Page 35 - Lonely Planet Europe’s Best Trips (Travel Guide)

You can visit the uni- Sun winter; fSan Marco),
versity’s claustrophobic, TRIP HIGHLIGHT Venice was considered an
wooden anatomy theatre exciting den of debauch-
(the first in the world), 4 Venice ery. Venetian wives were
although it’s no longer de Top of the itinerary, Ven- notorious for keeping
rigueur to witness dissec- ice at last! Then, as now, handsome escorts (cicis-
tions on the average tour- La Serenissima’s watery beo), courtesans held
ist itinerary. Afterwards landscape captured the powerful positions at
don’t forget to pay your imagination of travellers. court and much time was
respects to the skulls At Carnivale (www.carni- devoted to frequenting
of noble professors who vale.venezia.it) in Febru- casinos and coffeehouses.
donated themselves for ary numbers swelled Caffè Florian (%041 520
dissection because of to 30,000; now they 56 41; www.caffeflorian.com;
the difficulty involved in number in the hundreds Piazza San Marco 56/59; drinks ITALY 1 GRAND TOuR
acquiring fresh corpses. of thousands. You cannot €10-25; h9am-midnight;
Their skulls are lined up take your car onto the fSan Marco) still adheres
in the graduation hall. lagoon islands so leave to rules established in
Beyond the university it in a secure garage in the 1700s.
the melancholy air of the Mestre, such as Garage So do as the Venetians
city did little to detain Europa Mestre (%041 would do: glide down the
foreign visitors. Even 95 92 02; www.garageeuro- Grand Canal on the No
Giotto’s spectacular pamestre.com; Corso del 1 Vaporetto (ticket €7.50)
frescoes in the Cappella Popolo 55, Mestre; per day €15; for an architectural tour
degli Scrovegni (Scrovegni h8am-10pm), and hop on of 50 palazzi (mansions),
Chapel; %049 201 00 20; the train to Venice Santa gossip in the balconies
www.cappelladegliscrovegni. Lucia where water taxis of the Teatro La Fenice
it; Piazza Eremitani 8; adult/ connect to all the islands. (%041 78 66 72, tours 041
reduced €13/6, night ticket Aside from the mind- 78 66 75; www.teatrolafenice.
€8/6; h9am-7pm), where improving art in the it; Campo San Fantin 1965;
advance reservations are Gallerie dell’Accademia theatre visits adult/reduced
essential, were of limited (%041 520 03 45; www. €10/7, concert/opera tickets
interest given medieval gallerieaccademia.org; Campo from €15/45; fSanta Maria
art was out of fashion, della Carità 1050; adult/ dei Giglio), or listen for
and only devout Catholics reduced €10/8 plus supple- summer thunderstorms
ventured to revere the ment during special exhibitions, in Vivaldi’s Four Seasons,
strange relics of Saint first Sun of the month free; played by Interpreti
Anthony in the Basilica h8.15am-2pm Mon, to 7.15pm Veneziani (%041 277 05
di Sant’Antonio (Il Santo; Tue-Sun; fAccademia) and 61; www.interpretiveneziani.
%049 822 56 52; www.ba- extraordinary architec- com; Chiesa San Vidal, Campo
silicadelsanto.org; Piazza del tural masterpieces such di San Vidal 2862; adult/re-
Santo; h6.20am-7.45pm Apr- as the Palazzo Ducale, duced €28/23; hdoors open
Oct, to 6.45pm Nov-Mar). the Campanile, Long- 8.30pm; fAccademia).
The Drive » Barely 40km hena’s Chiesa di Santa For more earthly
from Venice, the drive from Maria della Salute and pleasures take a tour of
Padua is through featureless the glittering domes of Venice’s centuries-old
areas of light industry along the the Basilica di San Marco markets with a gourmet
A4 and then the A57. (St Mark’s Basilica; %041 270 food walk.
83 11; www.basilicasan 54 p40, p87
marco.it; Piazza San Marco;
h9.45am-5pm Mon-Sat, The Drive » Retrace your
2-5pm Sun summer, to 4pm steps to Padua on the A57 and

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