First Stop: Padua

The ship was docked in Venice but since we had both been to Venice before we opted to go to Padua instead. The  Prato della Valle is the largest square in Italy. The center is a grassy area with a central pond and there are 78 statues of famous Italians, including these of Galileo and Petrarch.
Of course, you can't visit Padua without a trip to the Basilica of St. Anthony.	The building is imposing from the outside plaza although on the other side there is a nice walkway and garden.
The interior is huge and richly decorated. There are numerous side altars devoted to various saints.
Anthony was known for his preaching and the Holy Spirit speaking through him. The religious highlights (if not the artistic) of the basilica are the tongue of St. Anthony (appropriately housed in a reliquary of fire) and his jawbone.
We then moved on to the University of Padua. While many of the schools of the university are now spread around Padua and surrounding communities, the law school has always insisted on remaining in its original building.	The Palazzo Bo, also part of the University of Padua, shows the Renaissance decoration typical of much of the Veneto, although the University itself predates the Renaissance by over 100 years.
The Astronomical Clock next to the market square tells not only the time but the phases of the moon and the zodiac. However, one of the zodiac signs, Libra, is missing; there are two Cancers instead. The story is that the designer was upset with his payment from the city and so eliminated the "scales."	Back to the ship, with a nice view of Venice. Are there any bad views of Venice?
Leaving Venice and going down the Grand Canal.	With our smaller ship we were able to have lots of company including tourist ferries and private pleasure boats
Of course, there has to be a picture of the gondolas of Venice. We skipped that on this time through.