A Journey of a Thousand Miles Begins With ... Too Much Luggage

The stately Castello Estense, and the very powerful d'Este family that ruled Ferrara for centuries from this castle, continue to loom large over the historic city. They also loomed very large over my stay in Ferrara, for just 3 extremely hot, humid days and nights in mid-June.

The castello really is quite remarkable to visit, and the story of the Este family truly dominates the history of the city and the region. I chose a hotel, and rooms, that looked directly over the great, square castle and so it haunted me day and night during my visit.

Ferrara, in Italy's Emilia-Romagna region, is only about 50 kilometers northeast of Bologna and so was a logical stop after my week in Bologna. Ferrara is quite striking, with medieval streets and a number of interesting Renaissance palazzos. For all of this, it has been designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

My time there was so short, but the history of the Este dynasty and their medieval Castello Estense itself really captured my imagination.

As you might expect, the history of the castle is founded in violence. (Why else did rich families need moats and drawbridges?)

A revolt in 1385 by the Ferrarese people, driven to desperation by taxes and ruinous flooding, convinced Marquis Niccolò II d'Este that his family needed a more secure home than the family’s palazzo (which is now the Palazzo Comunale.) Because the castello became a home as much as a defensive structure, apartments for different branches of the family were built and over the centuries, the structure became more of a grand, royal court with a greater emphasis on beauty and luxury.

Last week, I posted about my stay in the Italian city of Ferrara in June, particularly focusing on the Castello Estense, the seat of the very powerful Este family which ruled Ferrara and surrounding region for centuries.

But there were many other beautiful sites to visit in Ferrara, which is in central Italy's Emilia-Romagna region, and only about 50 kilometers northeast of Bologna.

I thought the facade of the Ferrara's Cattedrale, only a stones-throw from the castle, was stunning. (See above photos) Construction began in 1135, when the Romanesque lower part of the main façade and the side façades were completed. The St. George and the scenes from the New Testament above the central door are the work of the sculptor Nicholaus and also date from the original construction. The upper part was built some decades later in a Gothic style

This is a shrine on a medieval side street very near the cattedrale and near what is reportedly the oldest wine bar in the world, the Osteria Al Brindisi.

Of course, Ferrara is filled with souvenirs/reminders of the powerful Este family. One I enjoyed was the Palazzo Schifanoia, a Renaissance palace built for the Este family. The name "Schifanoia" is thought to originate from "schivar la noia" meaning to "escape from boredom" according to Wikipedia. This essentially describes the original intention of the palazzo and the other villas in the same area, where the Este court went to relax. This area is about a 15-minute walk from Ferrara's historic centre and in the days when these villas were built, were likely out in the countryside.

The highlight of the Schifanoia is the allegorical frescoes with details in tempera by or after Francesco del Cossa and Cosmè Tura, and executed around1469. Photos aren't allowed, of course, so this I have taken from Wikipedia. It is from the Salone dei Mesi (The Salon of the Months) Tura's pagan cycle matching each month to a mythical figure.

Behind the palazzo is an interesting restaurant that looks more like a farmyard, with decent food and wine served at tables scattered around the yard.

The Bloomberg news wire service moved a delightful story yesterday, demonstrating just how fabulous -- and valuable -- Parmigiano Reggiano cheese really is! A regional bank is accepting tons of this cheese as collateral for loans to producers, apparently a longstanding practice in the area.

According to Bloomberg, the regional bank Credito Emiliano SpA in the Emilia Romagna region of Italy, is holding 17,000 tons of this fabulous cheese, also known as "the pungent gold prized by gourmands around the world."

Says Bloomberg, "The regional bank is accepting authentic parmesan as collateral for loans, helping it to keep financing cheesemakers in northern Italy amid the worst recession since World War II. Emilia Romagna-based Credito Emiliano’s two climate-controlled warehouses hold about 440,000 wheels worth 132 million euros ($187 million US)."

The story continues: “This mechanism is our life blood,” said Giuseppe Montanari, 65, a cheese producer and dealer who uses the loans to buy milk. “It’s a great way to finance our expenses at convenient rates, and the bank doesn’t risk much because they can always sell the cheese.”

Says Bloomberg: "So precious is the cheese that each 80-pound wheel, worth about 300 euros, is branded with a serial number so it can be traced if it is stolen. Thieves tunneled into one warehouse in February and made off with 570 pieces before they were apprehended by police. “Thank heavens we caught the robbers before they grated it,” said William Bizzarri, 58, who manages the cheese vaults."

"Nestled in the valleys of Italy’s Emilia Romagna region, southeast of Milan, Credito Emiliano has been using parmesan as collateral since 1953, entrusting management of the cheese to a unit called Magazzini Generali delle Tagliate,'' continues the wire story.

"The bank offers loans for as long as 24 months, equal to the time it takes the parmesan to age, at the euro interbank offered rate, plus 0.75 percent to 2 percent, Bizzarri said. The bank gives producers as much as 80 percent of the value of the product, based on current market prices," says the story.

