Revealing the Renaissance--Ferrara

Let's forget about yesterday shall we?  Today the sun came out and it was almost warm for my last full day this trip.  I went to Ferrara and had a good time.
I had a hard time deciding where to go, but I am glad I picked Ferrara. I'd certainly like to return and spend a few days there.  It's a lovely, historic--and easy place.  Because my time is so limited, I stuck to the palazzi of the Este Family. Yes, we met them in Modena, too.
Castello Estense dominates the center of town.  Now it's a Renaissance castle, not a Medieval one, but it is a true fortress--moat and all.  While most of the building is given over to city and regional offices within you will find the tourist information office and a museum that gives a glimpse into the life styles of the rich and ducal.  One thing I appreciated is the commentary in English on the purposes of the rooms and the history of the family.
I stopped for some gelato on my way to the next palazzo.  I got two traditional Italian favorites--crema--which was very like licking lemon frosting, and straticella which has choco bits.
It was a long walk out to the Palazzo Shifanoia, but Ferrara is very well sign posted.  This is the Este Family's "Palace of Joy."  Not all the rooms were open, so I got in free.  The frescos by Cosme Ture create an Arcadian World of elegant leisure.
Then I trudged back through town to the Palazzo Diamante.  It's an interesting building in itself, and one instantly realizes how it got its name, and no it's not shaped like a diamond, but the exterior looks rather like facets.  I wanted to see the art museum, but I am not having much luck with these, because I arrived just as it was closing.  Unreasonably early in my opinion.  It was only 2:00!
There's a whole lot more to Ferrara, and I barely scratched the surface, so as I said, I'd like to stay there a day or two.
Something interesting happened on the train ride back to Bologna.  The good looking guy who took the seat opposite me turned out to be train police.  He had luggage with him.  A cover?  And I could not help but notice he had two cell phones.  Now that seemed excessive even for Europeans, but later I figured one was personal and the other for work.  I also noticed he had no ticket.  He flashed something at the conductor, but I thought it must be a pass.  No such thing.  It was a badge.
I learned this when we stopped at one of Bologna's suburban stations.  The conductor insisted one passenger get off as his ticket was for this station.  The guy--who sounded like he was on drugs--refused.  And refused and kept refusing.
That's when my seatmate went into action.  He showed his badge and told the guy to get off and there was some other stuff in Italian that sounded like threats and fines.  The guy refused yet again.
One of the other passengers took pity on the man--or else just wanted the train to move--and paid his fare.  The train policeman was disgusted.  I would have been, too.
Ciao

Cold and Miserable

Ahhhh.  Hot green tea.  And internet in my room.  The two best things that have happened to me all day. It's not the wireless the network I'm supposed to be on, but that one doesn't work.  So.
One has to bank on a certain amount of frustration and disappointment when one travels as often as I do.  Today was it.  It rained all night.  It's going to rain all day.  The temperature is 7C, and I don't think I want to know what that is in Fahrenheit.
I started off my day nicely enough with the trip to the bancomat and the grocery store.  Then I set out well bundled but still cold for the Modern Art Museum of Bologna--its initials in Italian spell out MAMBO.  On my way three people asked me for directions.  I couldn't help any of them.
So I've walked by this MAMBO place three times while going elsewhere, but--it figures--when I was actually looking for it, I couldn't find it.  I wandered around for an hour before hitting the target.  And you know what, I really didn't want to see it but picked it because it was fairly close and open, and so I was not disappointed by the meh collection.
Then on to what I really wanted to see--the Pinacoteca Nationale--chock full of Late Medieval and Early Modern Art.  Hot puppies!  I hauled my carcass all the way across town in the rain and cold figuring on a couple of hours inside with some delightful art.
I found the place.
Closed.
What?  Even the sign on the door said it was supposed to be open.  I had no plan B, so I faced an hour long trudge home.
But at least I'm here, warming up and drying out.  And I have good food.  Ravioli di quattro fromaggi is on the menu with Lambrusco to wash it down.  For ante pasto I have prosciutto and mortadella. Breakfast will be whole grain bread--very tasty! spread with stracchino, which is a mild, but rich and creamy cheese from way north in Lombardy.  I drink it with plenty of strong black tea.
Here's hoping tomorrow will be drier and more fruitful.
Ciao!

