Zurers in Italy 2025

[Jim Zurer]

Zurers in Italy 2025: Friday, May 2: Day 9: Castellina in Chianti​

Another boring beautiful day...

We are going to take Maureen and Franco to the Chianti Sculpture Park...a collection of modern pieces set in the woods. We have been there a couple of times before and enjoyed our visits.

Our GPS app routes us over some very rough and dusty roads...there is some beautiful scenery along the way but the passengers do get very shaken up and are happy to arrive at our destination.

There are several dozen pieces in the park..some of them expressly created to fit into the setting. Visitors follow a path that loops through the trees. Some of the pieces are quite playful and others more serious but it is a pleasant way to take a stroll in the woods while taking in "art".

Here are some of my favorite pieces...in no particular order. And the titles of the pieces often didn't seem to adequately convey the intent of the artists so I won't include them.

You can see the whole collection by following this link.

https://www.parcosculturechianti.it/en/

It's a very pleasant place to spend a morning, especially on a nice day.

On the way back to Castellina, we opt for all paved roads which is much smoother but takes almost twice as long.

We have a simple lunch at the restaurant across the street from the hotel...Franco and Maureen have a typical Tuscan soup--farro and bean. And we all share a large Tuscan antipasto platter--crostini, salume, cheese--served with very good bread from their pizza oven.

After lunch, some of us rest in our rooms, I hang out on the terrace, and Franco descends the steep stairs in the back of the hotel and goes for a swim in the pool.

Later in the afternoon, we have aperitivi and talk to the bicyclists who have returned from their day's ride.

We eat dinner at the Antica Trattoria La Torre located on the hill next to the Castello. As I mentioned earlier, we had eaten there in 1993 and I was anxious to make a return visit. The temperature has cooled down so we opt to eat inside. It's a pleasant room and jazz standards are playing (a bit too prominently) in the background.

The dinner was not totally successful. It started off well with a terrific dish of freshly prepared deep fried artichokes. My dishes--pici with a very vibrant ragu with rabbit, and trippa fiorentina--were both excellent as was the ribollita (a Tuscan soup of bread and vegetables) that Franco and Maureen enjoyed. But Diana's pappardelle with Tuscan meat ragu, Franco's wild boar stew (umido), and Maureen's pheasant were just okay. Diana did enjoy her crostata and our Roman friends liked the local panforte (a type of fruitcake with nuts). The wine was excellent, a Chianti Classico from Fonterutoli, just down the road.

Tomorrow we will drive towards Florence to have lunch with one of our Slow Travel friends, Rita O'Connor.

Jim and Diana

 

[davythefatboy]

We spend part of the year in Firenze, the trick is that we rent a Smart EQ, a tiny two person car (but autostrada capable, although the range is only about 140km before you must charge it). Because it's electric and registered in Firenze, it comes with a "permesso" to drive in the ZTL and to park in resident parking spaces. In fact we can also drive on some pedestrian streets (like in front of the pitti palace). Just don't drive in the bus and taxi only lanes. We only got towed once on the street cleaning day (only comes around once every two weeks). The deposito where we picked up the car was very friendly and efficient, rather different than home. These cars don't seem to be available for short term rentals, we rent for several months at a time.

 

[Pauline]

the trick is that we rent a Smart EQ, a tiny two person car

I had to look it up!

 

[Jim Zurer]

Zurers in Italy 2025: Monday, May 5: Took the weekend off​

I just wanted to let you all know that I paused the reports over the weekend. We leave Castellina this morning and will be in Faenza for the next few days. The forecast is ominous--rain, rain, rain--but I will catch up on the missing days while there.

Jim and Diana

 

[Jim Zurer]

Zurers in Italy 2025: Saturday, May 3: Day 10: Castellina in Chianti​

I woke up early today and got a couple of pre-dawn photos over the hills.

After breakfast, I take Maureen and Franco for a tour of the village followed by a visit to the archaeological museum and an exploration of the castle. The village is quite compact...basically a main street with the hotel, many restaurants, wine shops, and other mostly tourist places. The business section for the locals is further down the street--the farmacia, the supermarket, banks, etc. On a hill just above the main street is the castle and a couple of restaurants.

The museum is mostly devoted to artifacts found in nearby Etruscan tombs....including some beautiful Greek vases and lots of everyday implements. I was taken by two of the animal statues

and the beginnings of a reconstruction of a chariot. The original pieces are glued to the wooden frame.

The castle dates back to the early 15th century during the wars between Florence and Siena. The Florentines built the castle to strengthen their defenses against the Sienese attackers. Franco is very partial to castles and we enjoy our ascents to the various battlements with lots of great views over the town and the countryside.