According to Bloomberg, the bank considered taking prosciutto ham, another of the region’s specialties, and olive oil as collateral but such products are harder to store and brand, Bizzarri said. “It’s easier to steal or replace them,” he said.

Emilia Romagna is the only area in the world legally allowed to use the “parmigiano-reggiano” name for the hard, dry skim milk cheese that was first made in the region around 1200. Sales of parmesan equaled 1.54 billion euros in 2008, 25 percent from exports, according to the producer’s association.

Producer prices for parmesan averaged 7.27 euros a kilogram in July, down from 7.49 euros in January, according to data from the Parmesan Producers Association in Reggio Emilia. Prices peaked at 9.36 euros a kilo in January 2004, according to Bloomberg.

Thanks to Diana, many bloggers have been taking time on Fridays to think about things we're grateful for.

Today, I'm grateful for the laugh I had over this cheeky little squirrel who popped up in a family photo taken near Banff in the Rocky Mountains.

Melissa and Jackson Brandts had set the timer on their camera to take their photo while they posed at Lake Minnewanka near Banff. Just before the camera shot their photo, the squirrel -- perhaps curious about the camera noise -- popped up, in perfect position.

The couple submitted their prized photo to National Geographic.

"We were laughing about this little guy for days," Melissa Brandts, who was visiting Alberta from Minnesota, wrote to National Geographic.

The squirrel photo, submitted to the magazine, was posted in its "Daily Dozen" gallery of readers' pictures on August 7. Since then, newspapers around the world have written about the curious critter -- dubbed the Crasher Squirrel -- and links to the photo have flooded the web.

It has also been photo-shopped to great effect. I like this from CBC:

Inspired by Diana many bloggers have been taking time on Fridays to think about things that we're grateful for.

Today, I'm thinking about how fortunate I've been to have had the opportunity to travel so often, especially to Italy. I've seem some remarkable things, including the very beautiful reliefs on the facade of Bologna's Basilica of San Petronio. Construction of this enormous church began in 1390. However, the facing of the main facade remains unfinished. Still, many artists have left their mark here.

The June day when I visited the small Umbrian hill town of Todi was unusually cool and rainy. I did, briefly, work up a sweat climbing up, up, up from the parking lot to the main square, the Piazza del Popolo. I suspect this is a beautiful medieval piazza -- most of the time. Alas, the Sunday morning when I was there, the piazza shook with the sounds of a motorbike competition.

The entire square had been turned into a track and an unbelievable din was created by the roar of the motorbikes. The noise bounced off the three stunning buildings that all face the piazza -- the Palazzo del Capitano, the Palazzo del Priore and the Palazzo del Popolo -- as well as Todi's Duomo.

I have read that this piazza is one of the most picturesque in all of Italy and is often used as a movie set. I believe that, although I couldn't get a good sense of this from my one visit. Further, Todi has been dubbed the world's most livable city, based on a report in the early 1990 by Richard S. Levine, a professor of architecture at the University of Kentucky, who chose Todi as the model sustainable city, because of its scale and its ability to reinvent itself over time.

I didn't hang around the square long, but instead walked to the next hill and the church of San Fortunato, which is pictured above with reliefs from its unfinished facade. I found San Fortunato to be quite beautiful. Wikipedia reports that it was originally a 7th century Palaeo-Christian temple and two lion sculptures from its earliest days stand guard near the entrance portal.

I was intrigued by the reliefs showing humans, carved around the main doors.

The crypt beneath San Fortunato houses a sepulchre containing the remains of St. Fortunatus of Todi and other saints, as well as the tomb of Jacopone da Todi, a Franciscan poet.

Todi, which is incredibly hilly and steep, has many interesting sites but rain discouraged me from much exploring. I did get a chance to pop inside the beautifully domed Renaissance church of Santa Maria della Consolazione, which was begun in 1508.

The photo just above I borrowed from Bill Thayer's excellent Umbria website, because I loved the way it captures the steepled building of San Fortunato on the highest point of the hill while the domed building on the lower left is S. Maria della Consolazione.

Below are my closeups from the latter church.

The interior is much less spectacular than the exterior, but the apse is surmounted by a square terrace with four eagles at the corners, from which the dome rises. The altar houses a reportedly miraculous image of the Madonna, which, according to tradition, was discovered by a worker during early construction.

Inspired by Diana many bloggers have been taking time on Fridays to think about things that we're grateful for.

I've also been inspired this week by my friend Letizia whose recent post about her mama is especially poignant.

So today, I'm thinking about how very grateful I am that my Mom, who turned 83 in February, is still enjoying her life despite many setbacks she has faced in recent years. Since moving into a seniors' home (which she loves) 18 months ago, Mom is spending much more time now with her sisters, including my auntie Jean, in the centre of the above photo. I think that makes them all happy.

I'm also very, very grateful for my brother Robert, also in this photo taken at Mom's birthday party last February. Rob is 10 years older than me, and an ideal big brother. He's very shy and gentle and loves animals far more than is good for him. Feral cats know that as long as he's around, they have a home and all the cat chow they can consume.