Ravenna!!!

Ever since I learned the place existed--and that was Way Back in college, I have longed to go to Ravenna.  Today the dream was fulfilled.
And did it answer your expectations?
Oh yes!
Ravenna is about two and a half hours from Bologna by train--east nearly to the coast.  The train ride was prettier and more interesting than the one to Modena.  From the window I saw the wooded Emilian hills, freshly plowed fields, a small, spikey trees covered in pink blossoms--no leaves--just the blossoms.  I do not know what kind they are, but they are cultivated in orchards.
Ravenna is a lovely place and easy to navigate.  I got a combination ticket for five sights, hoping I'd have time to see them all, and as they are close together I did.  The combo ticket is a very good deal at 11.50 euro, because if you paid single entry for each one it would come out to twice that, and every sight is very worth seeing.  Ravenna is the capital of Byzantine Art.  Most of it in Constantinople was pried out or white washed.
I began with San Vitale.  Built in the shape of an octogon, it is a centrally planned church whose exterior gives no hint of the wonders within.  Now I have seen photographs, and I have taught these mosaics, but nothing prepares one for the real thing.  Even in the dimly lit church, the light glitters and dances off the glass, giving the figures a life no photograph could ever catch.  San Vitale is famous for Justinian and Theodora and their attendants.  They never came here, but their images survive nowhere else.  The rest of the church is just as glorious.
I visited the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia--also encrusted with fabulous mosaics.  She was the sister to one emperor and mother to another.  In between time she was captured by barbarians and ended up marrying one of them.  The tribe returned her to Rome when her husband died, and her brother fixed her up again.
There's a museum with other Byzantine Art--carvings, the archbishop's throne, intricately carved in ivory which I think is a must see as well.  I also visited the Neroian Baptistry--also full of wonderful mosaics.  I think the male saints were standing in contraposto, which surprised me greatly.
I paid my respect to Dante Aligheri, who is buried in San Francesco, having lived as a bitter exile from his home city Florence.  All he did was take the Tuscan dialect and turn it into Italian.
I saved San Apollinare Nuovo for last.  It is a basilica in the Early Christian style with aisles marked out by a colonnade.  There's a finely restored coffered ceiling--and oh yes--mosaics.  The famous one is of the three wise men proffering gifts to the Christ Child seated on his mother's lap.  A procession of female saints follows.  On the opposite wall is the adult Christ Enthroned with Angels, and a procession of male saints.  Just glorious.
The sun came out for me in Ravenna, and although it was still cold, it was warm enough for gelato.  I had more niocchiola and amarena, but this time I added chocolate.
Back in Bologna the cold and gloom returned, but I carried the light of the mosaics home with me.

Pasqua de Italia

I woke up to something I had not seen in days--blue sky and sunshine!  The forecast was still for cold temps, but the clear sky was a welcome change.
If only, I grumped, it had been like this yesterday, and I would have taken rain today--because it's Easter, and almost everything in Italy except the pope is closed for the holiday.  Really there was no point to my even trying to go anywhere. Nevertheless, the day was too fine to waste.  I could go for a walk at least.
I strolled outside.  Not bad.  Suddenly I formed a plan.  Gelato.  There had to be at least one place open in the tourist zone, and it's probably illegal to leave Italy without having had gelato once.
I found a new way into town, but it's just as long and boring as the old way, so never mind.  I have not mentioned it, but everyday I have been here, starting with the bus from the airport, people have been asking me directions.  Sometimes the question is so simple I can answer; other times not so much.  So the streets were pretty empty in those parts and the traveling Italian couple didn't have much choice, but I could after all direct them to the town center and name the streets and indicate turn directions with my hands.  I figured if I could get them started out, then they could ask further on.
A few minutes later, I took off my jacket and stuffed it in my bag.  Gelato weather indeed!  I had a nice stroll.  As I had hoped the town center was buzzing although most things were closed.  The main streets had been closed to traffic and a festive atmosphere prevailed.  I found gelato, too, and had two of my favorites amarena and nocchiola.  And yes, they tasted very good indeed.
I strolled through a park and walked around the streets feeling good about the day despite no real tourist action.  This is my issue.  I have three days left to sight see, leaving on the fourth and most museums and sights are closed on Monday.  I had to set some priorities and decide what I could bear to drop.  It always happens that I can't see Everything.  At any rate I hope this means a change in the weather.  I could do with some real primavera italiana!
Ciao

