Seems i'm always running about one week (or more) behind in my postings of what's going on. Don't really have anything exciting that's gone on since my last post. Last weekend i had gone back to Modena to get the balsamico that i didn't get the previous weekend. Then the rest of the weekend i just bummed around Bologna. Had gone to the outdoor pool on Sunday, but that was about it.
Work has been going pretty good. The next month is going to be rather interesting as about half the office is going to be gone. Heck starting Monday, my boss here is going to be gone for 2 weeks on his vacation. If only there was a way i could pretend that i'm at work....lol. Nah, i don't think i could ever do that.
This weekend i'm not 100% sure what i'm going to do, but i think i might take a day trip to Venezia just to get some Venetian/Murano glass. Going to try and find a store i bought some glass pendants at 2yrs ago while i was here. Not really sure of the name of the place or really where it was located so i'm not expecting to really find it. I am expecting to find some other unique glass jewelry store in the process, so i don't think i'll really be too disappointed if i don't find the shop i'm looking for.
Options i'm thinking of for Sunday are to then take a day trip to Verona, Florence, the beach, or just stay in Bologna and go to the outdoor pool again. I think i'm leaning more towards the beach....just gotta decide which one i would want to go to.
Right now there is a lightning storm in the distance which is rather pretty to watch from the terrace. it's not really dark enough so the flashes in the clouds are a bit of an orange color. Kinda hoping it makes it's way to Bologna as it would help cool things down a bit. Plus i always enjoy thunderstorms.
A spritz is now one of my favorite drink to have when it's hot out. I know that there's something similar in the states. actually they could be made about the same in the states, i'm not too sure. Anyways, you have a glass with ice in it, fill about 2/3rds of it w/ white wine (not sure if it really matters, but i think fizzy ones are best) then add Aperol (Campari can also be used, but is a bit too bitter for my taste buds) and then an orange slice. if you don't use fizzy wine you can add fizzy water or sprite/7-up to give it a bit of a bubbly look/taste :-P it's just a nice refreshing cold drink to have.
Anyways, that's all i have for now. Will let you know about my adventures this weekend. Ciao
Friday, July 23, 2010
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Modena and more
Well I guess I'll start with what I did over the past weekend as my weeks themselves are not very exciting. I have starting going to the gym to do some training to prepare for my trip to Mount Everest in October since I really won't have the altitude advantage from living in Colorado for majority of the time before I leave. Plus the gym is a good way for me to relieve some frustration/stress.
Anyways, this past weekend I went to Modena to meet up with KC again (as her cousins live just outside of Modena) and to get some balsamic vinegar since that is what Modena is popular for. It's a nice town that is slightly under a 30min train ride from Bologna. There are usually trains that head there about every half hour....that is when there isn't a strike going on the day you are wanting to travel. At least i'm assuming that is the reason why the train i wanted to take was over 35min late, and that the next train that was going to Modena ended up being over 10min late as well. So basically I spent more time at the train station waiting for a train to show up that was heading to where i wanted to go than the length of time i spent on the train :-P it was all good tho as i didn't need to get there in a hurry anyways.
I've digressed a bit :-P So didn't do too much Friday night other than just walk around a little to see where some of the things were that i would want to go on Saturday. Ended up finally getting some dinner around 11pm (i think). Just got some pizza and had some wine (2 euros for 1/4 of a litre). I forget what kind of pizza i had....i think it was something unique or different than my typical "salami piccante" but can't really remember. I know i added "olio piccante" (spicy oil, which is olive oil with crushed red peppers in it) to the pizza.
On Saturday KC and I went to the Duomo, which was rather plain, but i think i liked it because it wasn't as extravagant as some of the other duomos throughout Italy (and probably Europe). We also walked through a market area that had everything from wine, to cheese, to meat/fish, to veggies, to a place that actually had beer from Left Hand Brewery for sale (it was the milk stout, or whichever one has the cow on it). We also went to the Galleria Estense for a little. It was alright, but i figured i can manage to do one museum per city :-P
Also on Saturday, i tried several different kinds of balsamic vinegar. The first one i tried was homemade and was a 15yrs old. I ended up buying a bottle of it. Other ones i tried at a couple of other places were a 6yr, 8yr, 10yr, 12yr, and 15yr old balsamico. It tends to be sweeter the younger it is and then starts getting thicker the older it is. Saw a bottle that was 100yrs old which was quite spendy. I need to go back and get a couple different years so i have a variety.
