Padova Pride Village

Padua has a strong gay population and their summer extravaganza has been growing every year since I got here 7 years ago. Padova Pride Village packs a month of entertainment, food, dance and stands into the city's fairgrounds. This year, they started with a bang: Boy George in concert. I didn't go but I heard that he put on a fine show.

The Village will be running until July 28th. Doors open at 8 p.m. everyday except Monday. Get ready for more singers, Italian comedians, international DJ's and more to enjoy at the Fiera di Padova.

The organizers, Arcigay *Tralaltro*, even provide "Welcome" packages for out-of-towners including extra hotel services, discounts off entrance tickets and local restaurants.

Join the fun!

( I'm sure you'll have fun even if you're "straight"!)

Where?

Fiera di Padova, Entrance E, via Carlo Goldoni - Padova

8 p.m. opening, no Mondays

The Terrace Bears its First Fruit

Tomatoes are technically

fruit,

right?

Well, I've got my first ripe cherry tomato from the terrace.

Small, very red and hopefully very tasty!

Summer's here-

Even though many people associate Italian cuisine with pasta and tomato sauce, the tomato was introduced to this country only after the discovery of America. So American land is responsible for an entire food culture on another continent. Pretty wild stuff.

Sun-Standing Today

...the literal translation of solstice

The term derives from the Latin sol (sun) and -stitium (stoppage).

In Padua, we had sunrise at 5:23 a.m. today and sunset will be at 9:05 p.m. It's a fabulously sunny and perfectly hot day. Lows at 17°C (62°F) and highs at 29°C (84°F). It's summer as we like it. We can just picture the beach! Too bad it's a workday.

Il 21 giugno è anche la giornata più lunga dell'anno. June 21 is also the longest day of the year.

Extreme Hot Hits ...

...my living room
...my bedroom

It's been incredibly hot this week and there doesn't seem to be an end in sight. I know it's July but this is getting out of hand.

We're at the point that the computer is not working properly due to excess heat. We already serviced it, only to find out that nothing seems to be wrong with it....except the Paduan heat. The dog can do nothing but pant and sprawl out across the tiled floors in the hopes of keeping his naturally hot doggie body temperature as low as possible.

On that note, when we went to take the dog to the vet 2 days ago, by the time the vet saw the dog, he was suffering from a doggie fever caused by the heat and excitement of waiting around too many other dogs. His temperature was 2°C above normal. The vet then promptly refused to administer the routine shots we had come for. We are hoping for better results tomorrow morning when we do the same thing again, but this time in the morning by appointment, which was a small feat to get from this particular vet.

Fans are distributed throughout the house and rotated as we move through the spaces and rooms. At night, 2 are blasting on either side of the master bed. I have given up on wearing clothing at night. Nothing is cool enough! And forget sheets. They just absorb the sweat!

The lights are kept low. Blinds are kept down all day. We even shut some doors during the afternoon to keep more heat from seeping in. The windows are only open wide from about 10 p.m. to midnight, when the heat finally wanes.

Our terrace walls are so hot during the day and much of the evening that we could roast meat on them for a barbeque.

The sky is white from haze that appears as early as 9 in the morning now.

We average 2 or 3 showers a day to try to stay cool and sane. The dog is having one a day as a "refresher", otherwise we think he might explode.

We are starting to invent any and every way to stay away from home at night when inside is hotter than outside: open air film festivals, air conditioned pizzerie or restaurants, bars with outdoor seating and late-night superstore shopping with climate contol.

Luckily, in a couple of weeks we will escape to the mountains while other friends and fellow Paduans will hit the beaches.

Meanwhile, the dog days of summer have our dog a pezzi (literally "in pieces").

Italian Condo Barbeque

I come from a country that is famous for its barbeques but I have never quite seen a barbeque in USA like the one I was invited to the other day. It was part of a phenomenon I like to call the Condo BBQ.

At the bottom of an apartment building or condo unit, you can usual spot a grill. During the summer, the residents of the entire building group together for a meaty dinner, prepared on that single grill. They set up a big plastic table and chairs, make sure there is a temporary canopy or umbrella overhead and then get down to the business of grilling sausages, pork chops and ribs for everybody.

The man, who wanted to invite my dog and me to his building's event, was donning a white paper chef's hat that was really cute to top off his plump figure: the perfect image of a barbequing enthusiast!

For me, the interesting part is that these people are celebrating not necessarily with friends, but trying to share a fun experience with their neighbors, who sometimes can even get on their nerves. In Italy, you learn to live with the good and the bad. There's no use in trying to isolate yourself, even from annoyances. There are always going to be people around to share in all parts of your life. You can't avoid them in this over-populated country.

Did you know that Italy and Japan have the highest human density per square foot of territory in the world?

Tours on a Burchiello

With the warm season, new ways of exploring the city and region come available. Next to the monument, Memoria e Luce, dedicated to the September 11th tragedy, you can find this colorful boat. It offers tours through the city's waterways.

Yes, Padua has canals like Venice and Treviso. It used to have even more but many have been covered over to create roads. For example, about 20 years ago a road was named Riviera Tito Livio, near my place of work, recalling its origin as a water route. In the past, water was the best way to transport people and goods from city to city so even the inland city of Padua built a series of canals, mostly to connect it with Venice, which opens up to the lagoon and Adriatic Sea. But now cars and trucks seem to transport just about everything so roads are necessary and Padua's waterways are mostly explored by foreign tourists and local canoe clubs.

This particular boat, or burchiello, leaves from the Piòvego in the city centre, within a few minutes' walk to the train station.

There are several boat services of different shapes and sizes that take their guests through Padua, around Padua and along the Riviera Brenta to visit several important Venetian villas such as Villa Pisani, Villa Widmann, Barchessa Valmarana and Villa Malcontenta or from Padua toward Battaglia Terme to see the villas and waterfront of the Euganean Hills and Monselice. You can find trips for all tastes and price ranges, with time-frames ranging from one hour, half-day to full-day varieties. Here is a list of them:

www.padovanavigazione.it
www.deltatour.it
www.ilburchiello.it
www.battellidelbrenta.it
www.artemarstours.it


And if you decide to go a trip now with them, you might be able to take advantage of their low-season rates! (July and August heat seems to be a deterrent for some, but on the other hand, you won't have to worry about rain!)

Change of Seasons

The city landscape moves from rich greens in April to burnt browns in June as we move into summer.

View from Via Cornaro