One very poignant piece of history is displayed in one of the rooms devoted to World War II. Two "Hebrew Germans" had made their way to Italy in the 1930s and ended up interned in Castellina during the early part of war. In 1943, when the Nazis took over, they were deported to Auschwitz and murdered. Their aluminum cooking pot, a dish, a spoon, and an embroidered napkin are all that remains of their time in Castellina.

Franco and I are enjoying the views

and Maureen has joined us for part of the climb.

We complete the tour of the village with a walk through Le Volte, a street that was later covered over to make a tunnel; it runs behind the buildings on the main street and houses some shops, offices, and a restaurant.

We are having lunch with an American friend of ours--Rita O'Connor--who lives in Chianti. We met on the Slow Travel website and have kept in touch for many years. Her house is outside Chiocchio, a small town near Florence. We have lunch in the next village, Strada in Chianti. We have Tuscan crostini to start and a variety of pasta dishes...as well as lots of conversation.

Back in Castellina in the late afternoon, some of us rest and others sit on the terrace. We decide that we do want to have dinner and we eat at the hotel's smaller restaurant across the street--I Grani di Squarcialupi. We have a very good meal. The waitress is very knowledgeable and she, Franco, and Maureen have a long conversation about the menu. The Tuscan crostini are excellent and everyone enjoys their secondi; Diana and Maureen have the special--chicken stuffed with cheese. Franco enjoys his osso buco and my pork cheeks are good but the sauce is a bit sweet. Our Chianti Classico Riserva from the Squarcialupi vineyard is excellent.

We just have to walk back across the street to the hotel.

Tomorrow is laundry day for us in the morning and then we will all visit our friend Miriam Margolyes in southern Tuscany.

Jim and Diana

 

[Kathy]

Zurers in Italy 2025: Thursday, May 1: Day 8: Castellina in Chianti​

Guess what....it's sunny and warm again today. Today is May 1, a big holiday in Italy. The holiday celebrates the Italian version of Labor Day (Festa dei Lavoratori) but on the day, schools and businesses are closed and Italians often head for the countryside or at least have picnics. Many cities have big concerts to mark the day. This year, May 1 falls on a Thursday which means that the holiday is stretched over the weekend; it's called "a ponte" (bridge in Italian).

After breakfast, we set out for Florence to pick up our Roman friends at the Florence train station. We set out early because I want to make sure we have enough time to navigate the tricky route to the station while avoiding driving in the limited traffic zones (ZTL). The traffic going into the city on the main road is quite light but the traffic is bumper to bumper heading to the countryside.

On our first attempt to reach Santa Maria Novella station (from the east), we get within a block of the terminal but there is no place to park or even access the road in front of the station where passengers can be picked up. I regroup and drive to the other side. I notice directional signs directing traffic to parking at the station and so we follow the route through the crowded city streets. The route skirts the ZTL all the way until we end up just across the street from the parking lots for the station. We end up parking in one of those lots and, even though we are early, we decide to wait for Maureen and Franco inside. I am quite pleased with my navigation through the challenging traffic of Florence ending up just where we want to be.

We have a happy reunion, push our way out of the crowded station, find the car, and drive out of Florence. We are having lunch at the Ristoro di Lamole, located off the main Chianti road between Greve and Panzano. The drive takes an hour through the heart of Chianti, up and down hills, through pretty towns, past many wineries, with beautiful views over the vineyards and olive groves. The approach to the restaurant is up a steep, winding, narrow road, finally arriving in a small village with views stretching for miles to the west over the countryside.

View attachment 47237

The restaurant is packed but we are seated at a table with an unobstructed view. We actually ate here with Maureen in 2014 when she had come up to Florence for the day. The meal is terrific...between the view, the food, and the charming waiter, we are all very happy. For antipasti, Diana has carpaccio, Maureen has an onion flan, and Franco and I both enjoy a delicate dish of tongue with pickled vegetables. For the first course, I have a dish of featherlight gnocchi with fava beans and sun dried tomatoes, Diana has a plate of delicate ravioli with ricotta and pear, Franco has a bowl of onion soup, and Maureen has a dish of cavatelli with ragu di chianina (diced Tuscan beef). Franco also orders a plate of ribs that we all share and Maureen shares her dish of roasted vegetables. We drink a pleasant bottle of Lamole Chianti and I'm happy to have my first panna cotta of the trip which is delicious. A very good way to start our weekend with good friends...

View attachment 47238

And we have to give a nod to our charming waiter....

View attachment 47239

Back in Castellina, it's rest time for most of us. I retire to the terrace to write a report and catch up on email. We have an interesting conversation with a couple of Americans from Arizona...one of them runs a bicycle touring company and is staying here with one of his groups.

