Romeo and Juliet, Sunday, 04/27/11

Verona. Setting for the fictitious, ill-fated lovers. And yet, there is a small alley with walls completely covered in ink, ink that tells the tales of countless women who seek advice from Giuletta. The alley leads to a very small courtyard with the balcony and Juliet's bronze statue. The act of rubbing her left breast promises to bring a favorable love life and so it gleams from continuous rubbing. Just as in the movie, Letters to Juliet, love letters are answered by the Guild of Giuletta. There is even a Tomba di Giuletta! Wonder who is buried there?

Giuletta's balcony

Good luck breast

Verona is my second favorite city, just after Ravenna. The pretty Piazza Bra is dominated by the Roman Arena covered in pink and white marble. Twenty thousand cheering Veronese crowded into the Arena during its heyday to witness the spectacle of Christian vs. lion. A vibrant concert season brings people to the Arena today.

Roman Arena

A riot of colorful flowers and people filled the piazza. Despite the fact that it was Palm Sunday, every shop was open. We heard many languages being spoken but we heard German most often. Waitstaff and sales people amaze me with their fluency in many languages. Two Latvian girls addressed us in Italian until I explained, 'No parlo Italiano molto bene." In English, one asked which language did I want to use. She was fluent in 5 languages and understood more!

04-15,16

Thursday night back in Bologna we attended the Vagina Monologues directed by our host. What a performance! Each cast member was rich in talent.Friday and Saturday we explored more of Bologna including the Basilica of San Petronio on the Piazza Maggiore. Breathtaking.

Padova Treasures

We slept late Wednesday, 4/13/2011, because Venice wore us out. Sensory overload.
We did get up and out for lunch on the piazza in the shadow of  the Palazzo della Ragione. Love eating outside on the piazza. Gary had the best pizza so far, covered in very thin slices of a large porcini. My meal was vegetable spaghetti, literally; very long, thin pieces of carrot, celery, and zucchini in olive oil with seasoning. Desert was sweet strawberries in balsamic vinegar with whipped cream. What a feast of flavors for the tongue to sort out.
Fortified by the meal, we ventured into the Palace which houses a huge wooden horse by Donatello and the Grand Hall frescoes by Menaboui with Astrological theories by Mierto.

Inside the palazzo

Park in Padova

This Donatello sculpture ca. 1447 of famous Venetian condottiere, Erasmo da Narmi, was popularly called Gattamelata (The Honeyed Cat). The sculpture was very controversial at the time of its creation as it was an equestrian monument glorifying a man who was just a man, not a ruler. Such works had been executed solely for rulers.

Donatello's Gattamelatta

Welcome to the Basilica of Saint Anthony in Padua. The friars of Saint Anthony’s shrine have established a web site about the place where the body of the Saint which the world loves has been guarded for almost 8 centuries. http://www.basilicadelsanto.org/ing/visita/visita.asp
People touch tomb. Bedecked with photos and requests.
Cathedral of St Cristina. Tomb of St Luke, gospel writer. Luke had no head (in Rome)  and was missing a rib - sent to Thebes .Had seen a painting by St Luke of the Madonna in Bologna at the Cathedral of San Luca.
Rode bus around perimeter of Padova. Long ride.
Supermarket dinner

Our Last Day in Padova Thursday, 04/14/2011

We were up at 6:00 am Thursday morning to check out of our hotel and catch a local bus for the train station. At the station we utilized a booth to store our luggage for the day at euro 3.87 per bag. Then off to have coffee and see the nearby Scrovegni Chapel! This chapel alone is well worth any trip to Padova. It's by reservation only and the tour is very well organized. Marge had studied the artwork of Giotto for the chapel and how it is a defining point in the history of art. Afterwards we had a pleasant lunch at a little bar near the Univerity of Padova.
We spent the rest of the day shopping at a retail department store called "Coin" and then at a small grocery store. Marge had a successful conversation in Italian with one of the sales clerks, clearly an indicator of increased confidence in the langage. We can do this!
We thoroughly enjoyed our stay in Padova. A great town, very residential and pleasant, well worth spending time in. The people are very friendly and I would advise you not to just spend time near the train station.

