome, however, there are no border formalities. After leaving the basilica, we wandered through the Prato della Valle (see photo at the top of this post) before having our customary late dinner. We have gotten into this habit in Italy, as most restaurants do not open until 7:00 or 7:30 p.m.
The tomb of St. Anthony, in St. Anthony’s Basilica
Coming up next: our cultural adventure winds down and the skiing begins!
To break up the journey from Orvieto to Madonna di Campiglio, we decided to spend a couple of nights in Padova (often referred to as “Padua” in English). This is a small university-oriented city just west of Venice that sees only a fraction of Venice’s tourist traffic. It was also the setting for Shakespeare’s “The Taming of the Shrew”.
A profoundly horrible photo from the main train station in Florence, Italy
We were able to stay on the same train all the way from Orvieto to Padova. I quickly hopped off the train in Firenze (Florence) to take the worst travel photo ever – see above. Alas, upon arrival in Padova, our first impression was not great. As with many European cities, the train station is not located in the best part of town. There seemed to be an awful lot of people just hanging around the train station. It took a 15-minute walk to the true city centre for the city’s charms to become apparent. We really warmed up to the place after that.
Part of Piazza Signori at night (the day view is at the top of this post)
Padova has three grand piazzas within a one-block radius. Although I am sure that these are even more vibrant in the summer, there was still lots of gelato and other similar treats on offer. While I took photos during both the day and the evening, I prefer the later pictures. It’s all quite medieval, but still very much alive. Just a few blocks away, all the high-end shops you can imagine (Prada, Gucci, etc.) are there…but we preferred the more unique shops that are supported by a large university population. I bought some music here as well as a pyjama in the rare “extra tall” size. More importantly for the short term, we also found a promising local pizzeria for dinner.
My dinner at Pizzeria al Duomo
At Pizzeria al Duomo, I selected the Rucola e Grano pizza. The description promised rucola (rocket) and other toppings….as well as shredded Grana Padano cheese and a vinaigrette! I thought this was unusual, but it all made sense when the pizza arrived and I saw just how much rucola had been piled on top. No side salad was necessary!
Via Solferino in Padova
The next day was a busy one and some of the details will have to wait until my next post. However, amid all of the food and culture, we also had chosen this as our laundry day. Limiting our luggage was essential because I was bringing my ski boots from Canada, not wanting to risk blisters (or worse) with unfamiliar rental boots in Europe.
Inside our self-serve laundromat in Padova
This laundromat was entirely self-service and we had an initial challenge (as always) when getting started. Some other patrons took pity on us and gave us a hand with the vague posted instructions. Once our laundry was in motion, my wife stood guard at the laundromat while I returned to a nearby take-out place we had spotted the night before: it was lunch time! The place is called Capatoast and they specialize in…toast! This was toast with a gourmet flair. Mine had cooked local ham and cheese, porcini mushrooms and truffle sauce. The sauce was strong – I could still taste it hours later.
I would love to have a shop like this in my home town!
After the laundry was finished, it was only fair that our labours were rewarded by gelato on the Piazza Signori. We enjoyed it in situ on some strategically placed steps along with a bunch of students. Stay tuned for more on Padova!