A Damp Day Out

I awoke to the sound of rain pattering against my windows, and I returned home with my trousers, socks, and shoes soaked, which is why this post is late.  I still have no wi fi in the room and after I'd stripped off my soggy clothes all I could face was a cup of green tea and my kindle.
When one travels to Europe--or anywhere I guess--one just deals with the weather, and my time here is so short and the list of things so long, I set forth for Modena.
Modena is a short and easy train ride from Bologna.  The train plowed through a landscape I'd call wintery, except that no frost adorned the ground.  The trees looked skeletal, and the vine stocks barren.  I saw short, twisted trees I thought were olives, but they also were leafless, so I could not be sure.
Modena, once home to the Este Family, is a handsome dignified city even in the pouring rain. What my guidebook and the internet did not tell me, is that it shuts down tight on Saturday afternoon. Or perhaps just the Saturday before Easter?  I wandered around taking in Baroque and Renaissance palaces.  These aren't open to the public anyway.  The Renaissance palace now serves as Italy's military academy.  I really wanted to see the Romanesque Duomo, which is reputedly one of the finest examples in Italy, but the exterior was covered in scaffolding and the church was locked up. Few people were on the streets besides us bewildered tourists.
But what of the famed Aceto Balsamico de Modena?  It's vinegar or soured wine redistilled and aged some twenty years, and the purported balsamic one pulls off the supermarket shelves is not the real deal.  One does not pour this stuff on salad.  Apparently the proper way to eat it is to put a drop on some shards of parmesan.  But the stores were closed!  Could I obtain this elixir elsewhere?  Then I passed an open "bar" that had bottles of balsamic displayed in the window.  I went in and chose a tiny bottle I knew I could pack.  The proprietor was a friendly, very outgoing woman, who must have been delighted to have some custom that afternoon.  She spoke English, praised my purchase to the skies and expressed tremendous admiration for California, especially San Francisco.  New York City, she said was too full of weirdos.  I didn't know what to say to that.
I am drinking and enjoying Lambrusco these days.  It's red and fizzy--not sparkling though.  It's also very cheap here being the local wine, and if you find a bot that says DOC you won't go wrong--even in the United States I would guess.  At any rate it goes well with pasta.  I had pumpkin ravioli, which I learned to like in Lombardy, and it's a popular filling in Emilia as well.  I also tried the true "baloney" or mortadella.  I got it sliced thin.  This is not the industrial sandwich filling of my girlhood.  It has a rich and subtle taste and also goes well with Lambrusco.
Ciao

