Doer Upper

The inspiration for this came from Arachne, who blipped it a couple of weeks back.  A different angle, but the same building.  I reckon it's slated for demolition, but what a Grand Dame it must have been back in the day.  Even now it would make a glorious palazzo, apart from the fact it's only inches away from a main road.

One extra is a street scene from Venice.  Venice is only a short train journey from Padua.  And then of course we had to wrangle the luggage from the station onto a vaporetto.  Now we are ensconced in our hotel, the Bel Sito, where we shall stay for quite a few days.

The second extra is a winged lion at the base of a statue of Manin (a compatriot of Garibaldi), and a very big wig in Venice.  We found him because I was on a mission to visit a well-known yarn store, LellaBella.  Absolutely gorgeous yarns, but I'm afraid I found the shop a tad intimidating.  The owners were kindness itself, but it was so tiny, and there wasn't the chance to look quietly without an owner breathing down your neck.  I'm not being fair to them - it's not their fault I get shy in places like that.

The Pope is visiting Venice today (28th April) - so we are staying well away from St. Mark's Square.  A helicopter just flew low overhead - and that would have been his Holiness.  We waved.