Sunday, April 26, 2009

Travels in France

Beaune, France in the Burgundy region is a delightful small city. Famous for being Burgundy's center of wine, it also has an interesting medieval hospital, Hotel-Dieu, that is now a social-history museum of medical practices, art, and life throughout the ages in Beaune. The weather was cooler than in Italy, but pleasant and sunny.

An exhausting day in getting to Beaune: on Thursday, we left Verona at 5:30 am to Milan where we caught a train to Chambery, France. We changed there to go to Lyon and finally, our last change -- to Beaune, arriving at 5 pm. We're getting to be experts at moving copious pieces of luggage from train to platform and platform to train. Most of the French stations have lifts, escalators, or ramps -- thank goodness. Once again, many people helped us, as we in turn helped others. Comfortable seats too on the SCNF system, something Trenitalia could offer!!!

Yesterday, we arrived in Caen, capital of Normandy. Enjoyed a wonderful dinner of mussels last night -- love being near the coast and seafood!! Today, we're off to encounter with a bit of history about WWII and a bit further back to William the Conqueror who was born here.

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

It's not that we don't want to come home; we just don't want to leave.

Difficult as it is to believe, the time has come to leave Paderno. The students have gone as have most of the faculty. We have said goodby to the CIMBA staff with promises to return.

Deena arrived on Thursday, and despite some rainy weather, we have taken her to Bassano, Venice, Crespano market, and today -- Asolo and perhaps Mt. Grappa. The highlight for her was the trip to San Lorenzo, about 2 hours from here; her parents were born there. More on that adventure later!

Tomorrow, we head to Verona and show Deena that beautiful city's highlights. She will then take an overnight train to London to visit her friend Jen for 5 days while the girls and I will explore Beaune in Burgundy, France and Caen in Normandy, France. Next Monday, we'll ferry to Portsmouth and meet Deena in Winchester. Then, all too soon, back to the States.

Much to update on the blog, but it might have to wait for awhile.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Bologna – and that’s no baloney.

6-8 March
Okay, a very bad pun inspired in part by a travel writer’s comment that the mortadella here in Bologna is as distanced from American bologna as a Porterhouse steak is from a hot dog. In fact, this city is renowned for its cuisine, which from my experience, well-deserves the recognition.

The first extended travel weekend of spring semester! Students were once-again bound for various destinations: Paris, Amsterdam, London, Rome, Interlaken, the Cinque Terre, and others. Abbey headed south with friends to once again visit Roma, while Emma and I stayed closer to home: Bologna. Located in the Emilia-Romagna region between the Veneto and Tuscany, Bologna is home to the oldest European university, established in 1088. If the cuisine is a feast for the taste buds, the architecture is a feast for the eyes. Offering its pedestrian residents and tourists arched porticos with marble or stone sidewalks to explore the many shops and sights, the city features a variety of architectural styles and materials: from Romanesque to Gothic, from crenellated walls of dark brick to grey stone blocks.

We had an early start on Friday morning to get Abbey and Eric to their 6:13 train to Rome, where they would meet up Tori and Daniella and other friends. Emma and I left them at Padua, as we caught another train to Bologna. Arriving a little after 9, we found the hotel and asked if we could leave our luggage while we began exploring the city. However, our room was ready, and we had the luxury of unwinding a bit from the 4:30 am start to the day.

First on Emma’s list: food. I am not sure where this wisp of a child puts it, but I’m happy that she is so eager to try the various dishes and not be the typically picky “mac and cheese” kid! We walked down Via dell’Indipendenza, the main street leading to Piazza Maggiore, and then headed toward the University area. Emma ducked down each little alleyway, or viccola, checking out a ristorante here or trattoria there. Success – a small restaurant with Italian-only menu catering to locals, many of whom were enjoying a long end-of-the-week lunch. Tough decision: too many excellent selections. I settled on penne arrabiata (a red sauce flavored with hot peppers); Emma picked a creamy tortellini dish. Magnifico! This arrabiata (translated as “angry”) sauce was slightly different than what I have had elsewhere. In Florence and Rome, it was much hotter or spicier; here, more of the tomato flavor came through. Always interesting to compare the dishes from one region to another.

After lunch, we headed to Palazzo Poggi, part of the University museums. Once a palace and residence of one (or more?) church officials, it now houses an odd assortment of science-related exhibits. A collection of plant drawings and wood carvings, tortoise shells, fossils, and more comprised the work of an early naturalist (whose name escapes me) who would influence Linneas and Darwin in their studies. He wanted to catalogue all living things; while perhaps impossible to do, he certainly made a valiant attempt judging from this collection! Other sights include an anatomical area, perhaps a nod to the University’s having the top medical school in Italy. Here were wax models of the human body to teach students about anatomy and others that feature various birthing positions and complications for midwives to study (some with rather gruesome depictions that promptly led Emma to inquiring about her own birth – sigh!). A collection of medical instruments nearby looked more like weapons to me! Yet another section had various demonstrations of reflective/refracted light with mirrors and prisms, something that to this day still confuses me, which is probably why I studied literature and not science!

