Pavia

Italian phrase - Brandon mangia un panino per pranzo - Brandon eats a sandwich for lunch.

Once again its a beautiful day in Vedano. The forecast is: comfortable with some sun, high of 28c = 86 degrees.

Today we took a day trip to Pavia, about a 39 km drive southwest of Milan. Pavia is a town full of Romanesque and medieval buildings and a 14th century monastary. It's considered one of the most extravegant religious complexes in Northern Italy, "the exuberant facade in multitoned marble has a wealth of inlay and sculpture." Pavia also boasts a cathedral with the 3rd largest dome in Italy, designed by both Leonardo da Vinci, Bramante and Amadeo. There are also several medieval churches and the Visconti castle.









We left the house around 9:45am and drove to Pavia. It took about an hour to get there. After finding some parking in the heart of the old downtown, we walked up the street to the Castello Visconti, built in 1360. The castle is the home of several municipal museums. We visited the Romanesque/Renaissance museum, the 19th Century Picture Gallery, The Old Art Gallery, the Museum Luigi Robecchi Bricchetti, and the Modern Sculture and Plaster Casts Gallery. Its sounds like a lot, and it was, but most of it was interconnected from room to room in the castle. The most interesting parts for me were the Roman displays. This part of Italy had a strong Roman presence long ago. There are small ruins and many artifacts on display.



After the castle we stopped to let Brandon play at the park outside the gate. They had this cool kids size zip line setup. I have a hard time seeing one of these in a park in the States...lawsuits. Brandon had a blast. I even tried it once.

We were hungry, so we headed to the pedestrian streets to find some lunch. We ate at a bar. Brandon had a prociutto cheese panino. Katrina had a piadina and I had a hamburger.

After lunch we spent the afternoon strolling the streets of Pavia. We visited the Duomo, which has the third largest dome in Italy and was completed in the 19th century. Da Vinci and Donato Bramante helped with the designs.



We also visited the Church of San Michele, a Romanesque style church finished in 1090 after a 7th century earthquake required rebuilding. Katrina commented on how great it was to see a stone church that is a bit worn and has not been refurbished. 1090...that is a long time ago. It was the favored coronation venue for northern monarchs including Charlemagne and Barbosa.

Pavia once had 100 medieval watch towers. Now there are only a few left. Most of the remaining towers are concentrated near the University of Pavia. We checked them out. They are very tall and look like they will crumble at any moment. The University of Pavia has a rich history of its own. It was started in the 9th century and became a university in 1361. Christopher Columbus and Alessandro Volta are early graduates. We also took a look at an archeological dig of a crypt.



Later in the day we stopped to enjoy our favorite Italian treat - gelato. I think gelato already is my new temptation - coming pretty close to Coca Cola.

We wandered the streets of Pavia a little more, making our way back to the park outside the castle to rest in the shade and let Brandon play. It turned into a hot and humid day.





Our last sight of the day was the Ponte Coperto, a covered bridge over the Fiume Ticino (river Ticino). What, what a beautiful bridge. We actually drove over it and parked on the opposite side, then walked up to the look over the river from little balconies along the sides. Very cool.

We were tired, hot and ready to head home. After a brief stop for water, we arrived home around 7pm.

Overall, I am continually amazed and feel very lucky that we can do all these facinating things and see all these ancient and interesting places....all in only a day trip from our home. It hits me every day so far and at random times....we are living in Italy. Wow!

See Katrina's blog for many more pics and her observations on life in Italy.