I am booking our transportation from Venice to Florence on Saturday, October 16th. We have one decision to make . . .
On the way to Florence our guide can stop for about three hours in either Padua or Bologna for lunch and a little site seeing. Does anyone have any particular preferences? Here’s a little info on each city, courtesy of Frommer’s, to help you decide:
Padua - 26 miles West of Venice
Padua was long the academic heartbeat of the powerful Venetian Republic, founding one of Italy's oldest universities in 1222 -- and far before that, an ancient Roman stronghold -- for this reason Padua is thought of as one of the most important medieval and Renaissance cities in Italy. Dante and Copernicus studied here, and Petrarch and Galileo taught here. When you wander the narrow, cobbled, arcaded side streets in the timeless neighborhoods surrounding the university, you will be transported back to those earlier times.
Padua is a vital city, with a young university population that gets about by bicycle and keeps the city's piazzas and cafes alive. The historic hub of town still evokes the days when the city and its university flourished in the late Middle Ages and the Renaissance as a center of learning and art. Its most important sights for those with limited time are Giotto's magnificent frescoes in the Scrovegni Chapel (fully restored between 1999 and 2001) and the revered pilgrimage site of the eight-domed Basilica of Sant'Antonio di Padova, whose important equestrian statue by Donatello stands in the piazza before it.
Bologna - 94 miles Southwest of Venice
Bologna is one of the most overlooked gems in Italy. It's true that Bologna boasts no Uffizi or Doge's Palace, but it does offer a beautiful city that's one of the most architecturally unified in Europe -- a panorama of sienna-colored buildings, marbled sidewalks, and porticos. After fighting the crowds in Rome, Florence, and Venice, you might enjoy a few days away from the tourist crush.
Bologna's rise as a commercial power was ensured by its strategic location between Florence and Venice. And its university, the oldest in Europe (founded 1088), has long generated a lively interest in art and culture. The bars, cafes, and squares fill up with students, and an eclectic mix of concerts, art exhibits, and ballet and theater performances is always on offer.
Bologna is Italy's gastronomic capital. Gourmets flock here to sample the cuisine: the pastas (tortellini, tagliatelle, lasagna verde), the meat and poultry specialties (zampone, veal cutlet bolognese, tender turkey breasts in sauce supreme), and the mortadella, Bologna's incomparable sausage, as distant a cousin to American-style bologna as porterhouse is to the hot dog.
