Mantova in May Palazzo Tè

We arrive in Mantova on a damp Thursday morning in May. The rain, long threatened and desperately needed, has arrived. Nevertheless, it puts paid to our plan of eating out, literally, since eating inside is not something we feel confident enough to do for the time being.

The gastronomia section of the Esselunga supermarket solves the problem and we eat in the car which is still warm from the drive. After leaving our luggage at the Airbnb, we park in a free car park not far from Palazzo Te. But we need coffee before starting our visit and go to the Palazzo Te caffè, where a bored waitress just manages to push a couple of cups across the counter in our direction.

Palazzo Te is beautiful even in this gloomy afternoon in May. It is a fine example of the mannerist style of architecture, and covered in the marveloous paintings of  Giulio Romano We take our time, also to avoid some noisy and intrusive groups of students. All the rooms are interesting but the most striking are undoubtedly the Room of Horses, just because it's so unusual to see such fine portraits of horses on the walls, Room of Amore and Psyche with the detailed frescoes and Room of Giants which is overwhelming. Upstairs there's also a small Egyptian museum and down at the end of the garden there's the Secret Apartment and garden and grotta which make us think of Spain.

After a rest on a couple of comfortable chairs in Spazio Te, we head for the centre, stopping to visit Palazzo Sebastiano on the way. There's not a great deal, although the ceiling of the room of arrows is worth seeing.

The temple of San Sebastiano is unadorned and the crypt has names of the fallen engraved on the walls. We finish the day with a stroll around the centre now the rain has stopped and a second trip to Esselunga for dinner.