Cousins in Ferrara, Italy

So, to continue with our saga, last Friday, on the 4th of July, we scrambled around all morning getting last minute things done, with the help of Zuzka's chauffeur services, before catching a train to Bratislava around 11:00 a.m.  Then, of course we had another train to Vienna, and another to a different station in Vienna.  We were in plenty of time to have a light fast-food supper (falafel sandwiches - just like in Egypt - yum!) in the train station before getting on our overnight train to Ferrara.  The ride was long and not very comfortable in normal seats, but we had good conversations with some young people traveling in Europe, and we did catch a little sleep.  My cousin Mary Ellen met us at the station at 5:00 a.m., bless her heart!  She took us home to sleep in bed for a few hours!  

And where exactly is Ferrara, you may be wondering??   It's in the northern part of Italy, at the bottom left of this map, between Venice and Bologna.  It's a long way from Vienna and Bratislava at the top right of the map, and of course we live a lot farther east in Slovakia from there.  

After a refreshing morning nap, we headed out to explore a little, with maps of Ferrara in hand, to check out the city center on our own for a few hours.  

This is an old water tower, and there was an international food festival surrounding it, with tastes of many different countries for sale.  

Cathedral of St. George, on the main square - a beautiful example of a Romanesque cathedral.  

Bell tower on the main square - a Renaissance campanile.

The Ferrara City Hall in the distance at left, and the market stalls to the center-right

For lunch that first day in Ferrara, we were treated to an absolutely amazing meal over at Anna and Alessandro's house.  Anna had prepared an array of Italian antipasto, bruschetta, bread, fruits and veggies, and of course wine, after a first taste of pasta.  We have definitely become Italian food fans after eating our cousins' cooking, both in Puglia last summer and in Ferrara!!  

The shaped roll in the middle of the table is a particular specialty of Ferrara.

Alessandro, Anna, Mary Ellen, and Tim, enjoying our fabulous gourmet Italian meal!! 

Our camera had stopped functioning that morning, so we took these lunchtime pictures with the I-touch, but it doesn't work as well indoors, so it's a pity these family photos aren't very high quality.  Alessandro took us to buy a new camera after lunch, which was great!  

Mary Ellen took us over to the food festival for supper, and we decided to stick with all Italian cuisine.  It would be kind of stupid to eat Mexican or German food in Italy!!  These were stuffed, fried olives on a stick --- it reminded us of the Iowa State Fair!!  They were delicious. even though Mary Ellen looks like she doesn't even want to look at them - HA! 

We had a rolled meat dish for our meal, typically Italian.  Tim and Mary Ellen are in line at left, while I saved us a table. 

In the mornings, we had this view for breakfast, overlooking Mary Ellen's lovely back yard/

Mary Ellen and a group of her friends have a Sunday morning ritual - breakfast at a café under the archways at the end of this street.  

So we got to join in the group and have some hot tea and a delicious pastry in this amazing setting.  It was charming!!  

And this is the view across the street from the café - Piazza Ariostea.

Next, we stopped to pick up another American long-time resident of Ferrara, Mary Ellen's friend BB.  Her flat is in this section of town, behind a big cathedral, and some of the homes are former stables outside the monastery.  

We all went to an American Fourth of July celebration at a beautiful estate in the hills outside of Bologna, where a friend of Mary Ellen lives.  Tim even got to throw a baseball around for a while!  

Some people went swimming in the pool - nice!  Most everyone was an ex-pat living in Ferrara or Bologna, both Americans and British mostly.  

Our hostess was amazing - she has this annual celebration complete with all American foods.  Here she is slathering barbeque sauce on ribs --- YUM!!  

The first course was Texas-style chili, and it was delicious.    

Then came the ribs, along with potato salad and cole slaw.  

And the dessert table had brownies and a fruit tart.  There were a lot of "America" hits playing on the stereo too.  The only thing missing was fireworks, but we left before dark, so maybe they were later!!  It was really interesting meeting these expats living long-term in Italy, and so unexpected to celebrate Independence Day there!!  

Monday was our day to do some serious sight-seeing in Ferrara.  The cousins loaned us bikes to use, because Ferrara is a very bike-friendly city.  The bicycles in Ferrara reminded us of the scooters in Taiwan ---- they are everywhere!!  This path goes completely around the old part of the city, on top of the historic city walls.  

There are 9 km of walls built in a pentagon shape around Ferrara, from the 15th and 16th centuries, and they are the best preserved in Italy.  The bike path on top is awesome for viewing the walls, and we planned our self-guided tour by heading around the perimeter, then moving inside on spokes of the wheel to see sights in different sectors of the city.

Our first stop was the Jewish cemetery.  We had to ring a bell, and then we were let inside the gates to wander around the various  historic sections.  

And next, we went to the nearby Catholic cemetery.  We had been told that Italian cemeteries are much different than others, and we soon observed that to be true.  These arched passageways held vaults in the walls for family burial sites.  The grounds were huge, and it was a very beautiful setting.  

The wealthier families had bigger tomb-style vaults in this huge courtyard.

Next we headed back into the city center, where the pictures from Saturday's walking tour were taken. This is the Castlello Estense, built in the 1300's, and restored in the 1500's, which is the centerpiece of the city.  The Este family was a powerful and wealthy family, and Ferrara grew greatly in importance during the late 15th/early 16th centuries.  

The castle moat was used mostly to keep out crowds of townspeople who were angry about something.  

Italian castles look a lot different than Slovak ones, but they are equally impressive, with tall walls, huge bastions, and drawbridges over moats!  Ferrara was quite a cultural center for art and music during the Este reign, as they were strong patrons of the arts, almost as much so as the Medici family.

Heading across the drawbridge over the moat.  It turned out that Ferrara's museums are closed on Mondays, so we saw mostly churches, the outside of many palaces, the historic city walls, and the lovely Renaissance architecture throughout the city.  

We were excited to see open doors at this museum, The Museum of Casa Romei, which is a palace of a family who married into the Este family.  It is typical of many palaces in Ferrara, so we were really pleased to get inside! 

The construction was typical, with thick surrounding walls, a central open courtyard surrounded by column-lined covered spaces decorated with frescoes.  It was remarkably cool in the shade, even as the sun heated things up out on the streets.  There are many 13th century frescoes all over the walls.  

A view of the courtyard and the well at the center.  The museum displays continued on the upper story as well.

We continued our ride on the bike trail below the walls this time, to get a better view of the structure.  It was cooler up on the top trail, under the canopy of trees, but it was interesting to see the immense walls surrounding the city from this vantage point too.

Eventually we went back up to ride on the tree-lined pathway on top of the walls.  What a wonderful place for exercise!  We saw many walkers, bikers, and runners during the morning, but later in the afternoon heat, we had the paths almost to ourselves.

This is Porta Pavla - or  Paul's Gate.  There was an open-air market set up all around it in the morning.  

One of the remaining ancient gates into the city.  

St. George Church (the facade sculpture shows him slaying the dragon.)  

The interior of St. George's was gorgeous - wow!  It looks like the pews were decorated for a wedding. 

Another typical Renaissance courtyard scene.  

Another view of St, George and its bell tower.  

In the evening, we had a delicious Italian pizza supper over at Anna and Alessandro's house.  Carlo was back from spending 6 months as an exchange student at a high school in a small town in Texas.  He had some great stories about life there!  

So, that's installment #1 of our adventures in Italy.  We had an absolutely wonderful time connecting with the cousins in Italy!!  Next up ---- our 'day trips' to three more awesome Italian cities.