We spend a couple of hours hanging out with Maureen and Franco...on the terrace until we are displaced by the dinner service and then in our room. No one is ready to eat a full meal so we decide that some gelato will hit the spot. We find that the gelateria next door is already closed so we decide to walk down the main road (about 400 yards) to the other gelateria which is open until 9:30. The place is doing a brisk business at 9 pm. We enjoy our "dinner" and our walk back to the hotel.

Tomorrow we will visit the Chianti Sculpture Park, where we have actually visited twice before, but will be new to our Roman friends.

Jim and Diana

This is one of my favorite restaurants in the whole world! The charming waiter is one of the owners, Fillippo.

And you are staying at the hotel where I have stayed with my Chianti Experience groups for 10+ years. It's a home-away-from-home for me... great team and beautiful views.

 

[Jim Zurer]

Zurers in Italy 2025: Sunday, May 4: Day 11: Castellina in Chianti​

It's a bit chilly this morning for breakfast on the terrace. After breakfast, it's time for our second laundry of the trip. The laundromat--Banco Pulito--is just across the main road from the hotel. Diana works on her quilting as usual, while waiting to switch the laundry

and I walk over to the park with the memorials to World War I and II.

There is a modern fountain in the square

and the lamp posts have very striking cast iron decorations.

We are going to visit our friend Miriam Margoyles, the English actress, whom we met on the Compuserve Italian Forum in the mid-1990s. Miriam has a house in Montisi (in southern Tuscany) and she has invited us for ice cream and biscuits in the late afternoon. We have lunch enroute in Rapalano Terme, a small town southeast of Siena. I had found a nice looking restaurant there which was listed in the Gambero Rosso guide. We are able to drive right into the center and park very near Il Granaio.

https://osteriailgranaio.it/

Lunch was great...the restaurant is very attractive, the staff very personable, the menu is appealing, and the food is (for the most part) excellent. Diana and I split four courses--a delicious beef tartar, a plate of very rich tortelli, a slightly disappointing fritto misto, and a tasty cauliflower flan. Maureen and Franco have the herring and onion "sandwich" to start. Franco enjoys the special--grilled pork liver wrapped in a caul (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caul) —and Maureen is very happy with her peposo (a peppery Tuscan beef stew). We finish off a bottle of an excellent Rosso di Montalcino. Everyone agrees that Il Granaio was a good choice.

We are now in southern Tuscany--the landscape that we really like--rolling hills and views that go on forever. It's different from Chianti (which is also beautiful) in that there are fewer trees so there are more unobstructed vistas.

We arrive at Miriam's house (down a dirt road from the village) and are greeted very warmly. After we sit down for ice cream, ex-pat friends of hers from the area start arriving until we are about a dozen sitting around a long table. Miriam orchestrates the conversation, insisting that everyone introduce themselves which leads to much lively conversation. The "salon" goes on for a couple of hours, fueled by the gelato, the biscotti, and a lot of gin. We are very pleased to visit with Miriam in Montisi again (all four of us had visited there about seven years ago).

No dinner tonight but we get together in the hotel bar for drinks and to recap the day.

Tomorrow we leave Castellina and move on to Faenza.

Jim and Diana

 

[Jim Zurer]

This is one of my favorite restaurants in the whole world! The charming waiter is one of the owners, Fillippo.

And you are staying at the hotel where I have stayed with my Chianti Experience groups for 10+ years. It's a home-away-from-home for me... great team and beautiful views.

Kathy....nice to hear from you I remember that your group stayed there at the hotel. I first ate at the Ristoro on a travel agent boondoogle in 2002.

 

[Jim Zurer]

Zurers in Italy 2025: Monday, May 5: Day 12: Castellina in Chianti-Faenza​

Time to leave beautiful Chianti...we have had a very good time here--spending time with Maureen and Franco, visiting friends who live in the area, enjoying the Tuscan cuisine, and appreciating the scenery. We are heading to Florence to take Maureen and Franco to the train station for their trip back to Rome. The traffic in Florence is not an issue and we have no problem reaching the station. We are more challenged when trying to leave the city....we miss our turn on our first try and have to repeat our steps. On our second pass, we mistakenly take a tunnel rather than the surface street (confusing on the GPS) and have to go around again.

Once on track, we drive through seemingly endless neighborhoods of Florence before leaving town. Out of town, we are treated to the beautiful sights of the hills above Florence....stunning houses overlooking steep hills and deep valleys set among masses of green trees.

