Scenes from Bologna on Day 4

Playing catch-up, I am sharing a few photos from the previous days of our meanderings in Emilia-Romagna

One of the miles of colonnades for which Bologna received UNESCO world heritage status.

Two of the surviving family towers. Both are currently closed due to the imminent danger of collapse. Both are leaning but the one on the left has recently worried monitors and there are fears it will fall into the one on the right. Oi!

On a rainy day, we went in search of Bologna's water canals that once powered its silk mills.

Nearby is a restaurant for late-night cats, known as Biassanot. We enjoyed dinner here later that night.

This is the location of our cooking class with Carmelita. More about this fun time later.

Later, we went in search of four small statues by the 19-year-old Michelangelo. Well worth the search! What a genius!

So many images of the Nativity have graced our visit -- all with one cow and one donkey. This donkey was particularly expressive. :-)

Parma the Colourful

 

I am getting a little behind in my reporting. The days are full of sights and delights requiring a good night's sleep -- which limits time spent on the computer. To catch up with the travel tale, a visit to Parma's Duomo and Baptistery was the focus of our day yesterday. I had in fact, set out to see the private rooms of the abbess of the Benedictine Convent of San Paolo; but, alas, they are closed on Tuesdays. This only means I shall keep Parma on my bucket list. ;-)

The Baptistery is a delightful pink-and-white layer cake with fascinating frescos from the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries.

Deciphering the symbolism in Benedetto Antelami's sculptures of the months was fun. For example, Libra appears on the righthand sculpture along with the grapes being harvested in bare feet to denote October. In the centre, Scorpio appears in the tree branches and now the figure wears a heavier cloak and shoes against November's cool temperatures.

The focal point of the Duomo is Correggio's whirling painting of the Assumption of the Madonna, capturing the event's vortex of energy.

While Correggio's work, painted in the early sixteenth century is the star of the show, the Duomo has been graced with frescos through time, including this late nineteenth century ceiling and a chapel dedicated to the fallen from World War I.

Around the corner, their modern counterparts were hard at work in the mid-day sun. This may in fact turn out to be our only warm, sunny day of the trip. Time will tell.

For now, buonanotte and sweet dreams.

I'm "Abundant", not "Fat"

L'appetito vien mangiando.
Appetite comes with eating.

Today we wandered Bologna's old marketplace with Carmelita, who shared her insights about all things Bolognese. One of the first things she admonished is not to call Bologna "fat". While nicknamed "La Grassa", she noted that the adjective means "abundant" due to all the richness of its produce. She also lectured us to avoid GMO tomatoes, or as she put it: "tomatoes wearing lipstick".

I would, however, be fat if I lived down the street from this artisanal chocolate factory. The shop closes from June through October because good chocolate cannot be made in the heat.

The last stop on our tour was a wine shop serving meat and cheese where Carmelita introduced us to "Salami Rossa", a delicious sister to Parma ham.

Following our food tour we ventured up to the Sanctuary of Madonna di San Luca (so called because there is a portrait of Mary in the church said to have been painted by St. Luke). While other more athletic souls hiked up the hill, we took the tourist train.

But we got our exercise climbing up to the viewpoint on the church roof. The staircase was a hair-raising experience and my legs were still jelly hours later.

But the view over to the Apennines and Tuscany was stupendous.

Returning to the city we took in Bologna's other side: "La Dotta" (The Learned). The Palazzo dell'Archiginnasio is the campus of the first university of law in the western world. The building includes the Anatomical Theatre where human dissections were carried out under the keen eyes of students seated on wooden benches overlooking the surgical table.

6000 coats of arms of professors and their students cover all surfaces.

Bologna is fascinating in all her facets.

The Learned, The Red, The Fat | Welcome to Bologna!

Chi vive  vede molto,
chi viaggia vede di più.
Those who live see a lot, those who travel see more.

Buongiorno from Parma. On the day following our arrival in Bologna we took the train to Parma to join a culinary tour. Betsy welcomed us to her home in the countryside outside of Parma. While we were jet-lagged, she seemed very content with her local hay and alfalfa breakfast. There are four types of cows whose milk can be used for accredited parmesan cheese. Her milk is also used for a specific "red cow" variety of parmesan that I will be searching the shops for.

We watched as the master cheesemaker at Borgo del Gazzano and his assistant worked to produce two rounds of parmesan. It takes 500 litres of milk to produce one round.

That's a lot of work for Betsy and her girlfriends out in the stable!

Leaving Betsy, we were driven high into the foggy mountains to learn the process for making prosciutto.

We have been indulging in a LOT of Parma ham, which necessitates long walks along Bologna's colonnaded streets. Colonnades were mandated by the state in order to address a housing crisis: the colonnade allowed for additional floors of apartments while still allowing traffic and pedestrian flow at ground level. Each building owner chose their own decorative patterns so our walks are filled with interesting sights.

We inadvertently visited a private residence, thinking the open door looked welcoming. There was a beautiful courtyard and this staircase to the piano nobile (the first floor). How lovely the other half live!

We join locals and visitors for the evening passeggiata (evening stroll) to aid digestion.

Bologna's main piazza remains alive with lovely music of young buskers and children playing with coloured flashlights.

I will end with a photo of my daytime gelato . . . as differentiated from our after-dinner evening gelato. ;-)

Several tastings have all been exceptional.

Buonanotte!
Good night and sweet dreams!