Part 2
Ferrara days four through seven
Tour Balsamic vinegar producer
Ferrarri and Lamborghini
Bologna tour
Click any image for larger view
Monday September 28th
Another lovely day and got off to a slow start. We had a reservation at 10AM 1 1/2 hours
away near Modena to see balsamic vinegar produced. I emailed to tell them we'd be late
and they were very gracious. I'd used via Michelin to get directions but as usual it
didn't work very well. Finally we found it. A really nice lady named Luisa took us up
into the attic area where the vinegar is made in "batteries" of 6 barrels from big to
small (see picture at right). Every year some evaporates because the barrels all have square holes covered by a
white cloth. Each year the smallest barrel is tapped and some vinegar is taken for sale.
Then the smallest barrel is topped off from the next smallest, that barrel is topped off
from the next smallest and so forth. The largest gets the fermented grape juice from the
present year. The best is called "Traditionale" and is either 12 or 25 years old. We got
to taste them all. They also make regular aged vinegar which is done the same way but
in an air-conditioned area (the Traditionale is in a very hot attic in summer and freezing
temperatures in winter which stops the process). I bought several bottles of varying ages and types.
Off we went to find an Osteria from Slow Food. They had a private function going on so we wandered and found a bar with nice outside tables and got Penne Amatriciana which was really quite good and not too much food. We had a nice sauvignon blanc with it.
After lunch we drove to find the Ferrari museum. If you don't own a Ferrari you can't go
to the factory but you can visit the museum for the price of admission. We had fun in
the room with all the formula 1 cars from all the years. Then upstairs to see all the touring cars.
See all the cars from our trip.
The factory |
Beautiful car |
Next we drove to the town where Lamborghini is made. When we were walking up a white one drove past, beautiful! The guy got out raising up the gull-wing doors. Out front there were 2 black ones. All flat planes and very fast looking. Evil even. Especially the one which was painted a flat, gray/black - very dull. It looked for all the world like a stealth bomber with wheels. I wondered if radar would bounce off of it. Really cool. There were a couple more inside that were gorgeous.
The factory |
Stealth Lamborghini |
We returned to Ferrara and bought groceries on the way back. We took a small road home instead of the autostrada. It was very scenic. We had a teensy problem getting back to the apartment but the cop had pity on us and let us keep driving down the pedestrian street :- )
We tried some of the wine we bought and I cooked.
Tuesday 29 September (Happy birthday Dad!)
Last nights dinner was awful. The "Home-made" pasta was odd. It had cheese in it and it fell apart in cooking.
It probably should not have been boiled. We ate it anyway.
This day was yet another perfect day. Sunny and warm but not too warm. We slept until 9:40! So strange for us. After coffee and yoghurt we headed out to do the tour of the oldest part of Ferrara. Old churches, cloisters, towers, Duomo, Bishops Palace, piazzi and finally the Castello which was really historically informative. I learned about the history, wars and political/religious wrangling from 10th century until the dismantling of the Ducal regime in about 1500. No more passing down to heirs the titles and lands which reached from Modena to Rimini on the sea.
Arch in Ferrara |
Griffin in front of the Duomo |
Inside the Duomo |
Este Castle moat |
Palazzo dei Diamanti |
Church, cemetery, and grounds |
Lunch in the apartment was cheese, ham and grapes with white wine - another Sauvignon from Bosco di Eliceo.
Dinner this day was at La Provvidena on via Ercole d'Este. It was a good hike down there. When we arrived there was only one other person there but more came as the evening passed. We asked for a glass of white and they brought a bottle. Not good. I had tagliatelle with white truffles and tiny lamb chops. Luther has pasta with ragu which he loved and for an entrée he had chicken. Afterwards they brought bits of parmesan to finish the red wine with. I had not intended to get a dessert but they had a cart and it looked so good. I got a white and dark chocolate mousse-like cake with... wait for it... tomato sauce! Really good. So expressi to finish.