It starts to rain as we head northeast on the Via Bolognese and the traffic is heavy. We stop for lunch at a cute bistro in Borgo San Lorenzo and enjoy surprisingly good pasta dishes. As we continue on the Via Faetina, the rain continues. The extremely winding road climbs to over 4,000 feet through a very dense forest. There is a lot of road repair and construction along the route and there are frequent one way sections controlled by timed traffic lights. Luckily there is little traffic so we can appreciate how beautiful this area of Tuscany is.

As we descend into Emilia-Romagna, the weather improves and the road is less challenging. We have no problem reaching the Hotel Vittoria, located a few blocks from the main piazza. Our room is quite nice with a big floor to ceiling window that looks out over the street. The hotel gives me a pass to put in the car that allows me to park in any of the paid parking spaces (marked with blue stripes) on the street. I have to go around the block several times before I find an empty space. I may have to spring for the hotel's garage....

I take a short walk into the main piazza, mainly to locate a place for dinner. We have a very good dinner at the Osteria del Mercato, a small restaurant just off the Piazza del Popolo. It is crowded with locals and the vibe is very upbeat. We share a plate of salume and cheese served with the ubiquitous gnocco fritto. Diana has a plate of carpaccio, grana padana cheese and celery and I have my first spaghetti alle vongole of the trip--delicious.

It is a bit chilly on the walk home and the forecast for tomorrow is dire---heavy rains are expected. It's only supposed to rain in Italy while we're sleeping so fingers crossed.

Jim and Diana

PS One annoying thing about the hotel is that I specifically mentioned in my room request "that we would like to avoid stairs if possible". When we go to our room on the third floor, we get off the elevator and are confronted with a flight of seven steps down to the third floor rooms. If you get off on the second floor, there are even more steps up to the rooms on the third floor. When I mentioned it to the desk clerk, he was very untroubled, though he later offered us a smaller room on the second floor with no stairs, after he received a cancellation. There are also a few steps from the street to the lobby without any handrails. This has happened before...the last time was in Castellina. In order to get to our room from the elevator at the Palazzo Squarcialupi, there were three steps in the hallway and one step down to get into the room from the foyer.

However, Diana is coping very well with the challenge...

 

[Jim Zurer]

Zurers in Italy 2025: Tuesday, May 6: Day 13: Faenza​

The weather on our first morning in Faenza is better than the forecast....hopefully the rain will hold off for the day.

Breakfast at the Hotel Vittoria is disappointing....limited selection, tepid water for tea, and mediocre coffee.

We are going to Bologna to have lunch with Valentina Misgur, the daughter of our Italian friend Livio Misgur, who died last year. We had met Livio in the 1990s through the Italian Forum of Compuserve and used to get together with him regularly since then. During that time, we met his daughter and have kept in touch with her.

The drive to Bologna on the autostrada takes less than an hour and we plan to park in a big underground lot just outside the limited traffic zone. Before meeting Valentina, Diana needs to buy some of her regular face cream that we usually buy in San Quirico d'Orcia. The company--Erbario Toscana--has an outlet in Bologna and we decide to walk from the parking lot to the store which is located right off the Piazza Maggiore in the center of Bologna. Luckily we get the last three jars of the face cream. We also have a nice conversation about our experiences in Italy with the charming salesperson.

We decide to take a cab back to the restaurant where we are meeting Valentina. We have no luck hailing a cab and there are no cabs to be had at the taxi stand, so we have to walk back to the restaurant and we arrive late.

We have a very pleasant and emotional lunch....we really miss seeing Livio when we are in Italy. We get caught up with what Valentina is doing; she trained as an architect but has just had a children's book published. We have eaten at the Trattoria del Rosso before and the food is good, as usual. Diana has a plate of tagliatelle with prosciutto and cheese, Valentina chooses a veal cutlet alla Bolognese, and I enjoy my trippa alla parmigiano. Since panna cotta is on the menu, I don't miss enjoying it.

Back in Faenza, Diana is ready for a rest and I head out to explore Faenza, a new town for me. Our hotel is located a short walk from the Piazza del Popolo, a very impressive large traffic-free square surrounded by 15th century buildings with long covered porticoes.

The duomo with an unfinished facade also sits on the piazza

as well as the Torre dell'Orologio (clock tower) originally built in the 15th century but destroyed by German bombing in World War II and subsequently rebuilt, and a very ornate 16th century fountain.

Faenza is famous as a center of ceramics and the International Museum of Ceramics is a major attraction. (We plan to revisit the museum later in our stay.) All the street signs in the city are examples of the art.

No dinner tonight; we are still full from lunch. We have a prosecco in the piazza at dusk and later meet briefly with our Swedish friend Ulf who arrives around 9 pm.

Jim and Diana

 

[Jim Zurer]

Zurers in Italy 2025: Wednesday, May 7: Day 14: Faenza​

It's overcast this morning but it looks like the dire forecasts of constant rain for our time in Faenza were overblown.