Katherine Hepburn and me Tuesday 04/12/11

Rialto bridge

Gondolas, real gondolas!

I caught the excitement of Katherine Hepburn in the movie Summertime with our first glimpse of Venice from the train as it crossed the long causeway onto the island! Just like her character, the crowded vaporetto carried us under the Rialto bridge along the wide S-curve of the Grand Canal. Incredible, amazing, astounding...these are appropriate adjectives for this city! Once again, photos and movies did not prepare us for the granduer of the Piazza St Mark where we disembarked. With scenes from the movie fresh in my memory, we found the location where Hepburn first spotted her summer love interest. Our senses were flooded, not just in the square, but on every turn on every alley. I think we found the exact shop where Hepburn met her lover, and we found the red goblet she purchased! On the Rialto bridge, a merchant (of Venice) eagerly instructed me in the art of discernment so that I could recognize authentic Murano glass.

Palace of the Doge

Lost on an Island called Venice!

Marge and Gary in Venice

"This doesn't look right." I said in frustration and it wasn't. After walking down crooked passageways ending in brick walls and onto an island with only one bridge on and off, I was getting just a little annoyed with all the "blind alleys". Normally my sense of direction was pretty good but my short cuts to get away from the crowds and back to the train station just weren't working.

It was late in the day on a Tuesday and Venice was packed with travelers from all over the world. We had a great day being tourists; boating down the Grand Canal, lunching on the piazza of St Mark, and shopping all over. My camera was full of pictures and my wallet was nearly empty. It was time to get on the train to go back to the hotel to Padova and I was fast learning that in Venice an empty street was probably a street to nowhere.

All the while Marge was very clam and reassuring, "Let's take a look at the map.

As I said, it was late in the day, I was tired, and, forgive me men, I followed her advice and looked at the map!

But I don't think it was just me being lost in Venice; I think that Venice has lost itself. The lure of tourist money permeates everything. Seldom do you see anything that resembles life for an existing population. The shops, restaurants and gondola rides are for tourists. Venice has sold itself and you may as well be in Disney World waiting in line for the boat rides and tours. It brought me down from the high of the Italian “bella vita”. Venice is “Fregatura”.

Picnicing tonight

Tonight's menu is:

• Mortadella con Mozzarella di Buffolo
• Pangustosi
• Filetto di Salmone
• Trebbiano Veneto vino
• Insalata Misto con Carciofini allla Paesanna
• Dolce Salame al Cioccolato

We're enjoying a little picnic in our room at the Small Hotel Royal, a very small, charming hotel in a residential neighborhood of Padova.

When we first arrived, we visited the Tourist Information office at the train station for maps, then walked to the city center and ate pasta at the Caffe Hausbrandt. So good! Mine was in a pomodoro sauce, Gary's was pomodoro mixed with sausage and prosciutto. Next, we did a bit of sight-seeing while pulling our suitcases. Then, we found our hotel via bus. After a brief rest, we walked and walked and walked, found a supermercato, and returned to our hotel for a picnic.

BTW The dolce salame al cioccolato is out of this world!

We're at the mid-point of our vacation and looking forward to Padova & Venice!

