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It had been nearly 2 years since our last big trip. It was our 40th anniversary year
so this was a celebration. The dollar was WAY down, the economy had tanked and my job
was iffy. But we had to celebrate.
Thursday, September 24th
We flew out
of Dulles to Zurich and rented a Skota and drove south, headed for Bergamo Italy.
It was pretty hot and very smoggy in Lombardia. We tried to find a nice place for
lunch but worried that we would be too late, we settled for a pizzeria. It was pretty
bad. Then, wouldn't you know it, we found the perfect place right after we left. We wanted to tour
Bergamo and really could have made it for lunch there. It turned out to be a pretty quick trip overall.
Bergano is a hill town. We drove through the typically chaotic traffic and up the hill
to park. We strolled the town taking in the minimal sights (Duomo, chapel, fountain and
interesting marks in the floor to predict the solstice).
Solstice calculator in Bergamo
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Oriel window on Duomo - Bergamo
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Assorted chimneys in Bergamo
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Then we headed to Sotto de Monte
where we were staying in Casa Clelia - an agritourismo (picture on right). They advertised themselves as very
"green" and they grow everything that they serve in the restaurant on the farm. There were
animals in the barns and the place itself is a huge 14th century building. Our room had
stonewalls and high beamed ceilings. We were to eat there that night. It has a prix fixe
menu. I soaked in the tub and got the road crud off and took a snooze.
It was a wonderful dinner. We chose the tasting menu. We started with antipasti plates - half
cold and half warm. There was salumi, parma ham, rolls of meat with cheese inside, bread
with lard and veggies, something called oranges which was breaded fried rice or risotto
and pieces of goat cheese (local of course) with jam. For our primi there was a lovely
risotto with apples (!) and a ravioli which was sweetened with amaretti and had bits of
salumi in it. Yum! For our secundi there was Pecora (sheep) with polenta and rabbit with
pine nuts and veggies. We had a little pantomime for the pecora which we didn't recognize.
Our waiter said "baaa, baaa" aha! We had a half-liter of white wine (chardonnay, muscat and
sauvignon blanc) it was dark yellow and sherry-like. The red was cabinet sauvignon and merlot
with something local. It was very dry. Both were produced on the farm. I learned "Lo mangiare
molto buono" which means I've eaten well. We sat outside and Luther smoked his cigar. We
were serenaded by an owl. It was a lovely evening.
Saturday September 26
We got up at 8:30, relatively late for us.
The breakfast was nice. Café latte, yoghurt, sweet chocolate
hazelnut butter cupcake and toasted bread with butter. There had been
a big storm during the night. I had not thought the rain would come in
since the walls (windowsills) were about 2 feet thick but the wind
really blew it all the way to the floor. So I shut the window.
We looked at the chickens and the gardens as we left. All the chickens were
snowy white. Then we drove through town stopping momentarily because there
was a fair of sorts - turned out it was not that interesting so off we went.
We grabbed the autostrada so it was a quick trip to Verona where we headed
south to Montova (Mantua). Parking was hard but we managed. It is a beautiful
place, nearly surrounded by three artificial lakes created in the 12th century
from the waters of the river Mincio. Inside on the pedestrian areas it was very
crowded and bustling. We visited all the piazzas but didn't tour the Palazzo Ducale.
Crossing the bridge to Mantova
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Palazzo Ducale - Mantova
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We had decided beforehand to try one of the slow food recommendations on the way
between Mantova and Ferrara. I wished the book had
just said it was on the main road. I was looking to turn off. But we saw the
place right on the road, Trattoria Giai. It was great.
A nice room with high ceilings, lots of antique stuff and plenty of room between
the tables. We arrived at 1:30 which was posted
as quitting time for lunch but they welcomed us in and someone arrived after us so
I figured they take folks as they come. It wasn't
crowded. Luther had big fat macaroni with boar ragu and goose in balsamic vinegar. I
had tagliatelle with pigeon and morels (which are
called little sponges in Italian) and carpaccio with arugula and cheese. All of it was
very good. We decided to drink a Ripasso di
Valpolicela. Espresso followed and Luther had a grappa of teroldega which he said was excellent.