Our destination this morning is Dozza, a village about 35 minutes west of Faenza. It is famous for its painted walls; every two years, there is a competition and new paintings cover the old ones. We had lunch here in 1993 but this is our first time back. We find a convenient parking place in back of the fortress

and start to walk down one of the two main streets of the village. The paintings are wildly varied...some serious, some fanciful, some realistic--a real mixture of styles and quality. But the overall effect tickles my fancy and I make a complete circuit of the village while the others sit on a bench and talk.

Here are some of my favorites....

There are also some nice scenic views from the village.

We make an abortive attempt to visit another medieval village in the area--Lugo--but I didn't realize it was market day which closed off many of the streets and made parking almost impossible. Another day perhaps....

We have a late lunch at La Baita, a very well regarded trattoria, wine bar, and food market, located a block away from the hotel.

This is Ulf's favorite restaurant in Faenza...he has spent a lot of time in the city. Lunch is mostly very successful. Diana and I share a salad of local Moretti artichokes served raw with parmigiano-reggiano ... delicious. Diana enjoys her tagliatelle with ragu and my rigatoni with sausage, escarole, and olives is different and very tasty. Ulf strikes out...his pork roast with onions and apples is dry. The wine--a local sangiovese---is excellent. The room is a bit noisy...there is what looks like an office party with more than two dozen people at one very long table and a group of eight at another...but it makes for a lively atmosphere.

After lunch, I take a walk around a different neighborhood and am impressed with this shop with its shelves filled with wheels of parmigiano-reggiano.

I take note of this announcement that tomorrow there will be a priestly blessing of motorized vehicles, including motorcycles and bicycles.

I am attracted by this Liberty (Art Nouveau) style building on the main piazza, accented with intricate wrought iron balconies; it somehow blends in with older buildings.

In the late afternoon, Diana meets me in the Piazza del Popolo for a walk, taking advantage of the warm sun. No dinner tonight but we meet Ulf for a drink at La Baita. We polish off a bottle of Pecorino (a fruity white wine from Le Marche) and Diana and I share a plate of fresh fava beans with pecorino cheese.

Tomorrow we will head into the mountains south of Faenza.

Jim and Diana

 

[Ian Sutton]

Pecorino with Pecorino! I've no idea whether they complement each other, but I'd definitely try the combo out of linguistic/vinous curiosity.

 

[Jim Zurer]

Zurers in Italy 2025: Thursday, May 8: Day 15: Faenza​

Another sunny day......a few clouds and cooler but very pleasant. We have lucked out.

Today we are heading up into the mountains south of Faenza to visit a few villages and enjoy the scenery. Our first stop is the small town of Portico di Romagna, which sits at about 4,000 feet. We park in the village lot and walk into the center. There is not much activity--the bar is open and there is a hotel. Diana and Ulf meet a couple of locals who are sitting on a bench and they talk while I explore the very hilly medieval part of town. The village is very picturesque but somewhat austere...all the buildings are of the same gray stone softened with some colorful flower boxes.

One of the village's attractions is the Ponte della Maesta, which spans the Montone River and dates back to the 14th century.

Our next destination is the town of Modigliana and the route takes us on a very narrow, very curvy road. There are numerous switchbacks which give us many spectacular vistas over the countryside.

On the way, we pass by a natural phenomenon mislabeled as the Vulcano di Monte Brusco. It's not an actual volcano but, in reality, it's a natural gas vent topped with a pile of stones emitting flames. When I saw it, the flames were barely visible but you could feel the heat. At other times, it is more impressive.

Photo credit from Atlas Obscura

The link from Atlas Obscura explains a bit more about the "vulcano."

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/monte-busca-volcano

After a long and slow descent into Modigliana, which is a good sized town, we park, walk around, and stop at a bar for some fresh orange juice. There are three attractions in Modigliana (no relation to the painter that I know of)--La Tribuna, the impressive 16th-century gate to the medieval fortress

the ruined castle sitting high above the town

and another stone bridge--the Ponte della Signora--which was built in the 17th century.

We cross another mountain with more switchbacks and more beautiful scenery en route to Brisighella, a charming town located just north of Faenza. Brisighella boasts both a castle and clock tower sitting high above the village

as well beautiful views over the nearby hillsides.

We have a late lunch at a small trattoria, Il Gatto e La Volpe (The Cat and the Fox) on the main street. The meal gets off to a rocky start...the somewhat loud waitress does not pay much attention to us for a good while. The food is actually very good and, while we are impatient about the service, we end up enjoying our lunch. Ulf likes his cappelletti (stuffed pasta "hats") in ragu. Diana and I share a strange plate of carpaccio...it was actually more like corned beef than raw meat but very tasty. My pork cheeks stewed in red wine are delicious and Diana was happy with her ravioli. The olive oil (the restaurant produces their own) was particularly good and the local red wine was fine. No dessert...we go back to the car and return to Faenza in the late afternoon.

