Emilia Romagna Region-Post 1

Map of Emilia Romagna Region

Ben and I are blessed to be part of the Aviano Reunion Association (ARA), a group composed primarily of military members who were stationed at Aviano Air Base in northern Italy at some point in their careers.  However, it has grown to include not only their relatives but also friends who have become part of this lovely “family” of travelers.  Although we convene annually somewhere in the US for our reunion, every three years we return to Italy.  We actually rarely return to Aviano simply because it’s difficult to get on base these days, so instead we focus on one region or two of the country to explore and savor. 

Amarilli, Ben and Roberto

Several years ago, one of our members discovered Roberto Bechi of Tours by Roberto and hired him for the 2002 ARA reunion in Tuscany--the land of Siena, Florence, and Chianti.  We’ve now used his services five times in our gradual, ongoing tour of Italy.  Guides in this country must pass tough certification tests in any region they wish to work in, although they can certainly collaborate with local guides when leading groups outside their region as Roberto has done for us.  His region is Tuscany, of course, and he is an Etruscan specialist, as well.  His expertise is so well known that travel writer/personality Rick Steves publishes nothing about Tuscany without Roberto’s editing eyes.  The two have also collaborated on Rick’s travel shows about Tuscany that appear on PBS stations. 

Since 2005, however, we’ve toured under his collaborative guidance to Umbria (adjacent to Tuscany); the Lake District (Como, etc.) and Friuli (Aviano); Campania (Naples, Sorrento) and Apulia (Matera and Alberobello); and now Emilia Romagna (Modena, Bologna, Parma, Ravenna, Ferrara).  Region by region is truly the best way to experience a country  rather than a Grand Tour. 

Balsamic on Parmigiano and gelato!

Roberto and his lovely new assistant Amarilli Arenosto picked up our group at the airport Sheraton in Milan and off we went to our first stop right outside Modena, Villa San Donnino, which is home to traditional balsamic vinegar that is produced from cooked grapes, ripened by slow acidification due to natural fermentation.  The aging process takes place over a specific number of months and years and in a series of various types of wooden casks.  Visitors can purchase anything from balsamic jelly to Nerone dressing vinegars to traditional products aged from 12 to 25 years.  If you want a vinegar aged longer than that you can get it...for a price...but at a separate, more secure location.  You could almost hear the steady swipe of credit cards in the villa office. 

We learned about the process through an explanatory lecture by one of our hosts, then indulged in a huge table filled with chunks of aged Parmesan splashed with aged balsamic and served with Parma prosciutto, bread and a local wine.  Then came a surprise way to feature balsamic, poured over vanilla gelato.  Downright tasty.  The villa itself serves as a beautiful showcase for these products, and the current owner still resides in the upstairs private areas.  It was used by Italian director Bernado Bertolucci in the film “Novecento” (1900) starring Robert DeNiro. 

Canalgrande Courtyard

A short drive further brought us to our hotel headquarters for the week, the Canalgrande Hotel in the heart of old town Modena.  Its origins hearken back to 1530, and during one period of history a canal in the city truly did extend all the way to the Grand Canal in Venice, hence its name.  I must say that the individually decorated rooms were lovely, and many overlooked the tranquil courtyard that became a favorite gathering place for our group (and subsequently became less tranquil!).  The location proved perfect, in close proximity to cafes, bars, shops, and pedestrian walkways, and the hotel owner could not have been more friendly and accommodating.  The adjacent Ristorante La Secchia Rapita served as the venue for several of our wonderful dinners featuring regional specialties.

Our tour of historic Modena the next day took us to the Palazzo Ducale, which today is the headquarters of a renowned military academy.  We couldn’t decide what we liked the best, the displays of military paraphernalia from all over the world including US military academies, or the sharp looking young men and women in their dashing uniforms! 

Apse mosaic in San Vitale Basilica,
Ravenna

Our tour of Ravenna proved the highlight of this trip for me.  When you think of Ravenna, think mosaics—exquisite Byzantine mosaics that have survived over the centuries and surpass any we’ve ever seen in our travels.  The city actually boasts an impressive assemblage of both Byzantine and Christian monuments.  The Basilica of San Vitale is a 1400 year-old church whose mosaics bring the Bible to life, from scenes of the apostles, Christ, the Emperor Justinian, Abel, Melchizedec, and a host of others.  Just as impressive (some claim more so) are the mosaics found in the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia across the courtyard from the basilica, which include mosaics of Jesus the Good Shepherd, Mark’s lion, Luke’s ox, John’s eagle, and a beautiful golden cross over them all.    

