Man, bird, bicycle

This man biked up just next to us at the festival, and I watched him bend down and place something bright yellow at his feet. In no time, he had attracted a small crowd of women and children who were interested in his companion. The bird spent most of the time pecking at a wedge of grass between his feet. Here he demonstrated how his bird climbed up onto the cage on the handlebars. I found them to be highly entertaining, and didn't mind the long wait for the balloon to go up. I also kept wondering whether our Minneapolis friends, Daniel and Gaelyn, have ever taken their birds out for bike rides.

Ferrara Balloons Festival

The Ferrara Balloons Festival was happening while we were in town. The balloons were scheduled to go up at 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. daily. We biked out to the fairgrounds to see the balloons going up on our second afternoon. We arrived early, as if we were in Switzerland, watched an empty field for a good long time. Around 5:30, the basket, which held 25 people, was delivered to the field and tipped on its side. Twenty minutes later, an army of people started unrolling this balloon. It wasn't airborne until 6:30. Italian time is so different from Swiss time.

Ferrara courtyard

This courtyard was a few doors down from our little hotel. I glanced in every time we walked or biked by.

Biking in Ferrara

Our hotel in Ferrara had bikes to loan to guests, and we took them out one morning before it got too hot. We rode northwest out of the city to the town of Francolino, west along the Po River, and then south back into Ferrara.

Ferrara cathedral

We spent the next three nights in Ferrara, just a couple minutes' walk from the cathedral and castle. The piazzas 

to the front and side of the cathedral filled up at night with people of all ages.