The 2nd to last thing i did on Saturday was go to see Toy Story 3, after not being given very good directions and then finally getting to the theatre only to find out that it didn't open for over an hour and that the times we were given by the concierge weren't for Saturday :-P Anyways, I highly recommend seeing it. I plan on seeing it a 2nd time because it was that good and i want to know what was actually said during the movie since i watched it in Italian :-P There were definitely some very good parts and some rather intense parts. So intense in fact that despite there being many children in the theatre, i don't recall hearing them talk. One thing that was a bit different about seeing a movie here was that when you buy tickets to the movie you have an assigned seat. I'm kinda curious if the computer sales what are considered the "best" seats first or how it works exactly.
hmmm...the last thing KC and I did Saturday (not counting getting dinner/pizza at midnight) was seeing the finale of the Festival Internazionale Bande Militari. There were 6 different military/marching bands that played. Two were from Italy, one from Romania, one from Sweden, one from Great Britain, and one from the US (University of Washington to be exact). It was entertaining...altho couldn't figure out why the University of Washington brought some of their cheerleaders. The Romanians also had a few cheerleaders, but in addition they also had people on stilts and a couple of guys that were playing with fire. Not quite sure how the stilts and fire really went with a military band, but it was rather entertaining to watch the people playing with fire.
On Sunday, I just made my way back to Bologna relaxed for a little and then went to the outdoor pool for most of the day. Around 8pm, went out to an Irish pub with several coworkers to watch the World Cup game. It wasn't very crazy in the pub, but it was fun watching the game with a crowd of Italians (or at least mostly Italians).
So that was my weekend. Don't really have anything planned for this weekend. I'm thinking about maybe doing a day trip to Venice, Florence, back to Milan (to catch the sales), or back to Modena (to get some other kinds of balsamico). I may also just relax and stay in Bologna. Whatever I end up doing will end up on here though :-P
Ciao!
Anyways, this past weekend I went to Modena to meet up with KC again (as her cousins live just outside of Modena) and to get some balsamic vinegar since that is what Modena is popular for. It's a nice town that is slightly under a 30min train ride from Bologna. There are usually trains that head there about every half hour....that is when there isn't a strike going on the day you are wanting to travel. At least i'm assuming that is the reason why the train i wanted to take was over 35min late, and that the next train that was going to Modena ended up being over 10min late as well. So basically I spent more time at the train station waiting for a train to show up that was heading to where i wanted to go than the length of time i spent on the train :-P it was all good tho as i didn't need to get there in a hurry anyways.
I've digressed a bit :-P So didn't do too much Friday night other than just walk around a little to see where some of the things were that i would want to go on Saturday. Ended up finally getting some dinner around 11pm (i think). Just got some pizza and had some wine (2 euros for 1/4 of a litre). I forget what kind of pizza i had....i think it was something unique or different than my typical "salami piccante" but can't really remember. I know i added "olio piccante" (spicy oil, which is olive oil with crushed red peppers in it) to the pizza.
On Saturday KC and I went to the Duomo, which was rather plain, but i think i liked it because it wasn't as extravagant as some of the other duomos throughout Italy (and probably Europe). We also walked through a market area that had everything from wine, to cheese, to meat/fish, to veggies, to a place that actually had beer from Left Hand Brewery for sale (it was the milk stout, or whichever one has the cow on it). We also went to the Galleria Estense for a little. It was alright, but i figured i can manage to do one museum per city :-P
Also on Saturday, i tried several different kinds of balsamic vinegar. The first one i tried was homemade and was a 15yrs old. I ended up buying a bottle of it. Other ones i tried at a couple of other places were a 6yr, 8yr, 10yr, 12yr, and 15yr old balsamico. It tends to be sweeter the younger it is and then starts getting thicker the older it is. Saw a bottle that was 100yrs old which was quite spendy. I need to go back and get a couple different years so i have a variety.
