Getting settled

My first church service here in Padova at International Christian Fellowship was great! It was such a privilege to worship with those from so many different cultures and parts of the world. I've been meeting Albanians, Nigerians & other Africans, Brazilians, Filipinos, Italians, Chinese, as well as those from England and America...and I'm sure I left some out! I'm learning so much just getting to know all of these wonderful people. It's such a joy to worship with them, talk with them, and get to know more about them and their culture.
Praise the Lord I have people here to "show me the ropes." I've been to the market a couple of times, thoroughly enjoyed a tea party with some of the ladies from church, survived riding a bike to and from several places around the city, taken the bus once, and of course, I've done lots and lots of walking everywhere! :) Without being able to speak/read the language, it's been a bit intimidating for me to get out and about. But God has provided such amazing people to help me in my time of need. I'm even taking Italian lessons once a week from a university student who goes to our church. I've enjoyed delicious meals, some Italian, some Albanian, Filipino, and an American woman in the church even made chili the other day! I've been blessed to be a part of a student group (even though I'm not a student anymore) that is made up of some university students here in Padova. I've been told that Padova is called "A City of Students"...there are over 60,000 students here. The University of Padova was the second university ever established in Italy, and is one of the oldest in the world...Galileo taught there. I went on a prayer walk with the student group, and we prayed over different buildings, for the students and the faculty. The campus is spread throughout the entire city of Padova...with classes being held in numerous different buildings.

Here are some photos of Padova...

Prato della Valle, the largest square in Italy and one of the largest in Europe.

People call the tower in the distance Galileo's tower, although Galileo never actually used this observatory. He used the tower in Venice, which you can see in my next post.

Statues like these, especially the lion on the top are seen all over Padova. Anytime Venice conquered an area in Italy, they put up their lion statue.

And here I'm standing on part of the "Roman road." When this restaurant was digging to make their basement, they discovered this portion of the Roman road...it's so neat that they decided to cover it so people can still see it while they're eating here.