It's been a long day and we rest in our rooms for a while. Later, we meet Ulf and go for a drink at an enoteca on the main piazza. We are still full from lunch so no dinner again but we do manage a gelato before heading back to the hotel.

Tomorrow we will go to the big ceramics museum in Faenza.

Jim and Diana

 

[Jim Zurer]

Zurers in Italy 2025: Friday, May 9: Day 16: Faenza​

In spite of a threatening forecast, it's sunny and a bit cool this morning. It's our last day in Faenza and, after breakfast, I make a second and more thorough visit to the Duomo.

The interior is quite spacious and happily, for our taste, the decorations are quite restrained. The building was completed in the early 16th century and it is influenced by the Tuscan style of Renaissance architecture.

The altar is covered in roses today...perhaps something to do with the election of the new Pope.

I like these two frescoes in one of the side chapels

and am less enamored of this somewhat over the top chapel with the large statues of Peter and Paul.

The carved wooden pulpit raised in the center of the church is quite impressive.

After the Duomo, we make our way to the MIC-Faenza, the Museo Internazionale della Ceramica.

One of the most important museums of ceramics in the world, it is located here because Faenza has always been a center of Italian ceramics. (Faenza is related to the French word faience and both refer to the type of pottery called maiolica.) The museum is huge...it tries to present the historical development of ceramics from ancient times to the present, all over the world, as well serving as a showcase for modern pieces of the craft. It's really too much for us to absorb but we stroll through many of the rooms, stopping to admire pieces that catch our eye.

Diana is quite taken with the local ceramics from the Faenza area done in the 14th century.

The collection of that era of Faenza ceramics is housed in this hall

and the museum is made up of probably two dozen of these rooms.

I will include some of the pieces that we especially liked during our visit.

We certainly only scratched the surface of what's in the collection but we definitely are happy that we experienced what we did.

We did spend some time watching a class of schoolchildren taking a class in making pottery. They were enjoying rolling out the clay.

Here is a link to the museum's website if you want to see more of the holdings.

https://www.micfaenza.org/en/

It's time for lunch now. We have adapted to our friend Ulf's pattern of eating...he has his big meal in the mid-afternoon and doesn't eat dinner. We return to La Baita and have another very good meal. On this visit at 2 pm, there are few other diners and it is very peaceful. Diana and I share the manzo battuta (steak tartare), she has the tagliatella that she enjoyed the other day, and I have a delicious plate of cooked tongue blanketed with fresh fava and peas...very enjoyable. Diana raves about her cheesecake and Ulf likes his white chocolate mousse.

Some go back to their respective rooms for a siesta while I explore parts of the city that I hadn't seen before. Most people would find my walk boring but I always like seeing all the different neighborhoods in the towns that we visit. And I certainly hope to discover some great restaurants or hidden attractions in my walks.

I did encounter a very strange piece of art on a wall behind the Duomo.

I'm not sure what to make of it.

We get together at a local bar for our last aperitivi...Ulf is going back to Sweden tomorrow and we will pack up and move to Padova.

Jim and Diana

 

[Pauline]

Beautiful ceramics!

 

[jan]

I am so enjoying your report!

 

[Ian Sutton]

Some go back to their respective rooms for a siesta while I explore parts of the city that I hadn't seen before. Most people would find my walk boring but I always like seeing all the different neighborhoods in the towns that we visit. And I certainly hope to discover some great restaurants or hidden attractions in my walks.

I did encounter a very strange piece of art on a wall behind the Duomo.

I can really relate to this comment. It's the antithesis of the 'must see as many famous sites in the time available' approach. It can feel like 'getting under the skin' of a location, or at least getting a better feel for it than a superficial highlights reel.

I recall a self-guided walk that the Bologna tourist office had listed. It focused on the mostly now hidden canal system in the city, but the other facet of it was giving us an excuse to venture out of the centre and see some of the suburbs.

 

[Pauline]

In our more ambitious travel days we would seek out vegetarian restaurants in a city and they tended to be in far-flung neighborhoods. Another way of getting out of the central areas.

 

[Jim Zurer]

Zurers in Italy 2025: Saturday, May 10: Day 17: Faenza-Padova​

It's time to leave Faenza...with very good memories. Faenza is an example of the many medium-sized Italian cities that have a definite urban feel but are often easier to get a handle on than the major ones. There are usually plenty of restaurants, enough "culture" and history to keep you busy, and a good deal of street life to engage your attention. And it is easy to get out of town for day trips and drives in the country or into the mountains.