It was also in Ravenna that we enjoyed one our collective favorite meals:  vegetable lasagna with white sauce.  Okay, there was a tasty antipasta and dessert, too, but all we could talk about was the lasagna.  Molto buono! 

Anatomy class, anyone?

Bologna, where Bolognese sauce originated, was our destination the next day.  It’s also home to the  world’s oldest university. The Palazzo dell’Archiginnaisio was built to house the lecture halls for the study of law and arts.  Up until 1803 it was the seat of the university, but since 1838 it has housed the Civic Library.  Although it sustained heavy damage by bombs during World War II, it was subsequently rebuilt.  One room of particular interest is the Anatomical Theatre.  Built of carved wood, it was the lecture hall for anatomy lessons, apparent by the marble table slab in the center.  How does that visual hit you? 

The Basilica of St. Petronio is probably the most imposing and we were told that it is the most important church in the city.  A hole in the roof of the basilica measures times and seasons and is supposedly the most precise sundial in Europe.  The frescoes inside have never been restored in its 600 years. Our walking tour also took us through the Jewish ghetto.  Sadly, no Jews returned here after the German evacuation, but the city now has a respectable Jewish population.  After exiting the ghetto, we walked past the two towers (Le due Torri) that stand as the traditional symbol of Bologna. 

Pasta!

Free time gave us the opportunity to return to the open markets that featured vegetable, meat, cheese  and seafood stands we’d passed and to wander into some of the shops.  It was here that the pasta tagliatelle was invented in 1481, and it is also here that you can attend a university for gelato making! The Dominican order of priests was established in Bologna by the Spanish priest later known as St. Dominic. 
 

Next up:  Parma, home of traditional Parma ham and cheese!

Siena!

Santa Catarina Garden View

We arrived in the Siena Province town of Chiusi after bidding a fond farewell to Ben’s relatives in Ancona. We miss them already! Our friend and excellent Italy tour guide, Roberto Bechi, was at the train station as promised and took us northwest to Siena through the rolling hills and valleys of the Tuscan landscape. Train connections from Ancona to Siena aren’t very good (3 am departures, long layovers, etc.), whereas we could buy an easy one-connection train ride to Chiusi via Bologna with a more reasonable schedule. Disembarkation was less than easy, but I’ll save that story for another posting.


 Roberto had booked us at the absolutely charming Hotel Santa Caterina just south of the Porta Romana. The hotel director, Lorenza, could not have been more helpful and cheerful, making every guest feel especially welcome and important. The hotel features 22 rooms, an elevator, and both a sunny breakfast room and garden overlooking the countryside. You’d never know you were in walking distance to the center of Siena. The road from our hotel to the city center changes names several times; however, it’s a primary roadway with all the conveniences a traveler could want: an ATM, a grocery store, a regular laundry, and—most importantly—a gelateria every hundred feet. Can’t get enough gelato in Italy.

Ben and I have visited Tuscany many times, including Siena, so our first stop was to the local self-service laundry just a few steps from Il Campo. It had been a long trip!  Since we had already seen many of the most frequented sites, Roberto recommended that we go to the Santa Maria della Scala Museum. For such a nondescript entry off the main square of the Duomo, this multi-level former hospital is a gem, housing a lovely chapel, amazing frescoes, an underground archaeological museum, the Art Museum for Children, the Giuliano Briganti Library and Photo Library of Art, and more nooks and crannies in its labyrinthine lower levels than I could ever have imagined. While there were plenty of people in the square and entering the Duomo and Duomo Museum (Museo dell’Opera a Panorama), the smaller crowds we encountered in the “hospital” museum made for a very enjoyable visit.

Casalciccia Breakfast Room View

Roberto invited us to dinner at his home one night, and it was a treat to see his wife Patti and their two children again. They are in the process of building a bed and breakfast next door to their present home that is scheduled for completion in October. Both buildings are perched on a hilltop near Asciano, about 13 km from Siena on Via Lauretana. This is the most photographed roadway in Italy for calendars, books, and in commercials. As a matter of fact, it had been closed for awhile recently when Volvo rented the whole road to film a commercial endorsement with George Clooney! The B&B, to be named Casalciccia, will house 10 guests, and Roberto can book them as part of a tour package or simply as a B&B. Travelers not using his touring services are certainly welcome, although they will need transportation from the B&B to surrounding areas.

