Someone told me that to feel fine it’s a good thing to visit a new place every year so…
To respect the tradition on Christmas day I went to the Mass in the morning – I am a little bit lazy so I don’t go usually at the midnight Mass :) - and then I had lunch with my family after unwrapping the presents that Santa brought me.
The day after Christmas I went... to Adria, in Veneto, by train to meet my friend Mauro who is also an old friend of Borgo Grondaie. At the beginning we wanted to see Venice. We know Venice but every time it’s a pleasure for us to admire it. The only thing was that during this season there is the acqua alta (high water) and we weren’t excited about this experience. So, Mauro proposed to visit Ferrara as I had never been there.
What a lovely day we spent there.
Ferrara is a little renaissance town located in Emilia Romagna region.
Here is the list of what we did and what we saw. It could be an idea for you when you visit that area. It’s small maybe as San Gimignano is so half day is enough to visit it.
1 On arrival we left the car at the free parking in Via Giudecca. If you arrive by train don’t worry: the train station is 1 km far from the center. Ferrara is a plane town so it won’t be hard for you to reach the center by walk;
2 we went to the courtyard of the Estense’s Castle: here there is the tourist information where you can ask for a city map. There are also restrooms very clean. You have to pay some cents but if you have no coins, as it happened to me, there is a nice lady who allows you to enter the same;
3 we had our second breakfast (the first was at home) at the Bar Nazionale, just in front of the Cathedral: I took a pastry that looked like a strudel and a caffellatte (coffe and milk). Mauro took a pastry with cream and a caffé lungo (long coffee);
4 after that we visited the Cathedral. I found it ‘symmetrical’, that is to say, there are no differnt styles mixed together; that's why I liked it very much;
5 we walked around the ancient streets to see the nice shops and also along the river Po di Volano before to reach the restaurant;
6 the name of the restaurant is Antica Trattoria Volano and Giorgio, the brother of Mauro who knows very well the area, suggested it. What a good choice! It seems like the Taverna di San Giuseppe in Siena: nice place, nice people and wonderful food. Budget: middle-high. I asked for Cappelleti in brodo (broth with small filled pasta parcels), Salama da sugo con purè (pork sausage with mashed potatoes), a glass of Merlot, fruit salad and coffee barley. Mauro asked for Tortelloni di ricotta (filled pasta parcels), Funghi con polenta (mushrooms with mush), water (he is teetotal :) and coffee. I usually don’t eat so much so I didn’t take food till the day after at dinner…
7 after lunch we went to visit the Diamonds’ Palace where there was an exhibition art of Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775-1851). I am almost sure that here you find all the year some interesting exhibitions;
8 it was 5.00 p.m and it was very cold as you can see from the picture I made with my cell phone so we decided to go back at home.
It was a great idea to visit Ferrara and I say ‘thanks’ to Mauro.
One more note: in the area of the Estense’s Castle, so in a really central area, I saw the Hotel Ferrara. I didn’t need a place to stay since Mauro offered me hospitality in his house but if you look for an accommodation try this one. I have heard good reviews on tripadvisor about this Hotel.
To respect the tradition on Christmas day I went to the Mass in the morning – I am a little bit lazy so I don’t go usually at the midnight Mass :) - and then I had lunch with my family after unwrapping the presents that Santa brought me.
The day after Christmas I went... to Adria, in Veneto, by train to meet my friend Mauro who is also an old friend of Borgo Grondaie. At the beginning we wanted to see Venice. We know Venice but every time it’s a pleasure for us to admire it. The only thing was that during this season there is the acqua alta (high water) and we weren’t excited about this experience. So, Mauro proposed to visit Ferrara as I had never been there.
What a lovely day we spent there.
Ferrara is a little renaissance town located in Emilia Romagna region.
Here is the list of what we did and what we saw. It could be an idea for you when you visit that area. It’s small maybe as San Gimignano is so half day is enough to visit it.
1 On arrival we left the car at the free parking in Via Giudecca. If you arrive by train don’t worry: the train station is 1 km far from the center. Ferrara is a plane town so it won’t be hard for you to reach the center by walk;
2 we went to the courtyard of the Estense’s Castle: here there is the tourist information where you can ask for a city map. There are also restrooms very clean. You have to pay some cents but if you have no coins, as it happened to me, there is a nice lady who allows you to enter the same;3 we had our second breakfast (the first was at home) at the Bar Nazionale, just in front of the Cathedral: I took a pastry that looked like a strudel and a caffellatte (coffe and milk). Mauro took a pastry with cream and a caffé lungo (long coffee);
4 after that we visited the Cathedral. I found it ‘symmetrical’, that is to say, there are no differnt styles mixed together; that's why I liked it very much;
5 we walked around the ancient streets to see the nice shops and also along the river Po di Volano before to reach the restaurant;6 the name of the restaurant is Antica Trattoria Volano and Giorgio, the brother of Mauro who knows very well the area, suggested it. What a good choice! It seems like the Taverna di San Giuseppe in Siena: nice place, nice people and wonderful food. Budget: middle-high. I asked for Cappelleti in brodo (broth with small filled pasta parcels), Salama da sugo con purè (pork sausage with mashed potatoes), a glass of Merlot, fruit salad and coffee barley. Mauro asked for Tortelloni di ricotta (filled pasta parcels), Funghi con polenta (mushrooms with mush), water (he is teetotal :) and coffee. I usually don’t eat so much so I didn’t take food till the day after at dinner…
7 after lunch we went to visit the Diamonds’ Palace where there was an exhibition art of Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775-1851). I am almost sure that here you find all the year some interesting exhibitions;
8 it was 5.00 p.m and it was very cold as you can see from the picture I made with my cell phone so we decided to go back at home.
It was a great idea to visit Ferrara and I say ‘thanks’ to Mauro.
One more note: in the area of the Estense’s Castle, so in a really central area, I saw the Hotel Ferrara. I didn’t need a place to stay since Mauro offered me hospitality in his house but if you look for an accommodation try this one. I have heard good reviews on tripadvisor about this Hotel.
by Amina
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