Thoughts on random travel topics:

• Language- I feel that we are continuing to progress with the language every day. We're now more confident in the basics and try to use a broader veriety of words. Seldom have we encountered a problem in communicating and humor never fails to save us.
• Prices- Everything costs more than in the States. Converting prices from euros to dollars is not a problem. We just multiply the euros by 1.5 to get the approximate cost in dollars.
• Food- Northern Italian food is not what I identify as "U.S. Italian" food, but very good. Finding exactly what you want can be problematic, but you're in Italy for Italian food so go with it. It is too expensive to eat in resturants daily so we alternate with buying food and wine in a supermarcato.
• People- Northern Italians are a beautiful people. Seldom do you see anyone overweight or unattractive. In addition almost everyone has simultaneously been helpful and reserved. I'm certain it takes time to develop friendships.
• Transportation- Every city seems to have an excellent and inexpensive bus system covering the train station and city center. Driving within the cities would be a nightmare for many reasons; signage, narrow and crooked streets, and traffic. Train travel between cities is easy and afordable. I haven't seen any reason to rent a car.

Buongiorno da Bologna Stazione Centrale

Sunday Antique Market

We just boarded the train for Padova/Padua after a restful weekend. Our batteries needed to be charged so we stayed close to home for two days. Now fully charged, we're on the road again. We'll divide our sight-seeing between Padova and Veneto today through Thursday.
Sunday afternoon we were treated to home cooking, courtesy of Shoshanna and a couple of her friends. Molto delizioso!
We ventured into town later. Street musicians and acrobats performed and passed the hat in Piazza Maggiore.  Really good stuff was being sold at a flea market on one of so many narrow, cobble stone streets. We wandered into Basilica Santo Stefano but didn't linger because I was wearing a sleeveless top. Bad form in a Catholic church, I learned.
Don't know what I ate last night! Small, very thin, curved strips of a chewy white seafood. Gary's beef dish had strips of a hard, purple vegetable, possibly raw eggplant skin.
Gracious Shoshanna invited us to use her washing machine. Thank goodness! We packed very lightly and need to do laundry often. Most often, I launder a few pieces in the sink at night.

We'll be checking into the Small Hotel Royal in Padova. We may have reserved a room with twin beds, just couldn't translate the description very well. We'll find out soon enough.

Asking for the bill

A funny thing just happened. I asked the waiter for the check after we finished eating dinner and he started telling me about vegetables. "Now that's odd", I thought. Then he gave me a clean knife and fork.  I say contorno, he says "si, verdure". "Un momento". I whip out the Berlitz book, find the word for 'bill' and it's...conto, not contorno. Good laugh throughout the small restaurant and the waiter is very gracious.

Parma - parmesan

New day, new train ride. Our destination this morning was Parma, famous for parmesan cheese and Parma ham. mmmmmm! Our pattern this week is: awake, eat a quick bowl of meusli and drink a small, extremely strong cup of coffee, dress and GO! (fired up by the EXTRA caffeine) Bus 27 drops us off at the Stazione Centrale. We buy tickets from a wonderful machine that gives instructions in several languages including English and take off.
Trains are clean and comfortable. Between towns, the countryside is blanketed in acre upon acre of spring-growth farmland. On this train, a snack and coffee vendor wheeled a small cart down the aisles. Sometimes we catch a double-decker train and sit on top, unless it is primo classe. They all have toilets. (Water Closets).
It is so much fun to travel with Gary. Between us, we are able to make sense of the language and seek out adventures upon arrival. Good thing we studied before the trip. We each travel with a pocket Berlitz phrase book. From the train station, we make our way to the Tourist Information center where we gather maps and plan the day's activities. The night before, we research a bit online.

 
Parma is another pretty city with a magnificent ducal palace in the city center. Both of my birthday wishes were fulfilled here; a delicious meal of creamy risotto cooked with, what else?, authentic parmesan cheese, and a visit inside the Galleria Nazionale. The museum houses a glorious theatre, and great works of art by Correggio, Parmigianino, Da Vinci, Canaletto, Canova, and Hans Holbein the Younger.
Once again, I tried to purchase georgette fabric, but this time from an Italian-only speaker. What fun trying to communicate! Still too expensive, though.

