We decided to go back a week later to check it out despite Trip Advisor having nothing to say about it. As we quickly realized, that's because there is nothing really there. Admittedly, we didn't go there with much of a plan; I think we both expected for interesting attractions and shops to just pop up when we got there. Unfortunately, they did not.
Palmanova was about an hour car ride from our house to HB was happy to sleep on the drive. Once, there, we took a brief looksie around the church. It was beautiful... if you're into those kinds of things.
Me, not so much. It was during this time I realized, for personal as well as political reasons, that Catholic Churches make me angry on the inside and I don't like being in them. And the longer I am in them the more I want to spit and break things. I especially don't enjoy the opulent, gold-gilded, ornate and ostentatious ones (no, the irony of this is not lost on me). Thus, after about five minutes, we left. I will note the side atrium does have an exceptionally beautiful mosaic and if you're there, do go see it.
The center of town is all gravel and they have a little park for wee ones so we let HB play a bit and he was happy. We walked down a few side streets (maybe they were the wrong ones?) and didn't see anything else too interesting besides this door.
We had cappuccino at one of the cafes in the city center and that was nice. The weather was beautiful and HB enjoyed hanging out in the comfy lounge chairs. For me, the most notable part of our trip was when I went to the bathroom at the cafe. I admit, I was nervous to walk inside through the cluster of elderly Italian men at the counter who were standing up drinking their coffees and engaged in a lively discussion. I did, though, and tried not to notice as they stared at me like I resembled the girl with the dragon tattoo. All of these fears instantly vanished as I pushed through the door and was transported from Italy to a standoff at the O.K. Corral. Me, eyes wide at first, then narrowed at the hole, the blank, dark hole staring formidably back at me. For what felt like an hour, I stood paralyzed. I really had to pee but what was I supposed to do with THAT?! Belatedly I realized the hole was ensconced by gleaming white porcelain with two raised, foot-shaped platforms. "Ok, so I stand there and that's how it works," I said to myself out loud. Looking back, I'm unsure if it was instructions or a pep talk. Whatever it was made my bladder relax enough that I didn't have time left for pondering. Surprisingly (but I suppose it's not too surprising), it felt quite natural and my pant legs escaped unscathed. Fortunately, it was only a #1 visit. Unfortunately I didn't bring my phone (and there was no way I was going to wade through the shark pool again) but I will next time. A picture would have been most appropriate at this point. In case you had any question at all, yes, this is that kind of blog and I intend to make European toilets a focal point until they stop shocking me.
Overall, this trip was pretty anticlimactic. Palmanova is not a stand alone trip. We still had a nice day, though, and HB seemed to have fun so it wasn't a total bust. We thought about amending our trip and heading up to Udine but decided it would be best to devote an entire day to that venture.Unfortunately, we've all been ill and had to cancel two trips since our Palmanova excursion but we should be visiting Udine soon.
No comments:
Post a Comment