Ferrara

The sixth day of our trip, Saturday 19 November, was intended to be a travel day back to Viterbo. The 5 and a half hour trip was too long to do in a single run for any number of reasons including 71 people, any one of whom could use a bathroom break at any time. However, the most important reason was that the bus driver is not allowed to drive for more than 4 and a half hours at a time without then taking a break of at least 40 minutes. We settled on a two-hour, lunch stop in Ferrara, a city in the Emilia-Romagna region between Bologna and Padua and about one third of the way home. We disembarked into a fairly heavy fog that is characteristic of the region. Indeed, every morning of the trip we were greeted by heavy fog, sometimes with frost. Ferrara, in some ways like Viterbo, is not a primary tourist destination. In Italy, as in the US, tourism is a double-edged sword. The locals love the money it brings in to the community but hate what it does to the character of the place they love. As Ferrara is off the beaten tourist path, the people we met in the shops and on the street were very warm and welcoming which was refreshing after so many days in tourist hotspots. As our stay was short (and finding luch does take some time), we didn't get to see that many things. One of the highlights was the Castello Estense. The Este family was a powerful family who made their family seat in Ferrara for awhile. They built a castle, complete with moat. It is the first moat I can remember seeing in Italy that is actually full of water. Entrance to the castle is free, but there isn't much to do once you get inside other than wander around amongst the cannonballs in the courtyard or visit the cafe conveniently located inside.

A second major sight is the Romanesque Cathedral of Saint George. Again, another giant church filled with art and altars. Do you get the sense I might just be becoming a little jaded about such things? One decoration outside the church did catch my fancy. On either side of the main door there were these lions with squat, troll-like figures holding up the columns. This lion has something like a ram's head between its paws.

Lunch, the main reason for our stop, was porchetta purchased at a local street Christmas market. Unlike in the US where we have Thanksgiving to sort of mark off the beginning of the Christmas season, in Italy they just sort of gradually roll into it. Some places are beginning to decorate and a few of the Christmas fairs have begun to pop up. This was the first day of their market which was located around the corner from the cathedral. Porchetta is a whole suckling pig from which the bones and internal organs are removed. The remaining carcas is stuffed with different things, roasted whole and cut into slabs for serving. I had mine with hot sausage, roasted peppers and roasted onions all wrapped in something which resembled a super thick tortilla. In a word, YUMMY! For lunch, Amy and I broke one of our cardinal rules and went into a McDonalds. In truth, we mostly just wanted to be out of the cold and have access to a bathroom. To do that we had to buy something so we each had a 1 euro milk shake. I figure if we didn't get a burger then it was no harm and no foul.

The sun never did manage to peek out while we were there although the fog did thin a bit. As we were leaving, the heavier fog was rolling in again. We returned to Viterbo to spend the night in our own bed for a welcome change.