Sandra and Roberto

One day, Roberto invited us to join him on a tour he’d arranged for another couple. It was fun returning to some places again and a joy to visit new ones. Since he is an Etruscan expert, he again took us to the archeological museum in Chinciano Terme. This time, we listened more closely and learned a lot more about this civilization of ancient Italy. Lunch brought a return the amazing Podere Il Casale organic farm and restaurant in Pienza. The owner, Sandra, never fails to lay out a spread of certified organic foods that will be the best you’ve ever tasted—from tomatoes, beans, and fresh springtime-only Pecorino cheese to proscuitto, pasta and wine. 

Lynn and Cesare

We visited the Contucci winery in Montepulciano and topped off our wine-tasting event with a surprise even for Ben and me. Just a few steps away was the Bottega del Rame, a copper workshop owned and operated by Cesare and Iolanda Mazzetti who inherited the business from their ancestors and now continue a long family tradition in copper crafting begun in 1857. This delightful octogenarian creates copperware that is as beautiful as it is functional--and I received a wonderful copper souvenir of our visit with him!  Roberto took Cesare with him to Portland, Maine, June 9-11, for the Italian Life Expo to demonstrate his skill and perhaps inspire others to help keep such time-honored craftsmanship alive for future generations. If you are in that area this weekend, stop by and say hello to Roberto, Cesare, and all of Rick Steves’ friends. 

For our final night in Siena, we finished a bottle of Chianti and picked up some local cheese, San Daniele prosciutto, and bread, and savored a few more hours in the Santa Caterina courtyard. It doesn’t get any better than that.

I’ll add a further review of our AMA Waterways cruise, some tips for traveling for the mobility- challenged, and a few pointers on traveling by train in my next posts. In the meantime, you can tell that Ben and I love Italy and visit often. That means we have the knowledge you need to book travel to that special part of the world—call us when you’re ready to go!

Rhine River Cruise-Post 4

My blog posts will never catch up with our itinerary this trip, I'm afraid. I am writing this one about the Alpine world of Lucerne and Zurich while overlooking the Tuscan gardens of our Siena hotel. Contrasting beauty in two magnificent parts of the world. Hotel Santa Caterina lies just south of Porta Romana on Via Roma in easy walking distance from Il Campo. Our friend Roberto Bechi reserved this 22-room charmer for us, and it's on Rick Steves' recommended list. Breakfast this morning seemed but a side note to the sights and smells of the rolling hills of Tuscany below our garden tables. Picture perfect!

Now back to Switzerland. It had been almost 30 year since Ben and I had visited Lucerne, that picturesque city on the lake of the same name and at the edge of the Alps to the south. We toured by foot and boat and then up Pilatus Mountain by cogwheel railway (the steepest in the world), cable car, gondola, and bus. Clouds at the very top prevented all but brief peeks at the verdant valleys below, but there is no bad way to view this delightful city. I love Lucerne.

AMA booked all of us in the ultra modern Radisson Blu with breakfast included. It is a beautiful hotel in a very convenient location near the central rail station and shops, even if we did decide that the architect never spoke to a group of women, let alone a housekeeper during the design process. Breakfast offered a wide variety of options, however, and the concierge and hotel staff were tremendously helpful every day.
Our trip from this more heavily Catholic region of southern Switzerland, to Zurich in the Reformation-heavy Protestant region was via both tour boat and bus. We sailed across Lake Lucerne to Vitznau, where we reboarded our buses for the final drive along scenic mountains and lakes.

I felt my Presbyterian roots in this city of Zwingli and Protestant churches, and our guides were well versed in the religious roots of their native land. There is much to see and do in this bustling city. Some of us took in the Rhine Falls, others visited the KunstHaus Zurich museum, and some chose to shop. Take your pick! For all of us, though, the most amazing highlight was the view of the Alps 100 kilometers to the south for both days of our stay--a rare treat even for the locals.

Our Zurich hotel could hardly have differed more from Lucerne’s Radisson--a pronounced veer from the contemporary to the traditional. Hotel Continental, formerly a Sofitel property, also positioned us near the city’s booming train station, the largest and busiest in Europe. Easy walking to the main shopping street, too.

I’ve focused thus far only on our itinerary and not the ship, food, and logistics of our cruise. I’ll do that in one of my next posts, however, since I’m more determined to stick with the itinerary for now. Since we were traveling with an elderly slow walker, I also want to add some pointers about traveling with the mobility impaired.  And watch for additional hyperlinks and photos when I've had a chance to edit and embellish my posts.

We said farewell to our cruise group in Zurich as most headed back to the States. Ben and I, however, boarded the Cisalpino train for our journey south to visit his relatives in Ancona, Italy.