I take a last walk in town....the market is in full swing and the fruit and vegetable stalls are very appealing.

There is a display of traveling bells used by bell-ringing troupes; apparently that music is popular in this area of Italy.

I discover a "new" medieval courtyard outside the Teatro Comunale

and I pass a shop window with a whimsical display of glass fish.

I give Ulf a ride to the station, where he'll take a train to Bologna and then take a tram to the airport. One thing he does in Italy is take advantage of the lower gin prices. He brings a number of large plastic bottles, fills them with the gin he buys locally, discards the glass bottles, and carries the gin back to Sweden in a large rolling suitcase.

We say our goodbyes...we have known each other for thirty years so we are happy to continue our friendship with frequent meetings in Italy.

We pack up and get on the road. We take the autostrada to Padova and have little difficulty navigating to the center of town where our hotel is located. The streets are narrow, the traffic patterns necessitate frequent turns, the route takes us into the Piazza della Frutta which is in a pedestrian area and full of tourists. I miss the recommended turn and end up having to ease the car through a very tight 90 degree angle turn, complicated by columns that jut out into the street. However, the car we are driving has very precise sensors on each side so I am able to very slowly inch my way through the tight space without any damage.

The hotel--the Majestic Toscanelli--is located in the middle of the old Jewish ghetto. We will be exploring Padova's long history of Jewish settlement in the coming days.

Once checked in, the hotel sends a staff person to accompany me to their garage; it's not far away but the route is complicated and takes more time than walking. I am happy to have the help parking in the narrow space; I think I'm a good driver but I am not that skilled in driving in reverse.

We have lunch on one of the big pedestrian-only streets two blocks away. We have excellent, large sandwiches at Farci where you order at a kiosk. We sit outside and watch the many tourists streaming by. After lunch, we take a short stroll through the main squares which are located just around the corner from our hotel.

The stands in the Piazza della Frutta dwarf the market in Faenza, both in numbers and variety of produce as well as the more impressive setting in front of the Palazzo della Ragione.

The stalls under the Palazzo are pretty impressive as well.

After Diana goes back to the room, I continue my walk and scout out possible restaurants for our stay.

We have dinner at a place called Uva (grape in Italian), recommended in the Gambero Rosso guide. It's very stylish with a somewhat fussy menu. It is located in the Piazza dei Signori which is dominated by the Torre dell'Orologio, a tower with an intricate astronomical clock.

We arrive just before 8 and the place is virtually empty...maybe Padovans eat later than people in Parma and Chianti. What we have is excellent....roasted carciofi (artichokes) with an unusual curry sauce with flaked almonds, a plate of tagliatella with asparagus, and a dish of ravioli filled with goulash with a tasty meat sauce. The wine by the glass is good, the service is pleasant, and we enjoy our meal.

We decide to skip dessert at the restaurant and walk next door for gelato. We are greeted warmly by a young Italian woman whose English is excellent: colloquial and virtually accentless. We end up having a pleasant conversation and the gelato is good as well.

Tomorrow we will visit the old Jewish cemetery just outside the center.

Jim and Diana

 

[Jim Zurer]

Zurers in Italy 2025: Sunday, May 11: Day 18: Padova​

IMPORTANT CORRECTION: We forgot to note that we did the third laundry of the trip yesterday afternoon at a laundromat literally around the corner from the hotel. It was very convenient....no pictures however.

Breakfast at Hotel Majestic Toscanelli is the best of the trip....great selection, excellent cornetti and rolls, an array of fresh fruit, good coffee, and friendly people.

After breakfast, we have an appointment to visit the 14th century Jewish cemetery (one of four still existing). The cemetery is located just outside the walls; it's about a twenty minute walk from the hotel but we decide to drive. We park right across the street and wait for the guide to arrive.

There are four (apparently not Jewish) Italian-speaking people on the tour in addition to us, and the guide is not that comfortable with English. So we catch bits and pieces of his talk in Italian and try to supplement it with the simultaneous translation provided by Google translate. (It's quite hilariously inadequate but is intermittently helpful.)

The cemetery is no longer in use but the experience of walking around the old gravestones is very evocative and moving. The graves are set in a grove of trees which contributes to the peacefulness.

As we walk through the graves, the guide explains about how Judaism deals with death and mourning and gives some information about the inscriptions and the iconography on the tablets. Often families would have coats of arms carved on the tombstones. The Conegliano family uses a squirrel in their coat of arms to identify their graves. For some reason, snakes are connected to pharmacists so the gravestone of a pharmacist may have a picture of a snake carved on it. He also points out that many Hebrew inscriptions have spelling errors because in the 15th and 16th century, no Jews were allowed to be craftsmen so the inscriptions were done by Christians who were not familiar with Hebrew.