The 2nd to last thing i did on Saturday was go to see Toy Story 3, after not being given very good directions and then finally getting to the theatre only to find out that it didn't open for over an hour and that the times we were given by the concierge weren't for Saturday :-P Anyways, I highly recommend seeing it. I plan on seeing it a 2nd time because it was that good and i want to know what was actually said during the movie since i watched it in Italian :-P There were definitely some very good parts and some rather intense parts. So intense in fact that despite there being many children in the theatre, i don't recall hearing them talk. One thing that was a bit different about seeing a movie here was that when you buy tickets to the movie you have an assigned seat. I'm kinda curious if the computer sales what are considered the "best" seats first or how it works exactly.
hmmm...the last thing KC and I did Saturday (not counting getting dinner/pizza at midnight) was seeing the finale of the Festival Internazionale Bande Militari. There were 6 different military/marching bands that played. Two were from Italy, one from Romania, one from Sweden, one from Great Britain, and one from the US (University of Washington to be exact). It was entertaining...altho couldn't figure out why the University of Washington brought some of their cheerleaders. The Romanians also had a few cheerleaders, but in addition they also had people on stilts and a couple of guys that were playing with fire. Not quite sure how the stilts and fire really went with a military band, but it was rather entertaining to watch the people playing with fire.
On Sunday, I just made my way back to Bologna relaxed for a little and then went to the outdoor pool for most of the day. Around 8pm, went out to an Irish pub with several coworkers to watch the World Cup game. It wasn't very crazy in the pub, but it was fun watching the game with a crowd of Italians (or at least mostly Italians).
So that was my weekend. Don't really have anything planned for this weekend. I'm thinking about maybe doing a day trip to Venice, Florence, back to Milan (to catch the sales), or back to Modena (to get some other kinds of balsamico). I may also just relax and stay in Bologna. Whatever I end up doing will end up on here though :-P
Ciao!
Monday, July 05, 2010
Siena and THE PALIO!!! :-P
I should probably write a little about what the Palio exactly is. It is a horse race that has been occurring since at least the 1700’s twice a year, the beginning of July and then again in August. The riders still ride without a saddle, and the race is held at Il Campo which I think might be the biggest piazza in Siena, but don’t quote me on that. Those that compete in the race are representing their Contrada (aka neighborhood or specific section of Siena) and the horses are just as important as the riders themselves. In past Palios, a rider-less horse has won the race. **do not take what I’ve written as complete fact as I just summed things up and simplified them to give an overall idea of what the Palio is**
So I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect when I went to Siena this past weekend. I just knew that I was told that since I was in Italy and not that far away from Siena that I shouldn’t miss seeing the Palio if I could help it. The tricky part was that it occurred on a Friday and that in order to actually see it you had to be at Il Campo multiple hours before the race as they close the doors in order to start with the pre-race events. Luckily I was able to work a half day (by working extra hrs last week and even this week to make up the time). Even with just working a half day I was going to be cutting it close…if I made all the bus and train transfers I needed to I would be getting into Siena a little before 5pm, which still left me with getting a bus to the center of the city and figuring out how to get to Il Campo itself. Since the Palio is a big event there were many people wearing bandanas and such to support which Contrada they were supporting, so I just kinda followed the crowd both getting on the bus, off the bus, and then to the Campo itself. I then ran into some American girls and asked them how to get into the piazza as it looked like they more or less knew what they were doing. Turned out one of them had a cousin that was Italian and was directing them on where to go, so I just followed them into the piazza and hung out with them until after the race. I tried to find my friend (who used to be my teacher that I’ll call KC) but gave up after a while as there were too many people. I was able to meet up with her later and spent the rest of the weekend hanging with her and a couple of other people she knew. I’ll also being seeing Modena with KC next weekend, but I’m digressing…
Once inside the piazza I couldn’t believe how different it looked from the pictures I saw of it when it is not the Palio. Bleachers had been set up all around the outside of the piazza and dirt had been put to cover the cobblestone road that the horses were going to be running on. Another interesting fact is that the dirt is the same dirt (adding more dirt when needed) from all the previous Palios. Anyways, I heard someone mention that to sit on the bleachers cost about 250 euros….which if that is true I don’t even want to know how much it cost to be in one of the buildings surrounding the piazza. I was quite glad that being on the inside of the track was free :-) I am also glad to point out that no alcohol was being sold in the area I was. I’m not even sure if it was being sold to those sitting in the bleachers. There was however tables where you could buy water and a few snacks, which definitely came in useful since I was in the piazza probably by 5:30 and the race itself didn’t start until I think after 8 (I stopped watching the clock as it didn’t do much good as I wasn’t going to be going anywhere until after the race got over anyways). If I had gotten there earlier (probably 3 at the latest) I probably could have had a spot right next to the fence, but the only way I could have been earlier was if I was able to not have to work Friday. Oh well though, I was happy I actually made it into the piazza as I wasn’t expecting to get there in time to even do that.
