Woman, life, freedom
As we emerged from the underground Metro in Milan, we found ourselves at the centre of a march in support of the women of Iran. It was powerful and emotional.
Are we doing enough to help?
Monthly Archives: October 2022
Donna, vita, libertà
Porta Nuova
We spent our last Sunday in Milano exploring the Porta Nuova district – an astonishing urban renewal project that turned industrial wastelands into upscale architectural marvels and large parks, including the Library of Trees.
A Sunday market was filled with mostly locals and the vendors offered a variety of beautiful crafts, fresh foods, and patio plants. Joe especially enjoyed his vegan (!) green smoothie for lunch.
We were impressed by the modern architecture and green construction efforts. Two residential towers are built as vertical forests – amazing to see! Other buildings and the green spaces that connect them were equally interesting and were being well-utilized by locals and visitors. It was a real boost to our nervous systems to re-connect with plants and trees after days of urban living with its cacophonous soundscape of motorized vehicles and concrete dreariness.
I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.
A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the earth’s sweet flowing breast;
A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;
A tree that may in Summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;
Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.
Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.
(From: Trees by Joyce Kilmer)
Categories: botanical gardens, Milan, Milano, responsible tourism, retirement travel
Tags: BAM, ecopsychology, joyce kilmer, library of trees, porta nuova
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Biciclette per Samuele
Our friend, Sam, is an avid cyclist and asked us for more photos of european cycling!
Categories: retirement travel
Tags: bicycles, bike lanes, green commuters, urban cycling, way of life
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Moon over Parma
We spent five lovely nights in Parma, in a studio apartment on the fourth floor of a building with a bakery on the ground level. Our noses woke us up briefly most mornings around 3:15 a.m. as the ovens cranked up and the most delicious smells of bread and cinnamon wafted up to our abode. Four or five hours later, Joe would venture downstairs to choose something yummy for our breakfast!
On our first night, we were delighted to stumble across a free outdoor concert in Piazzale della Pace (Peace Square) near the Verdi Monument. Parma hosts a month-long festival each year dedicated to the 19th century composer and dozens of free events are co-currently running during the festival under the flag “Verdi Off.” We danced to this jazz-rock-opera ensemble as they interpreted operas, arias, movie themes, rhumbas, blues, and tangos. La Toscanini Next is comprised of nine musicians and they not only played together well, but they all looked like they were having fun, too!
After the concert, we roamed around, peeking in old buildings, shops, and restaurants. Eventually, we chose an outdoor cafe for a sumptuous dinner, before walking back across the river to our side of town.
On Sunday, we went to Mass at Chiesa di Santa Croce and then walked through the gardens of Palazzo Ducale. We took a spritz break at the small cafe in the park, before wandering on our way.
View from our balcony.
On Monday, we walked the city on a food tour and on Tuesday, we took an excursion with Virginia to her village (population 800) where we learned to make tagliatelle using her granny’s recipe and techniques. We lunched together on their balcony before she drove us back to the city.
On our last full day in Parma, we visited Teatro Farnese, Galleria nazionale di Parma and Biblioteca Palatina, all located in Palazzo della Pilotta. Unfortunately, the Bodoni exhibition was closed.
Teatro Farnese is an incredible wooden theatre built originally in the early 17th century. Our guide told us only nine productions took place over the course of its first one hundred years, due to the complexities of 600 stagehands needed for each epic show.
Theatre major Sarah has never seen such a steeply sloped stage in person. OSHA regulations prevent this sharp of an incline on modern stages. Hard to convey in my amateur photo!
Have you ever seen 800,000 volumes gathered in one private library hall? The silence and the scent of books was unlike anything Sarah had previously experienced. The collection was commissioned in 1761, and includes a greek Codex written on 220 tiny pages of parchment in 1009 A.D.
On our final night in Parma, we dined on saffron risotto with veal ossobuco alla Beppe. For twenty-five years, the owner of Hosteria da Beppe has been cooking typical Emilian fare with local ingredients. Beppe also hosts, bartends, takes orders, serves, and busses. We assume he does the dishes, too. As far as we could learn, he is a one-man show. And cooks ah-mazing food! And he gets great reviews from everyone! We were super impressed with his friendly and efficient service and we highly recommend all visitors to Parma to eat at Beppe’s restaurant.
Categories: botanical gardens, Parma, responsible tourism, retirement travel
Tags: biblioteca palatina, cat whisperer, chiesa di santa croce, da vinci, el greco, emilia romagna, family farming, hosteria, hosteria di beppe, la toscanini next, libertango, national gallery, palazzo del giardino, palazzo della pilotta, parco ducale, teatro farnese, verdi, verdi festival, verdi off
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di Parma
We toured Parma with Michelle Valeria, an incredible guide who introduced us to the history of three major Denominazione di Origine Protetta (DOP) food products: prosciutto di Parma, Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, and traditional aceto balsamico. Additionally, we tasted Violetta di Parma candies, four kinds of pasta, two local wines, and finished with renowned gelato.
