Ravenna: A short train fide from Ferrara found us in Ravenna to see the well preserved 1500 year old mosaics. The brilliance and color of these is impressive. We visited three main places where the mosaics are: Basilica di San Vitale, Mausoleum of Galla Placidia and Basilica di Sant'Apollinare Nuovo.
Venice: We had visited Venice on a previous trip but felt compelled to return since it was only 1-1/2 hours by train. We did but were disappointed by the crowds which we had not seen on our previous visit at the same time of year. We suspect it was the cruise ship crowd that hadn't been there on our previous trip in 2002.
Vicenza: Vicenza turned out to be one of the more pleasant surprises of the cities we visited. It was the home of Andrea Palladio, the 16th century Renaissance architect. A real hightlight was the Olympic Theater.
Padua: the mnajor attraction in Padua is the Scrovegni Chapel which contains nearly 40 frescos by Giotto that were done between 1303 and 1305. Advance reservations are usually required for the chapel. Photos are not allowed in the chapel but I was able to find a couple on the internet. These really don't do the place justice, but you will just have to go there yourself to do better!
Bologna: We left our home of one week in Ferrara for a half hour train ride to Bologna where we spent the day before catching an early morning flight home. Bologna is a porticoed town, which would be great if it were raining. Fortunately, we had nice sunny weather there.
