Pasta and bread

Additional preparations for our meal.

Italian dinner party

Yesterday we had a small dinner party for the guys who took care of Fred while we were in Italy. On the menu: creamy tomato soup, fettucini (from our cooking class) with mushrooms, garlic bread, stuffed eggplants, caprese salad, parmesan with special balsamic vinegar, and Zak's homemade truffles. 

ZARA

The combined name Zak's cousins gave us (also an international clothing brand).

This is the end of the Emilia-Romagna photos. Back to Switzerland tomorrow.

Sanctuary of the Madonna of San Luca

This church houses a portrait of Mary, the mother of Jesus, by Luke, the gospel writer. It sits on a hill above Bologna, and is reached from the city by a long arcade with 666 arches (seen on the left). The arcade, with its mixture of stairs and ramps, seemed to be a popular place to exercise. Google images has a nice variety of photos showing the painting, church, and arcade.

Cooking school

We took a half-day pasta-making class in Bologna at La Vecchia Scuola along with six other tourist-students. We each made our own pasta dough (out of flour and eggs only), rolled it out, and then collectively cut, filled, and folded tortellini, tortelloni, and tagliatelle, which were later cooked for us by the staff for our lunch.

Fountain of Neptune

The fountain of Neptune (notice the water-spouting water nymphs around the base) sits in the Piazza Nettuno by Bologna's Basilica of San Petronio. It's prohibited to take photos inside the churches, so I never do, but I wish I could have. The basilica contains the world's largest sundial.

Bologna palette

This was the view from our hotel window in Bologna, our last stop in Emilia Romagna. If we lived in Bologna and I made a blog from there, it would have to be called Bologna Oranges.

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.

Lunch at Osteria Ruggera

Carlotta from the vinegar tour directed us to Osteria Ruggera in Modena for lunch. We ate delicate gnocchi and the traditional local pumpkin tortelloni in a butter and sage sauce, and drank lambrusco, the local sparkling red wine.

Balsamic vinegar

We visited the home of a traditional balsamic vinegar maker in Modena. The vinegar ages in barrels stored in the attic for 12 or 25 years before being bottled and sold in 100 ml bottles. Carlotta, the girl who gave us the tour and tasting, suggested using the vinegar on salads, meat, and seafood, as would be expected, but she also suggested pairing it with strawberries, peaches, ice cream, and parmesan. Yum.

Ferrari Museum

We visited the Ferrari Museum in Maranello on our third day. In the parking lot, there were several businesses 

offering 15-minute test drives for 80 euros.

Today is a holiday in our canton. For a little taste of Switzerland today, in addition to this Italian post, I offer a link to this great blog written by a family from Minnesota living in Zug, in the German-speaking part of Switzerland. Be sure to watch the video as well as look at the photos.

Reggio bells

We stayed in the Ostello Basilica della Ghiara, a hostel housed in a former convent, in Reggio. A bell rang on the half hour to keep us up on the time, even through the night. Occasionally a carillon played a short tune. The bell that can be heard around 30 seconds into the clip is the time-keeping bell.

Piazza by night

At night, the piazzas become public living rooms, complete with tables, chairs, and couches, with food and drinks served by the surrounding restaurants and bars. This is the Piazza S. Prospero in Reggio.

Model

The first full day we spent entirely in Reggio. In the morning, we ambled around a city park with grand, old trees 

and encountered this photographer and model.

Reggio Emilia

We stayed in Reggio Emilia for three nights. The main street of town was hung with flags.

Italy! Milano Centrale

We took three trains to get to our first destination: Neuchatel to Bern (about 30 minutes, CHF 9 per person), Bern to Milan (about 3.5 hours, CHF 38 pp), Milan to Reggio Emilia (about 2 hours, EUR 11.50 pp). Milan's central train station is large (24 platforms), bright, and a bit chaotic.