Michelle is a Parma native and has a Master’s degree in art history. She is passionate about the history, science, and artisanal processes behind the famous foods of her hometown. She trained as a cheese judge and spends time at the regional farms, getting to know the craftspeople who produce these amazing DOP products using centuries-old techniques. We were awed by her depth of knowledge and as educators, we were impressed with her ability to pace the information in an engaging way.
Check out her Airbnb experience offerings: https://abnb.me/yYRlo2641tb
Her flow, her confidence, her ability to answer any question-she was just amazing. The range of her knowledge, whether it was art, history, music, architecture, food, is astounding. Like a good teacher, she directed her answers to each of us, checking in on our individual engagement.
Joseph J. Gill, retired Headmaster
From Verona to Mantua
Hence from Verona art thou banishèd.
Be patient, for the world is broad and wide.
Friar Lawrence to Romeo (Romeo & Juliet. 3.3.16-17)
Our Verona tour guide told us that Romeo rode his horse to Mantua but the city gates were closed due to plague. William Shakespeare wrote that Romeo receives a letter in Mantua from Juliet and is briefly happy before being wrongly told that his wife is dead. This disturbing news prompts Romeo to purchase poison from a Mantovan apothecary and race back to Verona to commit suicide.
While our Veronese guide seemed to believe that Shakespeare’s play Romeo & Juliet was a documentary, we know that Willy was inspired by Ovid, da Porto, and Bandello. Matteo Bandello lived in Mantua in the 16th century, working as a soldier, monk, and short-story writer. The historic piazzas and Renaissance buildings built on top of Medieval buildings makes it interesting to walk around town pretending to be Romeo.
We toured Museo di Palazzo d’Arco with an Italian-speaking guide. The museum provided an english-language booklet that described each room and the artworks contained therein. We took some pictures in the garden before the tour began, but were transfixed by the indoor furnishings, paintings, and sculptures and forgot to take photos! This overwhelming assemblage, which dates back several centuries from the aristocratic d’Arco family, was donated to the city in 1973 and art history students are kept busy each year tracing the provenance of the undocumented paintings in this huge collection.
Arma virumque cano
thus begins Virgil’s epic poem, The Aeneid
We really enjoyed our three nights in Mantova (Mantua) and could happily return for a longer visit. The municipality limits car/truck traffic (ZTL – Zona a Traffico Limitato) in the old city center which encourages pedestrians and cyclists to access local businesses, including an abundance of cafés and restaurants. The market on Thursdays stretches across several piazzas and side streets and offers just about anything you might be looking for. We purchased fabric (4+ metres for only €5), shorts (€2), sewing needles and thread for a button repair, and ingredients for our picnic lunch.
We are impressed with the clean streets, bicycle commuters, and friendliness of locals. Our Airbnb apartment was well-appointed; it included a washing machine with detergent, daily maid service, and coupons for breakfast at a local café.
Categories: botanical gardens, Mantua, responsible tourism, retirement travel, Verona
Tags: airbnb, gelato, mantova, palazzo, piazza, renaissance architecture, virgil
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Lago di Garda
We day-tripped from Verona by train to visit Lake Garda, Italy’s largest lake. The weather was insanely gorgeous and the beaches were still full with sun-worshiping vacationers.
Categories: beach walking, retirement travel
Tags: camping, cat whisperer, gelato, lake garda, little free libraries, love peace and joy, random art, swan, ugly duckling, urban art, vw camper van
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Balliamo sul mondo
It was drizzling as we arrived in Verona, but undeterred crowds draped in improvised rain ponchos were lined up outside the 2000-year-old L’Arena, waiting for Italian pop star, Ligabue. Over the next five nights, we learned the rhythms of his set as our apartment was just a few metres around the corner from this ancient open-air venue. As we walked home from dinner each night, we enjoyed seeing fans of all ages wearing concert tour shirts and headbands (!) while singing along. Sarah read that he is touring 30 years of hits in one hour. How cool that a 20,000-seat amphitheater completed in 30 A.D. (50 years BEFORE the Roman Colosseum) is still hosting large-scale concerts and events?
We open in Venice, we next play Verona, then on to Cremona,
Lots of laughs in Cremona, eh boys, our next jump in Parma, that dopy mopie menace,
And Mantua and Padua, and then we open again. Where?
Song by Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, and Sammy Davis Jr.
We joined a tour guide on Saturday morning to get the lay of the land. The weather was sunny and warm, after a week of rain, so locals and tourists thronged the squares, shops, and cafés. Our guide was a bit scripted and probably better suited to telling stories to young children, but we persevered and the walk around the major points of interest helped us find new alleys to explore on our own later. Weirdly, our guide was fixated on re-telling Shakespeare’s fictional tale “The Most Excellent and Lamentable Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet” as if it really happened. When we pointed out the incongruity of a twentieth century balcony built in the small courtyard of a former inn being linked to a fictional 12th century window overlooking orchards, we were gently shushed and promised that she would soon reveal the true story to us. We stopped protesting and focused on taking pictures of the range of architectural styles in Verona.
commemorate his 600th birthday
Categories: responsible tourism, retirement travel, Verona
Tags: gothic, medieval architecture
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Where in the world are the Gills? 