Ferrara

Wonderful Ferrara was the home of the powerful Este family who gave great patronage to the arts. Lucrezia Borgia lived here after marrying into the family. Limited car traffic in the historic center of the city encouraged us to make a walking tour.  Our walk began with a story of poor Savonarola, a priest who broke with the church, was hanged, then burned in 1497. Makes a person pause to consider the cruelty of the Chruch. I'm so glad I live now, when I am free to pursue my philosophical, religious, and political inclinations witout fear of retaliation.

Gary - Then as now, it's all about money and power.

Now I understand why Ferrara is on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Magnificent Medieval and Renaissance buildings decorate narrow, cobble-stone streets. The city is enclosed by ancient walls and the walls are surrounded by tree-filled parks.
Oh! Spring is in full bloom here with flowers and flowering trees.

Cattedrale - front

Cattedrale - side

                                                                                 
                                                                             
                                                                     

Motorcycles and Scooters Galore!

A Harley 883 in Parma Italy

At least 25% of the vehicles on the road in Bologna are scooters and another 10% are motorcycles. Obviously they are less expensive then cars, have higher gas mileage, and are able to park everywhere. The scooters are outfitted with windshields and "skirts" to keep the rider warm. Scooter riders are well dressed men and women driving what I would describe as *semi-aggressively and squeezing through impossibly tight spots. The scooters are of many different makes and models and range in size from 50cc to 500cc. Mostly they are smaller models, 125cc to 150cc, that you don't find in the U.S. But I am seeing many Suzuki Burgmans: mostly 400cc but some 650cc. Being a former owner of a Burgman 400, I can really appreciate how well they are suited for the city and occasional autostrata riding. If we move to Bologna, I want one again.
The motorcycles are Ducati, BMW, and the big three Japanese manufacturers. Motorcycle riders are almost all men wearing expensive leathers. I am not seeing many "crotch rockets", instead "Adventure Tours" like the VStrom models seem to be the most popular. These bikes are mostly for commuting in and out of the city. I have seen a few Harley's and other Boulevard cruisers but not many. By the way, the police are riding Ducati MultiStrata and BMW R bikes.

*semi-aggressive in my definition equates to cutting in and out of traffic moderately but yet overtaking every vehicle possible. I've only seen one accident so far.

Modena - The Dowry. Home of Ferrari, Lamborghini, Maserati, and Bugati

In the Acetaia di Giorgio

This city is renowned for Lambrusco, tortellini, and BALSAMIC VINEGAR. Today we learned how real, traditional balsamic vinegar is made only in Modena, from a combination of lambrusco and trebbiano grapes. For a very good explanation go to: http://www.thenibble.com/reviews/main/oils/about-balsamic-vinegar.asp. In the home of Giorgio and Giovanna, we were given all the time necessary to learn the art. A young couple from Miami/San Francisco, who is travelling with their beautiful, 5 1/2 month old baby boy, Rohan, joined us for the tour. Exquisite rooms were filled with many series of barrels made from different woods, and filled with vinegar in different stages of development. Approximately, 2,000 pounds of grapes produce only 2 liters of vinegar. Twenty-five years ago, Carlotta was born to Giorgio and Giovanna, and they immediately started her dowry, balsamic vinegar. Today, 3 ounces of Carlotta's vinegar sell for 75 Euros, or approximately $105! In the tasting room, we were treated to two 12 year old vinegars and two 25 year old vinegars. I have never tasted anything that compares. We purchased a small bottle of very precious, 12 year old balsamic vinegar.

Giovanna with Carlotta's dowry

Fabric

Store clerks want to wait on customers. I ventured into a fabric store with the intention of buying material to sew a summer dress back in the States. A perfectly gracious man, who spoke English, placed bolt after bolt of fabric on the counter from his neatly-wrapped and carefully-stacked columns and rows of fabric. I selected a cotton voile print. He measured my hips and determined that ' 1 meter 4' would be enough. "Quanto costa questa?" "50 Euros, but for you, 40 Euros.: (about $60!) Ooops! I thanked him for his help and tried to make a graceful exit.