There are several well-known Jewish scholars and rabbis buried in the cemetery; Padova has been a center of Jewish thought since the 1400s. Rabbi Meir Katzenellenbogen (who was born in Prague) and his son Samuel Judah Katzenellenbogen have their graves at the back of the cemetery with many stones placed on top of them, signifying how many people have come to pay their respects.

Even though we didn't understand much of the guide's talk, we are glad to have visited. Diana's cousin Bencie (who has explored the family's genealogy) claims a family connection to the Katzenellenbogens. But Francesca, the guide at the Jewish Museum in Padova, which we visit the next day, smiled and said many, many families claim such a connection.

After the cemetery, we decide to drive out to the Euganean Hills, a range of large hills or small mountains (the highest elevation is less than 2,000 feet) located just to the south of Padova. They can be seen for quite a distance because the rest of the landscape in the wide valley of the Po is very flat. The hills are heavily forested and there are many vineyards on the slopes....making for a very appealing drive with many lovely vistas. We didn't stop for pictures but here are a few shots from the internet.

Photo credit Kallerna

Photo credit Peak Visor web site

We are tempted to stop at one of the many restaurants scattered in the hills but decide to come back to town and share a gigantic prosciutto and mozzarella sandwich at the Antica Focacceria Fiorentina on the Piazza Duomo.

Diana goes back to the room to rest and I set out to explore more of Padova. Padova has about the same population as Parma (the population is over 200,000) but somehow it feels much larger. I find it very appealing that the historic center and the modern town are intertwined...one minute you are walking through the medieval city and the next you are on a modern shopping street.

There are large, green parks filled with Padovana enjoying the weekend

a lazy river scene and a cat sitting under a rose bush.

One minute you see a Fascist-era building entrance

and the next you are looking at a palazzo from the 13th century.

Back at the hotel, we are surprised to see a long parade of pink-shirted women (and some men and children) streaming through the streets in front of the hotel. It is the Pink Run in Padova, a non-competitive 8 kilometer walk/run which is a fundraiser for local charities focused on women.

According to news reports, 7,000 people took part and they raised over 100,000 Euros for new equipment for the breast cancer unit of the local oncological hospital. (We had been witnesses to the same event last year in Brescia.)

Before dinner, we join the throngs of Padovans and tourists just strolling through the streets--the traditional "passeggiata"--which is quite large on this lovely Sunday evening. Lots of window shopping, gelato eating, and hanging out.....

Dinner is an experience. There is a well-regarded seafood restaurant just down the block that I had read about and booked a table. I had somehow ignored the fact that the menu was a textbook example of over-the-top "cucina creativa", the exact opposite of the more traditional trattoria menus that I favor. For example

The restaurant is very attractive...nice decor but simple. We are seated promptly, the menu is presented and explained, and then we wait and wait and wait. The room fills up with mostly Italian customers who don't seem to be getting any more attention than we are. From our table, I have a good view of the open kitchen where three chefs seem to be working very hard.

From the Enotavola web site -- this is the view from our table in an empty restaurant

Finally, the waiter takes our order....we will split an antipasto (tuna tartare), a pasta (paccheri with shrimp and bacon), and a secondi (fritto misto), probably the only three dishes that appeal to us from the whole menu.

The wine waiter appears and we order a bottle of a local white called Lugana from Lago di Garda. We had the same wine last year in Brescia and it was memorable. And it is again...fruity, dry, and very easy to drink. And we drink a lot of it while waiting for our antipasto to arrive. The other non-Italian couple sitting across from us are also displaying impatience with the service. I keep watching the kitchen noting the relatively few dishes coming out (the restaurant is by now full) and finally our tuna tartar arrives. And it is quite good....and both our half dishes are beautifully plated with the dabs of mayonnaise precisely placed on the plate and little hills of bread crumble artfully arranged.

From the Enotavola web site

The long wait for the pasta goes on and on....we have almost finished the bottle of wine by the time it arrives. We both agree...the dish is fantastic--tender pasta with tasty shrimp, crunchy bacon, and silky, vivid sauce. A triumph...but it's now 10 pm and we have been at our table for two hours. We really don't want to wait for our secondi so we ask that they cancel it and they do. It's too bad because I saw the dish on another table and it looked great.

So we had an experience, some excellent food, a great bottle of wine...but we will not be returning to Enotavola. If you want to see more pictures of the place and experience the entire menu, here's the link to their very attractive website.

https://www.enotavola.com/home

Tomorrow morning we have an appointment to go to the Jewish Museum and synagogue.

Jim and Diana