Feast of St. Anthony of Padua

St. Anthony of Padua is Will’s patron saint because, surprise surprise, he loses everything not permanently attached to his body. And it happens to also be 2 days after our wedding anniversary! This year (totally not realizing the date), I got will a leather key-chain ring (because leather is the material for year 3) with a cute St. Anthony related prayer:

Tony, Tony,
look around.
Something’s lost
and must be found!

Or another (more respectful) version of this prayer below:

Dear St. Anthony, please come around something is lost and it cannot be found.

I got to visit Padua a few years ago while teaching English in Italy & unexpectedly loved it! There’s the basilica of St. Anthony with his tongue on display (morbidly awesome, I know), you can visit the UNESCO medieval botanical gardens, and experience the premier Arena Chapel with paintings by Giotto. Oh and Venice is a great day trip away, I personally only need one day in Venice before I get frustrated. The UNESCO/Shakespeare City of Verona AND the UNESCO Palladian Palaces of Vicenza are also super close. So much to do in the Veneto region!

(pssst…all those links about are to blog posts about my travels). They’re also linked at the end of this post.

My parents are actually currently in Italy & I sent them to Padua for a few nights; I definitely suggest you check out this more or less underrated Italian city if you find yourself in the European peninsula in the future.

JMF

P.S. for more on Padua/Vicenza/Venice travel:

• Vicenza: UNESCO Palladian Villas of the Veneto
• Padova Part I: Arriving & Basilica of St. Anthony of Padua
• Padova Part II: Botanical Garden
• Padova Part III: Scrovegni Chapel
• Amsterdam vs Venice
• Venice: The city of the Rialto, Renaissance engineering, & the sea