Italy

Today I am headed to Padua to see the Scrovegni Chapel to see the famous frescoes by Giotto and possibly some other sites.

I arrived at the train station early, as is my intended SOP, and it's a good thing I did because in spite of the fact that the self-serve train ticket kiosk states it can make change up to 300 euros, it was unable to give me back 39 euros and change out of my 50 euro bill that was inserted, so I had to go take a number AND stand in the customer service line. Why you have to take a number AND stand in line is a little lost on me but whatever. BTW- the kiosk machine spit out a receipt detailing how much change I was owed.

Finally my number was called and I went up to the agent and promptly learned he did not speak English. He eventually called over another agent who was roaming around the room and she understood what I wanted and asked, "Where did you get this (receipt)?" I pointed to the kiosk and explained the obvious- that the kiosk was unable to give me my change. So she took my receipt and said "Wait here" and disappeared back into the bowels of the office. Minutes later she returned and scowled at me and said "How much change are you to get?" I looked at her (while wondering why she couldn't clearly see what was stated on the receipt she was holding) and said "39 euros and some change" and she said "OK, here" and thrust a handful of crumpled bills in my direction, which I took. I guess she thought I was running some type of racket and gathering forgotten change receipts or something because that's obviously what middle-aged women from America are hanging out in train stations doing...

Since I still had time before my departing train arrived, I took the opportunity to see about getting a refund for the incredibly late train the day prior and brought out that old ticket and explained what had happened. Both she and the non-English speaking agent consulted their computer and said they had no information on that train. I again stated the story of what had happened and asked what the refund process was and they again consulted their computer and then said, "That train was only 6 minutes late." I said, no the ticket I bought was for a train that originally should have arrived 3 hours before the train I was transferred to".... and went through the entire story for a 3rd time.

Finally they produced a form, tossed it at me and said "fill this out and return it" and motioned me off. Now I know this will come as a surprise to you but the form was written entirely in Italian. I decided to give up my search for help at 'Customer Service' and that I would ask a Marriott Concierge to assist me later in my trip. Then I went to find my track but couldn't figure out how to get to the track I needed because it was located over several other tracks with no obvious way to get there, so I asked a uniform official. He answered me with a "smirk" stating "Well in Italy we believe in using the stairs." I answered his obnoxious reply with "Well I would love to use those stairs but where are they?" The signage for my particular track wasn't readily apparent. He pointed at a stairway down the hall (which did not say it went to my track) and I descended them and eventually found my track and headed on to Padua.

When I arrived at Padua the line at their Customer Service wasn't very long, so I decided to wait and attempt another try at the refund for my late train. Again my agent didn't speak English, so he called over a female one who did. Do only the females in Italy study English? She was very helpful and their computer also didn't show exactly what had happened with my train and so she too mentioned filling out the form. I showed her the form I already had but explained I couldn't fill it out because it was in Italian and lo & behold she was able to produce a form in English, which the two of them assisted me in filling out, copying and filing. Now I have to wait for 2 weeks to see if I will be granted a refund because, it's Italy. After that was over, she walked with me outside and pointed me in the direction of the Scrovegni Chapel.

I headed in the direction she detailed and along the way I came across a map placard, which stated I should make a turn and would arrive at the chapel in 10 minutes, so even though it was different than the agent had stated, I decided to go with the map as I'd received such poor directions from the Italian constituency thus far. And in 10 minutes there was no chapel in site but there was another map that said to go in another direction and I would be there in... 10 minutes. I then asked a few passerby how to get there and found one who spoke broken English and she said "Go left" and pointed right. I decided that it was POSSIBLE her sense of direction was better than her English and went right. I eventually arrived at the Scrovegni Chapel.

I went to the ticket counter and produced my timed reservation confirmation and the ticket clerk handed me a ticket. He did not tell me where to go however and it turns out the chapel is not connected to the main building, so I asked and he pointed me to the outside but without any real directions. I decided I would just follow the other people who were holding tickets. On the way out I noticed they had a "cloak room" so I went to check my coat and was told that they did not check coats just purses and she motioned me to give her my small one. I told here I wasn't giving it to her and she said OK but still wouldn't take my cloak/coat. Then I passed a cashier booth that stated they had audio tours (no helpful mention of this way for his employer to make additional revenue and the tourist to learn was given by the ticket clerk) but there was no cashier to be found. So I asked someone if they could help and several minutes later the absent cashier came and asked what I wanted. I explained and paid the 2 euros for the audio tour and he gave me the apparatus but barely gave me any instructions on how to use it and disappeared again.

I went to the chapel and listened to the audio tour while I waited a few minutes for my group's turn to enter the dehumidifying room, listen to a brief background movie about the chapel and then enter the chapel. A little background- the Scrovegni Chapel was built & paid for by a guy who did it in order to try and basically buy his father's way into heaven. His father had been a usurer (loan shark) and the son thought his father would likely be banished to hell for his profession. The truth is it turns out the son was also in the same profession, so he thought he'd get a 2:1 deal, sort of an ancient BOGO. So he hired Giotto to paint the inside. Pretty much every square foot of the inside. It's a lot to take in within 20 minutes, which is all the time you are allotted. I decided to use my time taking pictures, which surprisingly they let you do. The painted scenes are a compliation of biblical stories as well as some from the apocraphal works of which I know nothing about.

When my 20 minutes was up, I returned back to the ticket/gift shop/cashier to return my audio tour apparatus and there was no cashier there. I momentarily considered just leaving with the audio tour stuff but opted against it. Once again I found someone to find the cashier and returned the materials with no thank you offered by the cashier, no "I hope you enjoyed your visit", no nothing.

I decided to wander around Padua and found myself at the University of Padua, which is the 2nd oldest in Europe. I noticed a sign that said "tickets" so I went to find out what the tickets were for. Turns out they give tours of part of the university in Italian &English, including the anatomy theatre and there would be one starting momentarily, so I bought a ticket. The ticket agent doubles as a tour guide. I suspect she might be of German ancestery as she was not friendly, not interested in having the group keep pace with her and was very curt and succinct in her guiding. She immediately told us that we were not allowed to take pictures inside the building.

We entered a room where everyone was ask to sit and it was an old lecture room where accademic luminaries such as Copernicius and Gallilleo once taught. After giving a little background history of the university and its luminaries, she then directed us into another room where we saw the wooden lectern that Gallileo used (close enough we could touch it potentially) and a glass box that had contained one of Gallileo's vertebra but which is now kept elsewhere for safekeeping, like some major relic. What is it with the Italians collecting body parts of the famous?

We then proceeded to the old anatomy theatre. Here are the main takeaways: they were only allowed by the Catholic church to dissect 2 bodies per year, which they did during February due to the cold temps at that time. The 2 bodies were either of criminals or women. They studied the body for either 1-2 weeks and the anatomy theatre was about 7 stories, in a conical design and about 200-300 students STOOD side-by-side to view the bodies amidst a stench filled small area. I wish I could've taken a picture to show you this setup. It was dark and back then they would've only had candles to illuminate the area. How in the world anyone could've derived any knowledge in that scenario is beyond my ability to comprehend.

I find it so ironic that you can take pictures of the very fragile frescoes of The Last Supper and The Scrovegni Chapel, both of which are so fragile you have to enter a dehumidification chamber prior to entering their respective rooms but at the University of Padua, to view wood and plaster, you cannot take pictures,Read more