The pre-race events were entertaining as well, at least from what I could see which was pretty much only the flags with the symbols/colors of the various contradas flying into the air until they got a little closer to where I was standing. The only bad thing about the pre-race events was how long they took, but then again it did just add to the whole experience especially because they were all dressed up like they would have been a couple hundred years ago.
Getting the horses up to the starting line took quite a while as well….they tried 5 or 6 times I believe. There are no starting gates so the riders had to try to keep their horse at the starting line/rope until all the horses were equal. The only way I knew the race began from where I was standing was because all of a sudden there was a lot of screaming/cheering. Everybody then in about perfect sequence was turning clockwise to watch the horses as they raced around the track. The first time they went by (where I could see) each horse still had a rider. The second time there was a rider-less horse who was actually in 3rd place. The third and final time they went by the rider-less horse wasn’t there and not as many horses raced by either. Come to find out, at one of the turns the rider-less horse cut the turn too sharp running into the corner causing it to fall and in turn taking out several other horses in the process. One horse I believe had actually got knocked unconscious after sliding into the barrier and it looked like his rider was going to be hurting pretty bad as well (The next morning in the paper it said all horses were expected to recover and didn’t mention anything about the injuries of any riders, so assuming the rider didn’t get as hurt as it looked he did). Then the race was over with the contrada Selva winning the race. There were some people jumping up and down hugging others with excitement, but even more had their heads down, had taken their bandana/scarf off and were trying to leave the piazza quickly. There were even a few people crying from their contrada not winning.
Surprisingly from the number of people in Il Campo, it was able to empty out pretty quickly and there didn’t seem to be any fights or so breaking out. To me the fact that there was a strong police presence probably helped to keep things in control.
The following day Selva was all dressed up in their colors and outfits and were going from one contrada house to the next to basically rub it in that Selva won and they lost. I wasn’t sure what the words in the songs were but was told that the songs all of the same rhythm and such but the words vary a little. Some of the contradas are “friends” so maybe one version is a nicer version than one they would sing to their rivals or whatnot. I’m not really sure, but just know it was entertaining to watch as everybody also had either a pacifier or a baby bottle. The explanation for the pacifier and bottle were that whenever a contrada wins they are “born anew”.
It also surprised me that the dirt was basically cleared off of the track by Saturday afternoon as well. Other things I did on Saturday including climbing the stairs of the tower that you can look right down onto Il Campo and seeing Saint Catherine’s head. The tower warned that it wasn’t advised to climb it if you had giddiness, which I took a picture of the sign saying to because well, that’s what I do :-P When I say I saw Saint Catherine’s head, I mean exactly that, she was decapitated and her head is displayed for people to see. You can’t take pictures of it, but I did buy a couple of postcards of it :-P
Saturday night had gone out to dinner and had pasta that had a wild boar sauce which was quite tasty. I may try to bring some back to the states and make it. I did buy a jar of the sauce, but I think I will be using it for one of my own dinners while here.
Sunday was pretty uneventful as just got a train back to Bologna, but did notice that sales have started…time to do some shopping :-P lol
Ciao!