Off we went to Ferrara. It was a very nice drive, with not much traffic and pretty,
prosperous farms and orchards. The poor Po River
ran alongside but was penned up behind great levees. We had no problem finding Piazetta
San Anna where we were to meet Luigi.
I couldn't get the Mobal phone to work (operator error) but there was a pay phone nearby
which worked fine. Luigi showed up on his bike.
He's about 60 and very nice. He showed us all the ropes (so many keys!) . The apartment
is very nice with tall ceilings and wooden beams.
Outside was a beautiful arcaded courtyard. There was a double bedroom, a single bedroom,
and it had a modern kitchen at one end of the
large living area. The other side had a white leather sofa and a flat screen TV. A computer
and printer were in the small bedroom for our
use.
Arcade outside of apartment
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Pretty courtyard by apartment
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Piazetta San Anna and Fountains beside apartment
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Living room and kitchen
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We immediately went out to buy cheese, meat, bread and wine for a light dinner. No wine
stores! We walked our feet off. We did finally
find a really good cheese and meat shop where we bought pecorino, goat and asiago with
ham and salumi. Bread from a grocery store and,
out of necessity, wine.
Back "home" we watched bad Italian TV - drank some wine and had our picnic. A nice day
and I knew I would like Ferrara.
Sunday September 27th
We arose to beautiful sunshine. The Piazetta Sant Anna is a paved very small square with a
modern fountain and it was just by the apartment. Outside of the apartment there is a pretty arcaded garden just next
to the Piazetta.
This building was a hospital which was in ruins. Luigi bought the apartment for his daughter,
Gloria. She now lives elsewhere so they
rent it out. It is a beautiful restoration. Luigi said he fell in love with it. He stopped by to
get the paperwork filled out in the
morning. We had fun with the Italian percolator but it made a good cup of coffee!
Luther really wanted to walk so we did. There was a really pretty river-stone street two blocks
away that led all the way to the wall.
On the way a man riding a bike hit a grate and his bike stopped suddenly. A beautifully colorful
small parrot that had been riding on
the front rack fell off. He was ok but who would have imagined this man takes his parrot for bicycle rides!
Church beside our apartment
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Cobblestone Ferrara street
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Ferrara city walls
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We went to the balloon festival which was in its last day and we walked along the walls for
a couple of hours. Then we found our way back to the center. We found our dinner place of
choice from the slow food book and made a reservation. Then we headed back to find the
restaurant (enotecca al Brindisi) and wine store that Luther had found. We had a really
nice lunch there. It was on a small pedestrian street tucked behind the cathedral. In
front of the Duomo was a really bustling street market so the quiet street was a blessing.
We were early enough to snag an outside table. The people watching was primo. We had a local
white wine. It was really good. We had a salumi plate to start (good!) and torttole de zucca
which is the local specialty of pumpkin stuffed pasta. I had mine with the butter sage sauce
and Luther had his with the ragu. The pumpkin was really sweet. These were obviously homemade
and wonderful. Espressi and a grappa for Luther rounded it out.
Typical bread of Emilia Romagna
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Wine with lunch
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Torttole de zucca
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We kicked back, read, and relaxed. By the way, Ferrara was as advertised, it had more bikes
than I had ever seen outside the Netherlands. Old men, grandmas, fathers and mothers with
babies strapped in front or behind - and not one helmet in sight!
After a nice afternoon of reading and relaxing we headed out to L'Oca Giuliva from the
Slow Food book. It has outside tables under an arcade on a quiet street.
They brought sparkling wine right away and some bread and toasted almonds. I
ordered local specialties. First a pasta almost like really long skinny stuffed
ravioli with ragu. Very good. For the secundi I had mashed potatoes topped with
spicy sausage which was surprisingly good. I sprung for a dolce which was spongy
cake surrounding a ball of gelato with dried bananas. I shouldn't have done the
dessert! We had Nadel wine - red. Luther had macaroni for his primi and capon with
veggies for his secundi. The we walked back.
Red wine with dinner
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Luther's capon
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Spicy sausage on mashed potatoes
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Dessert
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