The highlight was an impromptu tour of the astronomy tower. As Emma and I were looking at a model depicting 17th century theories of volcanoes and the earth’s core, a woman asked us if we wanted to see the tower. Her rapid Italian lost me, but she spoke French as well and got the message through. (I have quickly learned that a second or third language can become the common mode of communication!) Heading up the turret steps, we saw the Meridian Room with its older instruments to study the planets and stars; the Globe Room with its 17th century terrestrial and celestial globes as well as some 17th century maps from a Chinese laboratory; and the Turret Room, where the telescopes were placed for scientists to observe and record their findings. Though only a little over 200 steps, this tower is significantly shorter than the Asinelli Torre, the taller of Bologna’s two leaning towers. Nevertheless, the rooftop presented a wonderful view of the city and the countryside beyond. As we descended, the University student guide explained that in 1790 and in this spiral stairwell, the Bolognese astronomer Guglielmini provided the first evidence of earth’s rotation. While the Renaissance produced incredible visual art and literature, the Palazzo Poggi reminds us of the period’s contribution to science as well.

Emma picked the restaurant for dinner, naturally. Wonderful pasta dishes. I ended with coffe while Emma splurged on some dessert. Where does this child put it?

The rain that had dampened spirits as well as shoes all week had been giving way to merely cloudy weather with a few peeks of the sun on Friday. By Saturday, the sun and warm temperatures asserted themselves fully, and we had a lovely day for exploring more of Bologna. First stop was Piazza Maggiore, the center of town. Its 16th century fountain statue of Neptune, Fontana di Nettuno, draws tourists and is a convenient meeting place. The Piazza was alive with people enjoying the day. Music and puppet shows were popular with the children (and adults!), and many people sat around reading or talking, taking in the spring temperatures.

The Basilica di San Petronius is on the Piazza. Its facade is an interesting architectural mix. In the early 1500's, funding for it was diverted elsewhere, leaving the odd combination of marble on the bottom and brick on the top. Evidently, this political diversion was one of the many reasons that Martin Luther reacted with his 95 theses.

Enjoying the day, Emma and I explored the streets before we had lunch at Ristorante Montegrappa (so good that we booked reservations for dinner there). After a brief rest, we went back for dinner and met a German couple who spoke English to the waiter since he did not know German nor they Italian. English is widely spoken and for many Europeans, it’s their second language. My Italian is still not good, yet. I really need to practice.

We had thought to stay another day and take a quick trip to Rapallo, but Emma wanted to get back. This trip was the first that I had used the automated ticket machines – they work wonderfully well! Available in all the major Western languages, they enable travelers to bypass busy ticket windows and to purchase during off hours.

Late that night, Abbey got in from Rome, having had a wonderful time. We exchanged stories, yawned, and finally went to bed. I was glad I didn’t have class the next day!

Bolzano in Spring

10-12 April

Since we had packed up almost everything in the apartment, the walls were bare and depressing, and the book shelves were empty. Students were off on the last travel break, a 4-day weekend, and the campus was deserted. Abbey, Emma, and I decided that we too needed to get away. While excited to see family, friends, and pets again, we find ourselves having a very difficult time preparing to say good-bye to Italy. We contemplated a number of inexpensive options – a road trip seemed good, and we settled on returning to Bolzano to enjoy it in spring. Abbey had not been here yet as she was in Switzerland when we came the end of November for the Christkindlmarkt. Emma was psyched since many of the hotels have spa facilities; Bolzano is near Gries, a famous spa town. We booked a two-night stay at Hotel Eberle which offered free whirlpool, Turkish steam bath, and sauna to its guests. The extras such as massages were tempting, but the budget didn’t allow for that. We picked a good time: rates were lower than usual as we were in-between the winter season (skiing) and summer season (hiking).

I printed out the driving directions, highlighting the key turns to get us to Hotel Eberle, which sits above the city, a quarter of the way up one of the mountains. The drive up was beautiful. We made it to Trento in about an hour and a half, navigated a rather tricky entrance onto the Italian autostrade, the A22, and 30 minutes later, we were entering Bolzano. All in all, we did well, with Abbey navigating very proficiently – only one wrong turn because of unmarked streets. Well, okay, two wrong turns if we count the adventure on the switchback road headed up toward one of the Dolomite peaks. The road from downtown Bolzano to the hotel made Asolo’s narrow streets seem like a major highway. Not only were they narrow (we carefully watched the mirrors and door handles in places), but they were also steep. At a couple of points, I began wondering about the angle and how close it was to 90 degrees. At what point will a car tip backward? Several sharp turns and extremely steep inclines later, we arrived. As I parked the car, I told Abbey and Emma that it was going to sit there until we had to leave. I don’t recall any arguments from them.

