Wednesday+and+Saturday+evenings+in+Padua

Padua is a beautiful historic city that offers entertainment for all kind of people. The old city center, the parks, the thermal baths, the theater, the coffee-bars, the pubs, the cinemas and the discos give people the chance to enjoy a lot this place. Padua is famous for its old University, too; for this reason, it hosts a lot of students both from all over Italy and Europe. In Padua young people go out especially during the week-end, but university students are used to going out also during the week because for them discounts are made. Especially Wednesday evenings are celebrated by university students and are called " Serate universitarie ". On such days students meet to drink something together and to go to the disco. For instance, near the city center there are many discos that organise theme evenings and dedicate them to different courses of study; these discos are cheaper or the entrance is even free, this is why they are always crowded. Some cinemas, moreover, allow university students to see a good film with a considerable discount compared to ordinary tickets. Consequently, cinemas are the next best to the discos. Another characteristic day for students to go out is Saturday. From the early morning the city center is crowded and in the most important squares the market stands take their places. Furthermore, people enjoy walking through the squares because of their majesty; for example, the most well-known square of Padua is Prato della Valle, once a Roman theatre, that has become the traditional site for fairs and amusement; it is a large elliptical green divided by four avenues corresponding to four bridges, and it is surrounded by a canal along which stand 78 statues of famous men. Prato della Valle is the biggest square in the world, after the Red Square in Russia. At 6 p.m. young people flow into the squares for the so called " Spritz time " to drink this typical beverage which consists in white wine, Aperol or Campari, and gas water. On Saturday nights, apart from going to the cinemas and to the discos, young people choose to go also to the pubs. In Padua there are different kinds of pubs, for example, pubs where people have dinner and then can dance, or lounge bars. In conclusion, in Padua young people, especially university students, are used to going out on Wednesday and on Saturday evenings.

Katia Massaro - Sonia Pigato - Claudia Piraino