A Walk in the Italian Countryside!

Our host Shoshanna

Marge and I were invited by our host on a walk in the countryside to view the spring wild flowers. We drove into the foot hills of the Apeninnes Mountains south of Bologna and parked just outside of a tiny village called Scoscoli. Surounded by steep hills on all sides the views were beautiful with wild flowers everywhere and fields of lush green grasses! The weather has just turned warm and the trees are only beginning to leaf. We hiked a couple of miles and then stopped at a perfectly charming tiny village with a trattoria where we talked and laughed for hours. It was very soothing to be in the quiet countryside after the hustle of Bologna. Grazie Shoshanna.

Weather

Since we arrived in Italy, the weather has cooperated beautifully; high 60s to high 70s during the day, low 50s at night. We sleep with the window open. Bellissimo!

Fashion - Some Observations

What a difference dieci anni can make. (Our last Italian visit was in 2001.) In an effort to look more Italian, we decided to forego jeans and sneakers for dressier slacks and shoes. Everyone, except the old nonne, wears jeans. Men and women both choose designer types. No Levis and no boot-cut legs, just straight-leg or skinny. The nonne still wear sensible suits and shoes. Many people wear leather jackets, skirts, and pants. Shades of purple are very popular in men's shirts. Other than that, fashion seems universal.

Ravenna, exquisite Ravenna!

This city is far prettier than I could imagine. To study the Byzantine mosaics of Ravenna is a requisite for art history students and I had completed a paper on one in particular a few years ago. I was so eager to arrive at the Basilica of San Vitale. And then I was inside, speechless at the beauty surrounding me. Photographs in textbooks could not prepare me for the richness of the colors and brilliance of the gold mosaics, which date from the 5th century CE. Awestruck, my eyes momentarily swam in tears.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/blu_blue/375751913/

Mausoleo di Galla Placidia

San Vitale - Empress Theodora

Busted on the Bus

Marge follows the rules

Local buses in Bologna are clean, plentiful, and run frequently. We love using them! An individual ticket is 1.5 euros for an hour's travel on any number of buses in any direction. So if you're just making a quick round trip or touring the entire ciry using several buses, you just need one ticket per hour. Bus drivers only drive. They don't sell or check the tickets. There are machines in each bus to sell tickets and to time stamp/validate the tickets. You must validate your ticket or you can be fined.
Marge and I each bought a "ten ride pass" and obeyed the rules for the first several days. But we observed many, at times even most, passengers not purchasing or validating tickets. "What gives?" So this morning, near the end of our 10 trip pass, we purposely failed to validate our tickets. Half way through the ride, the "Ticket Checkers" boarded the buys to audit everyone's tickets. I watched as several passengers were given violation tickets and fined. When asked, we handed our passes to be examined. They clearly had been validated with time stamps from other rides but not this ride and not within the past hour. We were busted!! Thankfully the "Ticket Checker" just smilled and handed back the tickets without a word.
I'm sorry to have let my country down and won't do it again.

Attenzione gli Zingari - Beware the Gypsies!

Travel Tip: Beware the Gypsies!

My first experience with Gypsy pickpockets was a close call. Today on the crowded sidewalk of Via Independenza several pathetic-looking gypsies were asking for money. Among them was a mother with a nursing baby at her breast. She stepped in front of me, pushing the baby at me and I moved aside. She grabbed my left sleeve continuing to plead a little more agressively. I tried to move away and she moved closer. In an instan,t she was slipping her hand into my left pocket.

Gary - "Hey!" I yelled and pushed her arm away. "Polizia!" She backed up muttering and kissing her fingertips while still holding the baby at her breast. Passersby looked and didn't say or do anything. I double checked my passport and money. No police appeared and the gypsy continued as before, unfazed. I decided to move on down the sidewalk. Who would be cruel enough to prosecute a nursing mother?

