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Christmas in Italy --2017

December 2017 - January 2018
A 20-day adventure by Laurie Read more
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  • Laurie ReynoldsChristmas in Italy --2017
    Day 1

    At the airport

    December 17, 2017 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 2 °C

    Two flights down and one to go. We have a three hour layover in JFK and have taken advantage of the new Admirals Club. It's nice, but in my snotty opinion, the Iberia lounge in Madrid is still far superior. Not complaining, mind you. Where else can you get roasted brussel sprouts on the food line? Heading for Milan, where we will spend three nights. I will try to check in regularly. Merry Christmas 🎄 and happy holidays to all.Read more

  • Laurie ReynoldsChristmas in Italy --2017
    Day 2

    Cold, sunny, and Christmas-y

    December 18, 2017 in Italy ⋅ 🌙 0 °C

    I guess American Airlines figures that when they are taking you to Italy, they can serve you the worst food imaginable and it won't dampen your spirits. I've had a lot of bad meals on a plane, but last night's gets the prize. Oh well, the flight was fine and we had a great view of snow-capped mountains (Dolomites, I think?) and arrived right on time.

    Our hotel is very close to the main train station and we were there by 10. No rooms ready so we checked our bags and headed out for the cathedral. Wow. We spent most of the day in the area, which is very festive and got us in the holiday spirit. Cappucinos and pastries in late afternoon didn't hurt either.

    Joe took a short afternoon nap while I powered through-- which is why I'm wilting fast. Mama Rosa was the osteria recommended to us and we chowed down on fabulous bruschetta, grilled vegetables, carbonara and see bass.

    It's only our first day, but so far I really like Milan. The people who say it's ugly must be the same people who say Madrid is ugly. Not in my book! Can't wait to sleep, which is what I'm going to do right now!    Read more

  • Laurie ReynoldsChristmas in Italy --2017
    Day 3

    Museums and Palaces

    December 19, 2017 in Italy ⋅ 🌙 0 °C

    Today was quite a wonderful day. Weather was cold but sunny and we did a lot of walking. One gorgeous art museum, one 15th century castle and a lot of detours down pretty residential streets made for a full day. Highlights of the museums --!a 12th century holy water bucket, some Romanesque capitals, a Picasso painting and the pieta Michelangelo was carving when he died.

    On the way back to the hotel around 5 pm, we passed a fitness center about 3 minutes from the hotel. Since Joe was going to rest anyway, I decided to go work out on the elliptical. 15€ is quite a steep charge, but it's worth it. I am addicted, let's face it. But it was a much better workout than yesterday, when I walked up and down four flights of stairs in the hotel for an hour.

    We had dinner tonight in a lovely Osteria called Fara. Close to the hotel. Great ambiente and top notch pizza in a wood oven. One more day in Milan. Love to you all.    Read more

  • Laurie ReynoldsChristmas in Italy --2017
    Day 4

    Mostly churches and one more art museum

    December 20, 2017 in Italy ⋅ 🌙 0 °C

    Another chilly, ok cold, day. But sunny all day till the sun set. I won’t bore you with the details of the 4th century San Lorenzo and the Romanesque Sant Ambrogio churches, but one had 16 roman columns at the entrance and the other some beautiful mosaics, columns, and capitals. A ten minute ride on the excellent and cheap Milan metro took us to the Modern Art museum, located in a gorgeous old mansion/palace with lovely park grounds. By modern they don’t mean anything beyond Picssso, so nothing too intellectually challenging, and the rooms and collections were really nice. Turns out there is a very trendy and good restaurant next store (Lubar) and we had a great lunch.

    Then back on the metro for our fifteen minutes’ viewing of The Last Supper. With 28 other people who reserved their viewing spot months and months ahead of time. Very nice way to end the touring day, even though it felt like you were going through decompression chambers as you inched closer to the prize.    Read more

  • Laurie ReynoldsChristmas in Italy --2017
    Day 4

    Great dinner

    December 20, 2017 in Italy ⋅ 🌙 -1 °C

    Just to say that Il Tavolino was our favorite restaurant in Milan. Although it seemed that all the English speaking customers got put off in the same room (coincidence maybe?) we had a delicious dinner. Sitting next to three US businessmen who drank four bottles of what must have been a very expensive wine since the waiter had to climb a ladder to the highest level to retrieve each bottle. We were very happy with our much more modest choice of red. Off to Bologna tomorrow!Read more

  • Laurie ReynoldsChristmas in Italy --2017
    Day 5

    Arrived in Bologna

    December 21, 2017 in Italy ⋅ 🌙 0 °C

    Took a fast train to Bologna and we were checked into out apartment by 2. We spent the afternoon getting our bearings and doing some grocery shopping — not that we plan to cook much! What a beautiful city. We are right in the center of the old town and every direction you walk you see something beautiful. Heading out for an early dinner because we are taking an early-ish train to Ravenna for the day.Read more

  • Laurie ReynoldsChristmas in Italy --2017
    Day 6

    Mosaics everywhere in Ravenna

    December 22, 2017 in Italy ⋅ 🌙 4 °C

    About an hour by train from Bologna, Ravenna has more churches in its historic core than I think I have ever seen. We concentrated on the early Christian ones (4th- 6th centuries) though there were lots of medieval and neoclassical as well. I don’t think I saw any gothic, though. The mosaics are the prime attraction — hard to believe they’re from the 4th and 5th century Some beautiful scenes with maidens and martyrs going to pay homage, lots of bible stories, and some emperors and empresses thrown in for good measure.

