June 16, 2024 to June 17, 2024
Two Days in Bologna
June 16 - A Day in Ferrara
Today we took a road trip - Betty, Christiane and I traveled by car to the nearby town of Ferrara to take in the sights of the city as well as a special MC Escher exhibit at the Palazzo dei Diamanti. I had selected this option from a list of proposed possibilities, motivated not only by the Escher exhibit but also by my desire to return to Ferrara, a city which has been properly extolled on the pages of CycleBlaze. I’d been through the Ferrara in 2021, at the end of a long 79 mile day on the way to Bologna. Too tired to do more than eat and sleep, I added the city to the list of places that merited a return visit.
Ferrara is located about 35 miles from Bologna, less than an hour’s drive on the Autostrada. We arrived around noon as the day was beginning to heat up and spent the first hour wandering through the city’s streets and palazzos, admiring the Este Castle and indulging in a little window showing – Christiane is always drawn to book stores while Betty favors clothes shops. I just lagged behind taking pictures.
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We left the central historic district and made our way past the Palazzo dei Diamanti and Palazzo Prosperi-Sacrati before reaching the La Provvidenza restaurant, one of Betty’s favorites in Ferrara. I opted for a primi of pumpkin ravioli and what I thought was cold smoked salmon and melon for my secondi. I must have misread my google translate for there was no fish on my plate, only thin slices of sausage – pork, Christiane informed me. Not exactly the same as smoked salmon, but the melon was sweet, ripe, and very refreshing.
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I was feeling a bit logy after the full meal and ready for a nap; however, the Escher exhibition was on the afternoon agenda. Though I was lukewarm and ready to head back to Bologna, I found the experience to be a delight. In addition to the expository information found in most museums, the curators made a real effort to engage the public not just in Escher’s work but also in his point of view. There were several small rooms where one could experience ideas such as perspective, relativity, direction/miss-direction. In the end, I learned a lot and had loads of fun.
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2 months ago
2 months ago
We took our time leaving Ferrara and by the time we made it back to Bologna I’d given up all plans for assembling Vivien George. It was a light supper of fruit and salad and lights out early.
June 17 – A lazy, hazy nearly summer day
The first order of business today was putting Vivien George back together again. The assembly went smoothly and everything seemed to be in working order – no last minute trips to the bike shop necessary. I had a nice lunch with Christiane and Gianni and spent the afternoon organizing my gear for this tour, planning for upcoming tours, and running a few errands. There was also a little dozing.
Betty joined us for dinner – pumpkin lasagna and more gelato!
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2 months ago