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Italy Travel Update Issue #17, December 11, 2003

The last three weeks have been very busy at times, but on the whole actually rather relaxing. Busy because I have been doing a lot of traveling, from Lucca to Firenze (Florence) and Pisa, back to Lucca for a couple of days, then to Bologna and Ferrara. I am once again back on Paula's farm outside Lucca, but leave tomorrow for Firenze once again, a two-day waystation for my journey back to the United States (New York) and final departure from Italy for this year.

When I wrote my last two updates, I was actually in Firenze for five days, and despite the cloudy to rainy weather most of the time I was there, I think I'm finally starting to like the city. I have never been very fond of Firenze, usually finding it to crowded and closed-in and noisy for my tastes. But being there at the end of November sheds a whole different light on the place.

Very few tourists, so that you can even belly up to the statue of David in the Accademia without any difficulties (despite the even more limited viewing space, due to restoration work in progress on David, see photo at left). The medieval streets seemed cleaner and more spacious and charming without the usual hordes of tourist groups and individuals pouring over them in never-ending streams. This was enhanced by all the Christmas lights being strung across the major streets.

In addition, I was just there to hang out and leisurely pick a few places to revisit, having seen most everything on prior trips. So I was more relaxed myself during my sightseeing forays and in fact spent quite a bit of time lounging in a bookstore, reading.

I next went to Pisa, pretty much for only one reason: to climb the Leaning Tower. Last time I was there, the tower was still closed to the public, but they opened sometime in the past year or two, having stabilized the tilting tower enough to withstand small amounts of tourist traffic. While expensive (15 Euro) to climb, it was incredibly fun, thanks to that tilt. I continually giggled to myself as I first leaned into the inside wall while climbing the circular, extremely well-worn marble steps, and then found myself leaning into the outside wall.

Coming down was even more hilarious, as there were times when I felt like I was leaning forwards (and I wasn't wearing heels, just sneakers), and other times when I felt like a drunkard who couldn't stay upright. The tower isn't that tall (just about 300 steps), but the views are pretty (see photo below right, with proof that I was there). I knew my limits and didn't climb up to the narrow catwalk circling over the bell tower, just kept to the bell tower level itself.

I was in Pisa for only two nights, and the cold weather arrived while I was there, but that didn't stop the Pisans from heading out to the streets for their nightly passeggiata. As with Florence, the Christmas lights had been strung across all the major shopping streets, and twinkled merrily in the crisp, cold night air.

After a brief return to Paula's, I had decided to spend my last long weekend in Italy in Bologna and Ferrara, as I haven't been to either place, and in fact haven't spent much time in any of the cities or towns in the Emilia-Romagna region where they were located.

I found Bologna alternately charming and uninteresting. Much of the city sidewalks are covered in porticos, which are nice to keep the nasty weather off of you, but which also tend to block the views of the ancient palazzi and of the medieval streets themselves. They also tend to make the narrower streets feel more closed-in. But there were lovely churches, a very long (and for me, slow and nerve-wracking) 500-stair climb up a tower for some nice views (it wasn't completely clear when I made the climb, so couldn't see that far), big piazzas and delicious food.

I would return to Bologna more for its food, I think, than for any other reason. The famous Bolognese sauce is indeed delicious and based on my limited dining experiences, can differ widely from trattoria to trattoria. However, despite the presence of many pedestrian-only streets, I still found it a noisy, congested and polluted city. Those porticos don't just keep out the weather, they keep in the fumes from cars and cigarettes. Not enough wide streets, broad avenues or open spaces to help dissipate the noise and pollution. Check out the photo below for a sample of the density of Bologna's buildings and streets, seen from above.

After two days there, I was ready to move on, to Ferrara, which had been recommended by a friend and regular guest of Paula's. I was charmed from the moment the bus passed through the low medieval city walls that circled the town, much like Lucca's walls, only not as high or wide. There was even a bike path along the walls (Ferrarans, like the Lucchese, all seem to use bicycles to get around town). The buildings on the outskirts of town were mostly small houses or low multiple-unit dwellings, with small front yards and/or back yards.

The old center of town retained those old medieval streets, some narrow, some quite broad, and virtually all of them were pedestrian (and bikes) only. What little traffic came through the town hardly seemed to disrupt the casual, relaxed pace of life of Ferrara's inhabitants. My pensione, where I had a single room (with bathroom in the corridor) for a mere 21 Euro a night, was on a quiet narrow cobblestoned street, yet just a five-minute walk away from the main piazza, and a one-minute walk away from a main shopping and passeggiata street.

The best and my most favorite feature of Ferrara was the castle in the middle of the town, complete with a moat and drawbridges that still looked functional. A tour of the castle includes the dungeons, lovely just-finished-being-restored-yesterday (honest, I could smell the fresh paint) palatial rooms with beautiful frescoes on the ceilings, and a short climb up one of the castle's four turrets for views over the town and countryside beyond. See the photo below right for a view of some of the walls and the moat of the castle, Castello Estense.

The sun had returned for my two days in Ferrara, though unfortunately it brought winter along with it, with freezing temperatures and a nasty wind on my second day there. Luckily I had finally found a hat that I liked and could afford, to complement my winter coat and gloves. I bundled up in layers and didn't let the cold keep me from wandering the streets and neighborhoods, though I retreated indoors whenever possible to see inside palazzi and churches.

Ferrara also is another dining delight. Their local specialty is one of my favorite types of pasta fillings, a pumpkin and nut filling that they stuff inside large homemade pasta pouches that are a cross between ravioli and tortelloni, called cappellacci. Simply delicious! I also found a market stand that advertised real Sicilian cannoli and had to buy one to test their claim. It was true, that cannolo tasted just like the ones I had in Sicily.

The Ferrarans are by far the biggest passeggiata folks I've ever seen, or maybe it's just that they have an excellent network of traffic-free and shop-full streets on which to indulge in their evening stroll. Everybody was out, and the cold was irrelevant, they all just bundled up as I did. The Christmas lights were strung across the streets and the main piazza had a market next to the Cathedral that had a number of vendors selling pretty Christmas ornaments and household decorations.

I was enchanted, and feel compelled to do more research on Ferrara, and what industries thrive there, since I don't think they rely heavily on tourism. Yes, it's rather flat there, in the Po valley, so it probably gets hot and humid in the summer, and I already know how cold it can get in the winter, but it seems like an eminently livable city to me. Clean, unpolluted, relaxed, yet just a half-hour by train to Bologna, the big metropolis of the area. I was sad when I had to leave, I could have happily stayed there longer, had I the funds and the time.

But now my time and money has just about run out, and in a few days I will be back in the United States, experiencing culture shock and looking for work. While I am looking forward to getting back in touch with friends and family, and despite all the ups and downs of my experiences here this year, I will, as always, miss Italy. Hopefully my wandering path through life will carry me back again soon, perhaps for another extended visit, if not a permanent stay.

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