Marge - "We were walking, talking, and window-shopping when suddenly I was aware of being pushed aside. Just as quickly, Gary yelled, 'Hey!' and 'Polizia'. What struck me is that the beggars are so smooth, and continue to smile when they are rejected. (We had a minor incident the day before.)

Passeggiata

St Luca

"It can't be far." Three hours and 20 miles later, we were at the base of the hill to San Luca. (Slight exaggeration!) Once again, "It can't be far." Climbing slowly, we followed hordes of the faithful who were chanting, praying, and sweating their way to the cathedral. After an hour climb under a portico, the small Baroque cathedral was revealed. Inside there were beautiful marble columns with gilded capitals, large paintings of biblical scenes, small side chapels, and a heavily ornate altar which was crowned with a painting of the Madonna and Child which local lore says was painted by Mark, the apostle and transported to Bologna from the Middle East during the 13th Century.

Bologna

Bologna - three planes, three buses, a subway ride and only one SNAFU!

Travel Tip:
Leaving midweek has the advantage of fewer travelers resulting in faster security check points!

Piazza Nettuno in City Center

We left DC behind as the green line metro started and stopped to Greenbelt Station where the B30 bus shuttled us to BWI. Our planning had allowed an extra hour for the security check points at the airport but we breezed through in just 10 minutes. This gave us time for lunch at a fast food stop before boarding the plane to NYC.
The plane arrived at BWI on time, but weather conditions at NYC dictated a 1.5 hour departure delay from BWI. Just that quick, our well-planned time schedule was in jeopardy. We'd have 40 minutes in Kennedy Airport to get to the International Terminal and find our boarding gate for Madrid. No problem. Our plane's arrival gate was only two gates down from the Madrid flight gate, a pleasant change from years ago when the International Flights left from a seperate terminal on the far side of the airport. The overnight flight to Madrid included an entire symphony of area high school students with their instruments. Very excited, very lively, and very much awake all night! "No sleep for you!"

Madrid has a modern, spacious, and clean airport with lots of easy to follow directional signs. (This is very important when you have loss of sleep and jet lag.) We rode a subway about 3/4 of a mile from one end of the airport to the other, up and down elevators, through passport control, and then through a "Homeland Security" style check point to get to our next departure terminal. We spent our first Euros getting coffee and made the flight to Bologna without a problem.

We were suprised at Bologna to find we could just walk off the plane and out of the airport, no passport check. We followed a crowd of passengers to the Aeroporto Bus stop, paid our 6 euros each, and rode to Stazione Centrale in downtown Bologna! We made it! Well almost. We had to take one more bus, a local bus to the Bitone neighborhood where our home stay is located. It was at this point in the journey when we had done about 20 hours of traveling and had been awake for 30 hours, that we encountered our first SNAFU. The bus we wanted to catch, 27B, was approaching the bus stop at the same time as we were walking to the bus stop. A crowd of people was rushing to get seats on the bus and Marge and I got seperated.

Gary -"I couldn't see Marge anywhere and thought she had boarded via one of the 4 doors to the bus. My frantic calls to her outside the bus went ununswered. So I stepped onto the bus and again called her name. The door closed and the bus started off with me on it.  A fist closed around my heart as I realized that Marge was not on the bus!"

Marge -"I knew Gary was on that very long bus, but the doors were shut tight and I did not feel confident to pound on the doors and shout, APERTO! Minutes later, another 27 bus stopped. I boarded and asked 'Bitone?' the name of our home stay stop. A kind, young woman, who is a university student, got off with me at Bitone and walked me to the appropriate address. I pushed the buzzer, announced myself to our host, and inguired after Gary. My poor, anxious morito/husband  had just arrived and was very relieved and penitent. But it was circumstance and a lack of communication that caused the problem, not him."

Happy to be reunited with no recriminations, we set off to find our first drink in Bologna at the American Bar!

Our neighborhood bar - the American Bar