NCL Jade: Back-to-back Mediterranean Cruises
Pre-cruise:
We rented an apartment in Padua through vrbo.com for a week prior to our cruise. It was an excellent decision as the cost of the two bedroom, very clean, very spacious, very well-located apartment for a week was about $150 a night. Being able to cook our own meals and wash clothes saved time and money and aggravation. We were right on the bus line and used the buses to go everywhere around town and to take us to the train station quickly and cheaply. Padua has several things to recommend it. It is clean and safe and it has great things to see. The Basilica of St. Anthony is marvelous and moving. The baptistery is quite beautiful. The Scrovegni Chapel, which requires reservations, is breathtaking. I also liked the food market in Padua. If you are staying in an apartment you can get the most beautiful vegetables and meat there that you can imagine. And the variety of risottos, beans, spices, is amazing. Padua is not a tourist town. The only souvenirs you will find are in the train station and are few. But I like different sorts of “souvenirs” than most. I bought a small bag of multicolored peppercorns and put them in a bottle, labeled them, and will remember Padua’s market whenever I look at them.
Roomy, plenty of storage. Semi-comfortable bed; hard sofa. Noise from kiddies playing above til about ten, then the odd moving of chairs during the night. Not bad though