After checking in to a lovely room with a south-facing balcony over the city and beds with those incredible down comforters, we had some lunch. Grilled vegetables with melted cheese for me; risotto with fresh white and green asparagus for Abbey; and spaghetti with clam sauce for Emma. The house red wine, St. Magdalena, is lovely. Hotel Eberle has its own vineyards and herb gardens and sells the products to hotel guests and locals.

After lunch, we went on a 3-hour hike, and the path began at the hotel. We hiked up and down, then mostly down to Castel Roncolo, or Schloss Runkelstein in German. Bolzano is in the Alto-Adige or Sud-Tirol region of Italy. After WWI, it officially became a part of Italy; however, the Austrian-German culture remained strong. People speak both Italian and German here; the signage is bi-lingual as are schools. Bolzano is an old town, and, before the region was an official part of any country, it was dual-natured. In the Medieval period, it was a trading town, a mid-way point for what are now Italians and German-Austrians to meet fo exchange goods. While many people embrace the duality, some do not. I’ve noticed that those of German heritage tend to look down on those of Italian heritage. Also, the Italians were much friendlier and warmer than the Germans, who were always polite to us but rather distant.

Back to the Runklestein Castle (as it is known in English): We paid our fee, and as typical, the Italian-speaking staff let Emma go in free. (Italians love children and despite age classifications for tickets, they usually let any child younger than a mid-teen in free.) According to the brochure, it was built in 1237 and was home to rich Bolzano merchants. They were not royalty or noble; however, the Castle is famous for its incredible frescoes which are over 600 years old. They tell romance stories of Tristan and Isolde and of Arthur and Guinivere. While some have been damaged from weather, most are in incredible condition.

After the brief visit, we had some refreshments and set out to climb up and then climb down along the hiking path. I realized then how out of shape I had become over the winter. The trail was beautiful, though. We encountered frisky Italian Wall lizards; a rather impressive bee hive (whose owner was checking on it as we came back); spring flowers – including lilacs, wisteria, tulips, and iris; and vistas of nature that refreshed my soul in so many ways.

Back at the hotel, we donned our swim suits. “Never travel without one,” says Bill Buckley. Abbey reminded us of that before we left! We did the whirlpool, sunned a bit on the terrace, hit the Turkish steam room, whirlpooled some more. Ahhhhh. Herbal teas and sparkling/nature water were available. Luxury. As we enjoyed the hydro-therapy of the whirlpool, we took in the view of vineyards and farms on the smaller mountains and the snow-capped Dolomites above. Incredible.

We headed for dinner at 8 or 8:30 and decided to eat inside as the breezes had become chilly. Emma, the bottom-less pit, had entrecote (steak); Abbey had a tomato-mozzarella calzone; and I had a house specialty of white asparagus with some herbed potatoes and “Bolzano sauce” on the side. Bolzano sauce has chopped hard-boiled egg in a light mayonnaise sauce, but is not as rich or thick as an egg salad mixture that Americans are familiar with. We slept well!

Saturday, we enjoyed a wonderful breakfast and walked the ½ mile down into town; only problem was remembering that we had to walk UP to get back to the hotel. Piazza Walther was bustling with people. The warm, sunny day brought everyone out. Wisteria, lilacs, tulips – everything is in bloom. We spend most of the day strolling around town, visiting some stores of course, and looking inside the Duomo that was closed when Tim, Emma, and I were last here. A highlight on the piazza was an exhibition of photographs on billboard-displays that were about 3 x 6 feet in dimension. We had a blast taking pictures of us by them, pretending we were in the scenes.

The hike back reaffirmed my out-of-condition state, but I consoled my muscles with a long soak in the whirlpool and the Turkish steam room. We all enjoyed unwinding in the warm sun. Another wonderful dinner and fairly early bedtime – LOVE those down comforters!!!

Easter Sunday was warm and sunny, and after breakfast, I enjoyed hearing the church bells from many mountain churches as well as those in the valley. Perhaps they were timed with one another; perhaps, it was just coincidence. But the chimes and tolling seemed in harmony with one another, one answering the other.

We could have stayed another day, but work at home required that we leave. PDG had the same warm weather; we opened windows and let in the fresh air. It was good to be home again.