Graffiti a Padova

I was told before I came here that Padua has great graffiti. There definitely is a lot! I wish I could understand more about the cryptic messages I see sprayed on the walls around town.

Basically, I have observed four different types of graffiti . The first is only writing: political messages or poetic musings scrawled on walls. I've seen things that vary from, "No more fascists at the University," to "Love is everywhere" (written in English). Here is an example:

"What do I have in my head? What do I have in my shoes? No… I don't know what."
There are messages from BIOS LAB all around the city. 

There are also written messages illustrated by pictures. This dude, "Red", has a couple of quasi-eco-friendly/ironical messages I pass everyday. One is pictured below (translated in the caption). The other, right next to it, says, "Make your region your religion", and has a similar drawing: 

"Dear Ivo, you want Padua to become a more ecological city with your 'goodbike', 

but at the same time you steal our bikes."

The most mysterious graffiti are the small stencils of symbols, about the size of a dinner plate. They are all over town, and usually red or black. I have seen several euro symbols, houses, hearts, and a couple others. Apparently stencil graffiti is a whole genre. Check these out in the next three pics: 

Another written message I have seen in several places! Notice the small euro symbol stencil under the U, and the house stencil next to it. I see these stencils everywhere, but don't know what they mean. 

A frequently sighted stencil… like the euro symbol and the house… they are all about the size of a dinner plate. 

Bunny stencil. Unlike the others, I have only seen one of these. Is it me, or is he holding a gun? 

The most aesthetically pleasing, of course, are the pictorial, artwork graffitis. The one below is right downtown, and I have passed it several times. It's a great image; I love the bird and the cat.

Photo by Kenny Random, http://www.aldamerini.it/component/option,com_kunena/Itemid,96/catid,4/func,view/id,25127/ 

Want to see more Padua graffiti? Check this out!