    We had a good lunch in a recommended place, sharing a risotto and a pizza but leaving more than half of it untouched. I just can’t get used to eating a big meal at noon. One of my favorites of the day was the moving nativity scene in the cathedral. Women drawing water, weaving, spinning; men shoeing horses, at a forge— obviously made with a lot of love.

    We didn’t feel like a big meal, so we went to the market area and had a meat and cheese plate. Very very good.

    Tomorrow we will explore Bologna. Museums and churches, our daily ritual.    Read more

  • Laurie ReynoldsChristmas in Italy --2017
    Day 7

    Day in Bologna

    December 23, 2017 in Italy ⋅ 🌙 3 °C

    Today was another beautiful day in Bologna. We climbed the 498 stairs to the top of the tallest of the Two Towers, with gorgeous views below. We then went to the Medieval Museum that had some amazing stuff for people who like medieval things like me (and Joe tolerates it). Then to a special exhibit of Mexican muralists -- Diego Rivera, Siqueiros, and Orozco, apparently the trinity of Mexican muralists. Great exhibit -- it had been scheduled to arrive in Santiago Chile the very day Salvador Allende was deposed, so it never was shown. Now it is making a comeback.

    After a grilled panini, boy are they wonderful here, we spent a few hours wandering around, looking at Renaissance buildings, and marveling at the beautiful historical center. On weekends, no cars are allowed in many places, so it was really wonderful. Dinner at Cesarina, in San Steffano square, near an amazing complex of churches starting in 350 AD. The food was absolutely great, this is definitely a place to recommend. The waiter recommended a San Genovese wine, and we were happy. After a post-prandial saunter around the old town, ending in the Piazza Maggiore, we were filled to the brim with good feelings. Tomorrow a day trip to Ferrara, which is a fully walled town (I'll have to compare it to Avila) will a highly touted historical center. Hoping for good weather and good food, which seems to be the norm so far!    Read more

  • Laurie ReynoldsChristmas in Italy --2017
    Day 8

    Day trip to Ferrara

    December 24, 2017 in Italy ⋅ 🌙 5 °C

    Another nice sunny day with temps getting above freezing, hooray! We took a morning train to Ferrara, where the main attractions are the 14th century castle, a medieval quarter-Jewish ghetto, and a Romanesque cathedral. Lots of walking, a cappuccino or two, into dungeons, through narrow streets and big plazas, but BAM-- turning one corner to see the facade of the cathedral covered for repair. Talk about bummers. I am no stranger to cathedral facades being covered, as the one in Santiago has been covered for years. But unfortunately I won't be back in Ferrara anytime soon, unlike Santiago. Oh well, we had a great lunch to make up for it, in the Osteria del Ghetto.

    After lunch, walking up to the Renaissance quarter, we passed the Resistance Museum and went in. The woman asked where we were from and when I told her the US, I added that we needed some training in resistance right now. Lots of interesting stuff from early fights for Ferrara independence up through WWII. Some very graphic and sad.

    Now back in Bologna, the city is busy and animated, not at all like I remember Lisbon on Christmas Eve. I'm sure we will have no trouble finding a good meal, once Joe gets up from resting his sore feet.

    Merry Christmas one and all!!!    Read more

  • Laurie ReynoldsChristmas in Italy --2017
    Day 9

    Christmas Day in Bologna

    December 25, 2017 in Italy ⋅ ⛅ 7 °C

    Our day can be summed up in three words -- walking, eating, and churches. We had a reservation in a fancy place (the menu had been vetted by our foodie friends Tina and John and they told us to go for it) for 1:30. That gave us a few hours in the morning to work up an appetite and a few hours after lunch to walk off some of our massive caloric intake. The morning walk included the Jewish Ghetto and several churches, my favorite being Sao Giacomo. Then a 3 1/2 hour pause for a very excellent lunch (probably my longest meal ever). And then more walking for more churches, where we saw a beautiful automated nativity scene in San Francesco and the church of San Dominic (where he is buried and his resting place is adorned with three Michaelangelo statues!). Walking from church to church is also a fun way to see the city. They are spread all over, in all kinds of residential districts, frequently in beautiful piazzas. Most streets in the old part of Bologna are arcaded, so even if the weather hadn't been marvelous, we wouldn't have needed any umbrellas. Rain is in the forecast at last, so we may test those arcades out!

    Christmas Day is a great day to visit churches in Bologna, as you might imagine. All seemed to be open well beyond their stated opening times. We often heard bells ringing, Christmas carols being sung, lots of candles lighted inside. Lots and lots of people out walking in the squares, but now that it's about 8 pm we are ready to call it quits on what has been an outstanding Christmas Day. Hope yours was very merry as well!    Read more

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