So I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect when I went to Siena this past weekend. I just knew that I was told that since I was in Italy and not that far away from Siena that I shouldn’t miss seeing the Palio if I could help it. The tricky part was that it occurred on a Friday and that in order to actually see it you had to be at Il Campo multiple hours before the race as they close the doors in order to start with the pre-race events. Luckily I was able to work a half day (by working extra hrs last week and even this week to make up the time). Even with just working a half day I was going to be cutting it close…if I made all the bus and train transfers I needed to I would be getting into Siena a little before 5pm, which still left me with getting a bus to the center of the city and figuring out how to get to Il Campo itself. Since the Palio is a big event there were many people wearing bandanas and such to support which Contrada they were supporting, so I just kinda followed the crowd both getting on the bus, off the bus, and then to the Campo itself. I then ran into some American girls and asked them how to get into the piazza as it looked like they more or less knew what they were doing. Turned out one of them had a cousin that was Italian and was directing them on where to go, so I just followed them into the piazza and hung out with them until after the race. I tried to find my friend (who used to be my teacher that I’ll call KC) but gave up after a while as there were too many people. I was able to meet up with her later and spent the rest of the weekend hanging with her and a couple of other people she knew. I’ll also being seeing Modena with KC next weekend, but I’m digressing…
Once inside the piazza I couldn’t believe how different it looked from the pictures I saw of it when it is not the Palio. Bleachers had been set up all around the outside of the piazza and dirt had been put to cover the cobblestone road that the horses were going to be running on. Another interesting fact is that the dirt is the same dirt (adding more dirt when needed) from all the previous Palios. Anyways, I heard someone mention that to sit on the bleachers cost about 250 euros….which if that is true I don’t even want to know how much it cost to be in one of the buildings surrounding the piazza. I was quite glad that being on the inside of the track was free :-) I am also glad to point out that no alcohol was being sold in the area I was. I’m not even sure if it was being sold to those sitting in the bleachers. There was however tables where you could buy water and a few snacks, which definitely came in useful since I was in the piazza probably by 5:30 and the race itself didn’t start until I think after 8 (I stopped watching the clock as it didn’t do much good as I wasn’t going to be going anywhere until after the race got over anyways). If I had gotten there earlier (probably 3 at the latest) I probably could have had a spot right next to the fence, but the only way I could have been earlier was if I was able to not have to work Friday. Oh well though, I was happy I actually made it into the piazza as I wasn’t expecting to get there in time to even do that.
The pre-race events were entertaining as well, at least from what I could see which was pretty much only the flags with the symbols/colors of the various contradas flying into the air until they got a little closer to where I was standing. The only bad thing about the pre-race events was how long they took, but then again it did just add to the whole experience especially because they were all dressed up like they would have been a couple hundred years ago.
Getting the horses up to the starting line took quite a while as well….they tried 5 or 6 times I believe. There are no starting gates so the riders had to try to keep their horse at the starting line/rope until all the horses were equal. The only way I knew the race began from where I was standing was because all of a sudden there was a lot of screaming/cheering. Everybody then in about perfect sequence was turning clockwise to watch the horses as they raced around the track. The first time they went by (where I could see) each horse still had a rider. The second time there was a rider-less horse who was actually in 3rd place. The third and final time they went by the rider-less horse wasn’t there and not as many horses raced by either. Come to find out, at one of the turns the rider-less horse cut the turn too sharp running into the corner causing it to fall and in turn taking out several other horses in the process. One horse I believe had actually got knocked unconscious after sliding into the barrier and it looked like his rider was going to be hurting pretty bad as well (The next morning in the paper it said all horses were expected to recover and didn’t mention anything about the injuries of any riders, so assuming the rider didn’t get as hurt as it looked he did). Then the race was over with the contrada Selva winning the race. There were some people jumping up and down hugging others with excitement, but even more had their heads down, had taken their bandana/scarf off and were trying to leave the piazza quickly. There were even a few people crying from their contrada not winning.
Surprisingly from the number of people in Il Campo, it was able to empty out pretty quickly and there didn’t seem to be any fights or so breaking out. To me the fact that there was a strong police presence probably helped to keep things in control.
