Ferrara is a city in Italy’s Emilia-Romagna region. It was the first modern city and one of the European capitals of culture, arts, politics, and gastronomy, in addition to being a reference point for artists, poets, and minstrels. It is said to have the oldest wine bar in the world with documentation proving it dates back to 1435. And we missed it!
On our walk about town, we found some beautiful buildings. Check out the staircase behind hubby in the first photo below. Then we found a chocolate shop between two arches only as wide as the door. And of course, even Italy has Dollar stores, or in this case a 1 euro store. LOL
We headed for the church on the main piazza but the entrance was blocked off for renovation so we couldn’t go in. Antimo did find a small church down one of the streets where we marveled at the beauty of the walls, ceilings, and pipe organ. Okay, enough churches for today!
Bicycles are a very popular mode of transportation here. There are a few main streets that are pedestrian only and bikes rule those lanes. It didn’t matter what age you are, young and old alike were whipping around the streets in bikes (some at break-neck speeds).
We walked around taking it all in and viola – there was the most beautiful linen shop. In fact, it was so small that the owner limited the number of people who could enter. Jani found a beautiful tablecloth and I purchased a couple of table toppers. I didn’t get a photo of the shop because hubby whisked me away before I could buy more.
Shopping always works up an appetite so we had to stop for lunch. Jim and Jani ordered pumpkin gnocchi. Dick had Francobolli ravioli (Francobollo is Italian for postage stamp) so the ravioli was shaped like their stamps – oblong instead of square or round. It was stuffed with potato, chives, and cheese. I ordered the Sun Flower ravioli stuffed with broccoli and Italian sausage. Raves all around for our lunch choices.
Early evening we strolled around Bologna for our passeggiata (walk) looking for a street artist we had seen a few days ago. We didn’t find her so stopped for a glass of wine in a bar close to our hotel to wait for Antimo and others who had gone to Venice for the day. The music in Piazza Miaggori started while we sat and sipped wine. First, it was a woman singing songs like Hallelujah, then a trumpeter, and finally, the most beautiful piano music blasted into the piazza. We couldn’t believe a man had pulled a piano on his bicycle into the square and started playing. He was fantastic!
