Padova it cannot be discovered in just 24 hours. A selection is therefore a must and, at the top of the list, there can only be there Scrovegni Chapel, famous dome frescoed by Giotto, a masterpiece of fourteenth-century Italian painting, the pride of the city. The Chapel is open every day from 9am to 19pm (from March to October, the opening is extended until 22pm) and the visits last about twenty minutes. The ticket is 13 € and also allows access to the Eremitani Museums and Palazzo Zuckermann (booking recommended).
After getting drunk on Giotto's blue, to get back on your feet, the ideal break is at Pedrocchi coffee, in the square of the same name, the oldest city café, built in 1831, a meeting place for artists and intellectuals, which still allows tourists and travelers to sit in its elegant entrance and enjoy the city center, without obligation to drink. The appointment is at the intersection of Piazza delle Erbe e fruit square for those who want to sit in the “Salone”. This is the familiar name of the Palazzo della Ragione, once the seat of Padua's justice, today a container of contemporary art, with a completely frescoed surface (ticket 8 euros). All that remains is to go down "under the hall", on the other hand, for a walk that smells of spices and goodness, along the "porteghi" and the "vault" of the building, where the oldest covered market in Padua swarms every day, with cold cuts , cheeses, fish, bread, pasta, coffee, from all regions of Italy, the ideal place to mingle with the Paduan doc, for which shopping is a daily ritual.
To refresh yourself after the grand cultural tour, and savor the more pleasant side of the patavinity, mingle with the natives and treat yourself to your spritzer daily, a real ritual in the city, set up in all the squares just before sunset. The most popular aperitif is certainly that of the Bar Nazionale, in Piazza delle Erbe, thanks to its famous sandwiches, the one with white cap, white ham and mozzarella or the ricotta and spinach one served hot is highly recommended. Also in the squares, there are the famous "folpari", Street vendors of" folpi ", or boiled or fried octopus and baby octopus, the most genuine of the city's street food. To close, a last drop of white is a must in the narrow streets of the Jewish ghetto where, under the arcades, the locals swarm until late at night. The Paduan doc can be recognized from breakfast.
To begin our 24 hours as a true Paduan, the appointment is in piazza del Duomo, at the tables of the homonymous café, for the traditional one horseshoe brioche, filled with jam, imitated, in vain, by many other bars in the city. From here, a walk along via Umberto I is a must, to immerse yourself in the lively rhythms of the morning and have fun finding here and there the stencils of Kenny Random, the famous Paduan street artist who gave dozens of his works to his city. At the end of the road, the widening of Prato della Valle, among the largest squares in Europe with its own 78 statues, opens to the eye and lets itself be embraced in all its majesty. It is advisable to miss the rest of the morning in these parts and pay homage to the "Saint", as the Paduans call him, with a visit to the Basilica of Sant'Antonio and the four flowered cloisters inside.
If it is Saturday, then, you can play around among the stalls of the municipal market, looking for some good bargains. From the church, the step is short to venture into theBotanical Garden (open every day, ticket 5 euros), the oldest in the world, a world heritage site. For lunch, how to taste the best of local cuisine and stay light? The solution is La Gourmetteria (at number 23 in via degli Zabarella), where traditional dishes are reinterpreted in an original way. In fact, there is no shortage of bigoli and Paduan hen, but also vegetarian recipes and a well-stocked supply of artisanal and typical products from all over Italy.