The following day Selva was all dressed up in their colors and outfits and were going from one contrada house to the next to basically rub it in that Selva won and they lost. I wasn’t sure what the words in the songs were but was told that the songs all of the same rhythm and such but the words vary a little. Some of the contradas are “friends” so maybe one version is a nicer version than one they would sing to their rivals or whatnot. I’m not really sure, but just know it was entertaining to watch as everybody also had either a pacifier or a baby bottle. The explanation for the pacifier and bottle were that whenever a contrada wins they are “born anew”.
It also surprised me that the dirt was basically cleared off of the track by Saturday afternoon as well. Other things I did on Saturday including climbing the stairs of the tower that you can look right down onto Il Campo and seeing Saint Catherine’s head. The tower warned that it wasn’t advised to climb it if you had giddiness, which I took a picture of the sign saying to because well, that’s what I do :-P When I say I saw Saint Catherine’s head, I mean exactly that, she was decapitated and her head is displayed for people to see. You can’t take pictures of it, but I did buy a couple of postcards of it :-P
Saturday night had gone out to dinner and had pasta that had a wild boar sauce which was quite tasty. I may try to bring some back to the states and make it. I did buy a jar of the sauce, but I think I will be using it for one of my own dinners while here.
Sunday was pretty uneventful as just got a train back to Bologna, but did notice that sales have started…time to do some shopping :-P lol
Ciao!
Couple week update :-P (i'm slack i know)
I’ve been rather slack on my postings of what I’ve been up to, so sorry about that. Does it really surprise anybody though? (if it does, how well do you really know me? :-P jk). This might be an excuse, but we have yet to get our own internet at the apartment. Starting to wonder if we’ll actually get it before we have to head back to the states…or at least have it for long enough for it to be useful.
So to sum up what I’ve done since my last post:
June 19th: I went to Ferrara for the day and just wondered around the city. It was a quaint town, which supposedly it’s the place to be Wednesday nights for all the university students and such. Not sure if I’ll ever make it there as the last train from Ferrara back to Bologna I think is around 11pm and well the partying doesn’t start until after that. Could always just take the first train back in the morning…but that would make for a very long Thursday.
Anyways, back to talking about Ferrara itself. It was a very bike friendly town as from most of the main streets I was on there was a road, a little median to separate off a bike path and then the sidewalk. Actually most of the cities in Italy seem to be rather bike friendly...at least from my perception, although sometimes it seems a bit chaotic. I think what makes it friendly is that drivers and such are use to seeing cyclist. While in Ferrara the main museum thing I wanted to see (and did see) I don’t remember the name right now and don’t want to look it up, but it was the place that had a room that had the Zodiac signs painted all around the room. Half of them were faded and couldn’t see, but luckily mine was not :-P I did forget to try some of the bread that can only be made in Ferrara :-(
June 26/27th: I went to Milan to do a bit of sightseeing and tried to avoid doing any shopping, which didn’t really work. I did see the Duomo and climbed the stairs to the rooftop of it to get a view of Milan. It was rather amazing. Saw a lady at the top that was heat-exhaustion or something as there were firefighters or paramedics on the roof as well. Felt a little bad for them as it was quite hot and they had most of their gear on.
Near the Duomo was the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, where there was a tradition of spinning on the bulls balls. There are 4 coat of arms or so on the galleria floor, one of which has a bull on it. It is supposedly good luck to spin when you step on the bulls balls. Due to the number of times people have taking a spin, there is now a hole where the bulls balls used to be. I didn't take a spin myself, but had fun watching other people doing it.
I also saw Castle Sforzesco, which was pretty nice. It didn’t have as many things as I thought it would as I thought it was going to have some old armor and such. It might have somewhere, but it was either closed off when I was there or I just couldn’t find it. One exhibit they did have there was about the history of musical instruments (mainly string, but also some wind/brass instruments).
After the castle” I went to the “The Museo della Scienza e della Tecnologia ‘Leonardo da Vinci’”. I mainly went just to see the Da Vinci portion of the museum. He was definitely a smart guy. They didn’t allow/want you to take any pictures though :-( I was going to try to buy a book from it, but the book/souvenir store was closed when I was there (possibly due to it being Sunday, I’m not sure).
