Our final evening in Italy we took the train from Venezia to Padova to see the Scrovegni Chapel.  Reservations were made in advance.  Visitors are allowed 15 minutes in the chapel and photos were not allowed, but it was so worth it!  The chapel is small, and you feel so close to the brightly colored frescoes. Beautiful!

Pizza alla Zingara

After viewing the chapel, we walked into the town and had a taste of the REAL Italy.  We dined at La Lanterna Pizzeria (a Rick Steves suggestion) and we were the ONLY tourists in a very busy restaurant on a Friday night.  My diary entry is: “WOW”

Rigatone alla Melanzane

The menu was in Italian and the waitress didn’t speak English either.  With sign language I showed the waitress I didn’t know what to order and she suggested Rigatone all Melanzane (eggplant) for 8 euro and we also ordered Pizza alla Zingara (tomato, cheese, green olives, capers, mushrooms, red and yellow peppers) for 6.50 euro. Sitting amid tables of  feasting Italians was a fantastic experience. We had to follow up with gelato of course and this is where I had pink grapefruit gelato!

The next morning we did our laundry and headed to the port to set sail on Royal Caribbean’s Splendor of the Seas for a 7 night cruise.  The land portion of my Dream Vacation had come to an end.  I was so happy with the way it had turned out and all we had experienced and seen, and I was tired (especially my feet) and ready to relax, dine, and not have to think about money.

Sailing away…