A Day of Art

It's still cold, and it's the End of March for heaven's sake. Easter is in just a few days!
I forgot some things I saw yesterday, and as I gave myself a comparatively easy day today, I'll add those in.
I mentioned that Bologna has the oldest university in Europe, and yesterday afternoon, I wandered in to the part open to the public. There isn't much--mostly an elaborate arcaded courtyard and a fancy first floor hallway.
I was back that way today, but I had to take a fairly long detour to the train station where I had to spend a whole euro on the toilet. One thing you can say about the USA--it's the land of the free . . . Then I strolled up Via della Independenzia licking windows until I got to the Museum of Medieval Life. It has a lovely collection--but we must define the word Medieval with extreme looseness to cover everything from Late Antiquity to the Eighteenth Century. I always enjoy the intricately carved and bejeweled reliquaries and stone carvings, but the highlight for me were some gorgeous illuminated and gilded manuscripts with old musical notation. Long ago I learned to read some of it when I sang as part of an historical musical group. I didn't remember a thing in case you want to know.
I made my way to the Museum of City Art, and when the city is Bologna the artistic pickings are mighty fine. I ought also to mention that these museums are located in palazzos, so the buildings themselves are fun to prowl around. I was going for the period rooms. This particular palazzo was a favorite stop of the Popes from the Farnese Family who lived (when not in Rome) up the road in Parma. Napoleon also stopped here. The rooms all had beautifully frescoed ceilings and abundant objects d'arte, and furniture. My favorite was a smallish room frescoed to look like a bower all over vines and leafy trees. "Views" out one side showed a lake and mountains, and out the other side one saw a peaceful countryside with plowed fields.
Delightful! And a perfect place to have tea on a cold afternoon were it my place. Only one thing marred the charm--an infestation of putti! If it really were my place I'd have the exterminators in directly.
On my way home I stopped into the food market to marvel at the vegetables and various other goodies on offer. I did not buy. I did not want to lug things all the way home, and the supermarket I mentioned is pretty incredible, too. I spent a lot of time just wandering around. There are two whole aisles dedicated to pasta! Maybe not every shape every conceived, but I'd say most of them. You can get the fancy artesianal kind or the house brand. I got some local wine--a semi sweet lambrusco to go with my tortellone--that's big, fat tortellini--and I have some with ricotta and spinach.
Because of the way the kitchen is equipped--or not--pasta is going to be my dinner. Over the way in Tuscany or up in the Veneto they wouldn't go for that, but in Emilia-Romanga pasta is the deal!
ciao!

Chilled Bologna

I am sitting down in the lobby typing this because I can't get the wireless connection in my room.  It worked last night, but this morning.  Nada.  Now?  Still nada.
I had a good first day out.  I thought the cold would bother me more, but my leather jacket does fine. The cold eventually did begin to get to me--the high was something like 45F, so don't scoff, and knowing what a long walk I faced back, I came home.
I am way out so it takes about half an hour to get to the historic center.  Many of the streets are lined with covered arcades and colonnades which are very welcome on a damp, drizzly day.  I strolled along, stopping to lick the occasional window.  I passed by the old city walls and through one of the old gates. At length I arrived at the heart of the city.
There are two conjoined pizzas.  The smaller is called Nettuno because there's a rather risque fountain of Neptune created by Giovanni da Bologna featuring sea nymphs and a naughty dolphin or two. Grand buildings sit around it and the Piazza Maggiore.  Both were filled with tourists and tour groups.
I crossed over to the Duomo St. Petronio.  It's facade is under restoration, so the place doesn't look like much from the outside but inside, it's magnificent.  It's Italian Gothic with some Renaissance and Baroque frosting--any period of Late Medieval or Early Modern Art you are interested in you will find.  There's also a very interested polychrome Lamentation--apparently a Very Popular subject in Bologna, because another church I visited Sta. Maria della Vita featured another even more startling and expressive version.  I can't tell you the artist's name because I left my guidebook upstairs, but he made it look like the Virgin Mary and Mary Magdalene had just come tearing in from somewhere and were totally freaking out.  Really it was quite amazing. I visited a lot of churches. The last one was a Baroque gem called San Pietro.
I also strolled down to see the Due Torre.  Intrepid travelers can go up in one of them.  I am not so intrepid any more.
Most of my time was spent in the large and elaborate Museo Civico de Archeologico.  The amazing collection goes from prehistory to the Romans. The museum is reputed to have one of the best Etruscan collections in the country, but I was more impressed by the Greek pottery.  There are wonderful examples of both Black and Red Figure vases.  The exhibits of Roman artifacts delighted me.  They had a lot of everyday objects and decorative things that normal people would use and have in their homes.
It's too cold for me to be interested in gelato.  If that changes I'll let you know.  But I had some prosciutto de Parma.  Um boy.  It's very mild and creamy tasting.  I have some tortellini with walnuts and gorgonzola waiting for me upstairs, and as I am hungry, I am going to go eat it now.
Ciao!