After seeing Da Vinci I decided I could go do some more shopping, at least window shopping :-P Really didn’t buy too much as the stores I went into were the very high fashion ones (ie Armani, D&G, etc). I don’t think I had ever felt so cheap or out of place in a store before. It was an entertaining experience at the same time though. After all, I looked at a leather jacket (forget at which place) that cost 4,500 euros….which I think is probably about how much my car is worth right now, lol.
On Sunday (and possibly Saturday, I forget) quite a few of the shops closed for an hour or two in the afternoon, so I went and just relaxed in a big public park. There were quite a few people sun bathing, some playing soccer (in the shade due to the heat), few napping in the shade, and some actually running around the park.
July 2nd-4th: I was in Siena….see next blog entry as this gets a post all to itself :-P
So to sum up what I’ve done since my last post:
June 19th: I went to Ferrara for the day and just wondered around the city. It was a quaint town, which supposedly it’s the place to be Wednesday nights for all the university students and such. Not sure if I’ll ever make it there as the last train from Ferrara back to Bologna I think is around 11pm and well the partying doesn’t start until after that. Could always just take the first train back in the morning…but that would make for a very long Thursday.
Anyways, back to talking about Ferrara itself. It was a very bike friendly town as from most of the main streets I was on there was a road, a little median to separate off a bike path and then the sidewalk. Actually most of the cities in Italy seem to be rather bike friendly...at least from my perception, although sometimes it seems a bit chaotic. I think what makes it friendly is that drivers and such are use to seeing cyclist. While in Ferrara the main museum thing I wanted to see (and did see) I don’t remember the name right now and don’t want to look it up, but it was the place that had a room that had the Zodiac signs painted all around the room. Half of them were faded and couldn’t see, but luckily mine was not :-P I did forget to try some of the bread that can only be made in Ferrara :-(
June 26/27th: I went to Milan to do a bit of sightseeing and tried to avoid doing any shopping, which didn’t really work. I did see the Duomo and climbed the stairs to the rooftop of it to get a view of Milan. It was rather amazing. Saw a lady at the top that was heat-exhaustion or something as there were firefighters or paramedics on the roof as well. Felt a little bad for them as it was quite hot and they had most of their gear on.
Near the Duomo was the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, where there was a tradition of spinning on the bulls balls. There are 4 coat of arms or so on the galleria floor, one of which has a bull on it. It is supposedly good luck to spin when you step on the bulls balls. Due to the number of times people have taking a spin, there is now a hole where the bulls balls used to be. I didn't take a spin myself, but had fun watching other people doing it.
I also saw Castle Sforzesco, which was pretty nice. It didn’t have as many things as I thought it would as I thought it was going to have some old armor and such. It might have somewhere, but it was either closed off when I was there or I just couldn’t find it. One exhibit they did have there was about the history of musical instruments (mainly string, but also some wind/brass instruments).
After the castle” I went to the “The Museo della Scienza e della Tecnologia ‘Leonardo da Vinci’”. I mainly went just to see the Da Vinci portion of the museum. He was definitely a smart guy. They didn’t allow/want you to take any pictures though :-( I was going to try to buy a book from it, but the book/souvenir store was closed when I was there (possibly due to it being Sunday, I’m not sure).
After seeing Da Vinci I decided I could go do some more shopping, at least window shopping :-P Really didn’t buy too much as the stores I went into were the very high fashion ones (ie Armani, D&G, etc). I don’t think I had ever felt so cheap or out of place in a store before. It was an entertaining experience at the same time though. After all, I looked at a leather jacket (forget at which place) that cost 4,500 euros….which I think is probably about how much my car is worth right now, lol.
On Sunday (and possibly Saturday, I forget) quite a few of the shops closed for an hour or two in the afternoon, so I went and just relaxed in a big public park. There were quite a few people sun bathing, some playing soccer (in the shade due to the heat), few napping in the shade, and some actually running around the park.
July 2nd-4th: I was in Siena….see next blog entry as this gets a post all to itself :-P
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