Christmas in Italy --2017

dicembre 2017 - gennaio 2018

Un’avventura di 20 giorni di Laurie Leggi altro

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Laurie Reynolds Christmas in Italy --2017
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- 17 dic 2017, 16:19
- ☀️ 2 °C
- Altitudine: 17 m
- Stati Uniti New York Nassau County Meadowmere Park John F. Kennedy International Airport 40.648125, -73.79169540°38’53” N 73°47’30” W
Giorno 1
At the airport
17 dicembre 2017, Stati Uniti ⋅ ☀️ 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.Leggi altro
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3 mi piace
Laurie Reynolds Christmas in Italy --2017
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- 18 dic 2017, 21:21
- 🌙 0 °C
- Altitudine: 139 m
- Italia Lombardia Milano Centro Direzionale Torrente Seveso 45.48279, 9.20321845°28’58” N 9°12’12” E
Giorno 2
Cold, sunny, and Christmas-y
18 dicembre 2017, Italia ⋅ 🌙 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!Leggi altro
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3 mi piace
Laurie Reynolds Christmas in Italy --2017
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- 19 dic 2017, 22:31
- 🌙 0 °C
- Altitudine: 139 m
- Italia Lombardia Milano Centro Direzionale Torrente Seveso 45.482738, 9.20331545°28’58” N 9°12’12” E
Giorno 3
Museums and Palaces
19 dicembre 2017, Italia ⋅ 🌙 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.Leggi altro
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Dana Davies I loved Milan too! Your pictures are wonderful. The one of Joe outside the green grocery reminded me when I was there and a Milanese friend of my father’s passed by a window at a food shop and declared that the items were displayed like “jewels.”
19/12/17Risposta
Viaggiatore So beautiful, even the fresh produce! You’ve already convinced me that this is a fine time of year to travel there!
19/12/17Risposta
4 mi piace
Laurie Reynolds Christmas in Italy --2017
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- 20 dic 2017, 20:06
- 🌙 0 °C
- Altitudine: 139 m
- Italia Lombardia Milano Centro Direzionale Torrente Seveso 45.482723, 9.2034445°28’58” N 9°12’12” E
Giorno 4
Mostly churches and one more art museum
20 dicembre 2017, Italia ⋅ 🌙 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.Leggi altro
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Laurie Reynolds Christmas in Italy --2017
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- 20 dic 2017, 23:28
- 🌙 -1 °C
- Altitudine: 139 m
- Italia Lombardia Milano Centro Direzionale Torrente Seveso 45.482686, 9.20336145°28’58” N 9°12’12” E
Giorno 4
Great dinner
20 dicembre 2017, Italia ⋅ 🌙 -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!Leggi altro
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2 mi piace
Laurie Reynolds Christmas in Italy --2017
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- 21 dic 2017, 19:00
- 🌙 0 °C
- Altitudine: 73 m
- Italia Emilia-Romagna Bologna Palazzo della Mercanzia 44.493839, 11.34739144°29’38” N 11°20’51” E
Giorno 5
Arrived in Bologna
21 dicembre 2017, Italia ⋅ 🌙 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.Leggi altro
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4 mi piace
Laurie Reynolds Christmas in Italy --2017
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- 22 dic 2017, 17:14
- 🌙 4 °C
- Altitudine: 15 m
- Italia Emilia-Romagna Solarolo 44.355998, 11.84869544°21’22” N 11°50’55” E
Giorno 6
Mosaics everywhere in Ravenna
22 dicembre 2017, Italia ⋅ 🌙 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.Leggi altro
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Viaggiatore Hi Laurie, it’s ages since I logged into Find Penguins, but I’m delighted I did so today! Your photos are fantastic - what an interesting trip you’re having. Wishing you and your family a very happy Christmas. Xx
23/12/17Risposta
3 mi piace
Laurie Reynolds Christmas in Italy --2017
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- 23 dic 2017, 22:25
- 🌙 3 °C
- Altitudine: 73 m
- Italia Emilia-Romagna Bologna Palazzo della Mercanzia 44.493804, 11.34738144°29’38” N 11°20’51” E
Giorno 7
Day in Bologna
23 dicembre 2017, Italia ⋅ 🌙 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!Leggi altro
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Laurie Reynolds Christmas in Italy --2017
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- 24 dic 2017, 18:44
- 🌙 5 °C
- Altitudine: 73 m
- Italia Emilia-Romagna Bologna Palazzo della Mercanzia 44.493843, 11.3473844°29’38” N 11°20’51” E
Giorno 8
Day trip to Ferrara
24 dicembre 2017, Italia ⋅ 🌙 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!!!Leggi altro
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Martha Diehl Merry Christmas to you and Joe!
24/12/17Risposta
2 mi piace
Laurie Reynolds Christmas in Italy --2017
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- 25 dic 2017, 20:01
- ⛅ 7 °C
- Altitudine: 73 m
- Italia Emilia-Romagna Bologna Palazzo della Mercanzia 44.493809, 11.34741544°29’38” N 11°20’51” E
Giorno 9
Christmas Day in Bologna
25 dicembre 2017, Italia ⋅ ⛅ 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!Leggi altro
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2 mi piace