It was a lovely meal to this point. When the waiter brought the check he said service was not included. Of course we do know better. We should have left change or nothing but having been taken by surprise we left 10€. The check was 128. I was so mad that we made it home in record time.
Wednesday 30 September
I got up early. This day we were supposed to go to Verona but the train trip entailed
an change of train and it would take 2 hours. We decided to go to Bologna instead.
Trains run every 30 minutes and take 30 minutes to get there. There was a mishap
with the tickets. We used a machine and somehow Luther got a ticket to Venice instead
of Bologna. The train went between the two cities. Lucky no one asked to see our tickets!
Bologna is a big bustling city. Interesting fact, there are 22 miles of covered porticoes in Bologna. Some date back to the 12th century (!) We toured the grand central piazza with its enormous Duomo, San Petronio. Next to that Piazza is a smaller one with a fountain and a statue of Neptune. Down another street we saw the two leaning towers. There once were 180 of these towers but only 2 are left. One is 330 feet tall and the other 157 feet. It was shortened in 1351 and it's 10 feet out of true! Both towers lean but the shorter one is dramatic.
Neptune fountain |
Statue at Duomo |
Leaning towers |
Vegetable stall |
We had a wonderful time walking through the rats nest of tiny streets almost all of which were full of food stalls and stores. Fish shops with their fresh fish right out on the streets. Beautiful vegetables and fruits of all colors. Pasta, dried mushrooms, chocolate, cured and fresh meats, cheese and bread to die for.
Seafood stall |
Cured meat shop |
Fruit |
Chocolate |
Fresh meat shop |
Pasta, Pasta! |
Fresh bread |
Cheese and dried porcini |
We had picked out a restaurant from write-ups I had found named Trattoria Gianni. We stopped in before touring and made a lunch reservation. It was a good thing too, because it was small and popular. All Italians.
We had the antipasti mista to share and then we just had to have tagliatelle with Bolognese sauce of course! All excellent. The antipasti mista had mortadella mousse, sliced mortadella, parmesan cheese drizzled with balsamico, bruschetta, fried polenta with fresh soft white cheese melted on, gelatinzed balsamico, a little pastry with truffle cream inside. I know I missed something. We had a sangiovese wine with lunch.
Antipasto Mista |
Tagliatelle Bolognese |
Bolognese at lunch |
We headed back and were now pros at catching the train. We got back to Ferrara and had a long walk to the apartment. It was hot today so I was glad to get out of my black pants.
We went to the store to get some wine and I got a small jar of honey. This night we ate in and I fixed pasta aglio olio with a lovely fresh salad dressed with olive oil and lemon. Nice red wine too.
Thursday October 12
Earlier this week we decided to wash a load of clothes. Everything came out gray.
Oh well. For breakfast we had honey and yoghurt. We toured Renaissance Ferrara this
day. A pretty church and a museum of wreckage. Actually it was bits and pieces saved
from churches and homes along with the pieces of frescos in the building where it was
housed. I bought a ceramic pendant from an artisan who was painting a pottery bowl
in the art school district.
We also found La Cucco where we planned to eat that night. We lunched in on cold ham, cheese and grapes and I finished off the rest of the lovely lettuce. I didn't want it to go to waste. I also finished Beach Music by Pat Conroy. I liked it a lot.
We headed out to dinner a le Cucco. It was very much off the beaten track. Our waiter really wanted to practice his English. We had a mildly frizanti house white and I had funghi with soft cheese. Luther had a pasta, then I had green gnocci with cream and prosciutto and Luther a mixed grill. Way more than we could eat but very cheap and good.
We walked back and had some grappa outside while Luther smoked his cigar. It had not been a cigar friendly trip. Then we watched Star Trek in Italian, a hoot.
Goodbye to Ferrara. As Italian cities go, it's pretty laid back. I should mention that all the dogs I saw looked very stressed. They have a look of terror all the time. I guess with thousands of bikes and people it must be tough to be so small.