Bologna

18th - 21st November

Bologna

On the night of the 18th we headed north along a small curvy road towards Bologna and stayed in a suburb outside the town. The next day we were up with the larks to move into the centre of town and head to the famous University di Bologna, the oldest university in Europe.

University di Bologna

There were a number of free museums as part of the University, and within the city (all of which are free or have a free component) and we had a lovely morning walking round a few of them. You would need a whole week to fully appreciate all of them but we made some choice selections and spent the morning and early afternoon looking around some of the Univeristy museums, marvelling at the huge numbers of skeletons, stuffed birds, nervous systems and the many other fascinating exhibits.

Old Town

The rest of the afternoon was spent milling around the old town centre and it's 666 portico's (covered walkways which become very useful in the rain!), leaning towers and wonderful, animated streets coloured in burnt oranges, reds and browns (earning the town the nickname Bologna Le Rosso - the red). The city centre is very beautiful.
We also spent a bit of time reading about the towers in the centre, on which leans at an alarming angle, rivalling the Leaning Tower of Pisa. They were built during a time of immense turmoil in the Italian region where cities were becoming states and families were vying for power and control. As figures in authority, some families have control over civic defence buildings as part of office, which lead to rival families lining up with other figures of authority and building their own towers in response. Similar to San Gimignano, it is estimated that in Bologna there were about eighty such towers as part of the landscape, although some reports and estimates put the figure at around two hundred. Apparently it was easier to invalid your rival from the top of a tower and with around eighty towers in such a small place I can't imagine what going to the shops would have been like.

Loveleto

After walking around the city centre we headed back out of the city to find a place to park up and found a lovely little place called Loveleto. Here we had a lovely little walk with Nailz in the rural countryside only 6km from Bologna. We found the perfect spot to camp for the night, in a quiet sports centre car-park when about half an hour after we arrived the local football team turned up for a spot of training. I suddenly realised how much I had missed my Monday night kickabout with the Sparkshop boys, so if you're reading this Ian, say hello to the chaps from me!

Back to Bologna

Early on the 20th we checked into the local campsite early and after quickly setting up camp headed back into Bologna for a day in the town. As soon as we got off the bus we were greeted with the hustle and bustle of the Saturday market which his absolutely gigantic. With a whole day you would struggle to see all the stalls, and unfortunately for Rachel I had other plans for today. We did spend a bit of time wandering through the endless stalls looking for a good bargain, but sometimes there is too much choice and I was very much in need of a coffee so we headed off in search of MAMBO - the Museo d'Art Moderne di Bologna. This was quite an interesting museum and again the permanent collection was free. It was quite a small collection but full of stimulating (and confusion) works. As every with modern art, I sometimes like it and sometimes just wonder what the point of it was, but it was fun having a look. My favourite piece was a black and white silhouette of a chap in a cap waving a hand in the air. Very simple but considering it was just a silhouette it showed a great deal of expression and I also liked the boldness of it. I'll have to look up the name of it.

By now we were getting quite hungry but fell foul of the Bologna three O'clock exodus. All the restaurants and Trattorias had closed for lunch (oh the irony!) so after a little while walking while we tried to find somewhere open we came across a nice little bar offering "Aperativo". This involves buying a drink such as a cocktail or spirit and helping yourself to the food laid out on the bar like a buffet. We had wanted to try this so in we went, bought our drinks and went at the food. It was a very nice spread, and having had a little tipple too we were oiled and ready to go back to the market for some last minute perusing before catching the bus back to the campsite.

On the 21st we had another day rolling round the old town and window-shopping before finding another Aperativo with a quite amazing spread. They offered a great deal where for a modest amount of Euros you got a glass of wine, coffee and full use of the extensive buffet. We eat very well and had a long relaxy lunch before wandering round the town to try and walk off what we had eaten.

The Uffizi Gallery - Firenze

11th November

Uffizi Gallery - Firenze

Went to the Uffizi Gallery in Florence after a brief stop to admire the view again from Piazzale Michelangelo. It was gorgeous in the morning sun as the mist was gently lifting over the city. After a quick coffee, on the run (Italian style) I was in amongst the man works of art. As I had got in there early there were not too many people and I was able to walk amongst the masterpieces almost at will. Later it did become pretty crowded in the main attraction rooms, such a the Leonardo and Michelangelo rooms but visiting away from peak season was a definite advantage.
The museum is separated into numerous rooms which act as a sort of timeline for art in the region. The collection was started by the powerful Medici family who controlled the Florentine city-state and patronised many works of art during the Renaissance. The Uffizi was left to the city by the Medici family on condition that it never leave Florence.
The gallery is one of the most important in the world and so is packed with masterpieces and really interesting pictures and sculptures. My highlights included the Leonardo Room with Leonardo Da Vinci's unfinished "Adoration of the Magi" which shows just how good a draughtsman he was. It looks like it has just been sketched up in black paint, but each stroke is singularly precise, nothing is wayward and the shift from background detail to the ghostly, unfinished foreground is very revealing about how he built up his paintings. It line's up alongside his famous "Annunciation" which apparently was criticised for seemingly poor proportions of the antagonists, however it seems that if you view the painting by crouching to the right of it the proportions seem spot on. This was because the painting was to be hung to the left of a church altar and was not meant to be viewed straight on which shows Leonardo's amazing skill with proportion. Also in this room was a painting by Leonardo's teacher Verrocchio - "Baptism of Christ" which shows how artists collaborated on works. One of the angels in the picture was painted by a young Leonardo and it is believed the second angel was painted by another artist working under Verrocchio. Michelangelo's Doni Tondo was the only piece by the artist at the Uffizi, but it's colour and vibrancy dominated the room. Interestingly, it is believed the Greek statue Lacoon was found whilst, or before, Michelangelo produced this work of art as one of the figures in the background is posed in the same way as one of the sons from the statue. Even the Masters aren't afraid to take inspiration (wholesale) from elsewhere. The Rapael room showed works by the artist trying his hand at differrent styles, inspired by the likes of Leonardo, Michelangelo and the new-fangled "Flemish-style" which was popular for a time. Again he was open to influence but it showed his true skill in the way he was ablt to adapt to these new styles and produce amazing works of art.
There was an exhibition on the way out to Caravaggio and the artist's that he has inspired with his dark brooding styles. One of his pieces was an ornamental shield painted with the severed head of Medusa for one of the Medici Dukes.

Unfortunately I wasn't allowed to take any photos (every so often the room echoed to "Nooooo Fooootooooo!!" in a weird gravelly, other-worldy voice) so here's a picture of the Duomo instead.

Chisure, Sambuca, Firenze

7th - 10th November

Chisure

So the next day we continued on the foody tip and went to Chisure, another beautiful village in the Tuscan countryside. This time the theme was artichokes, as well as more local produce from paintings and crafts to home-made sauces. One of the more peculiar offerings was a sweet that tasted of chocolate and looked like pork luncheon meat. It confused the hell out of me I don't mind admitting. We were able to try fried artichoke stems which was very nice, as well as local salami and white truffles which are another speciality of the region. All very tasty.

Open house!

While we were browsing the stalls we were invited to an open house just up the road. Here we found a very hospitable community of locals and ex-pats from all over the world. We couldn't have been made to feel more welcome (thank you so much!). We were spoiled with food and I was able to sample more amazing local cuisine including artichokes, 2 kinds of soups - both wonderful, more local cheese and wine. The company was even better, and it was a shame that we had to say our good byes earlier than we would have liked, but we had made arrangements the previous day with Anna Lisa to see her wine cellar, and so we had to hit the road.

Wine Cellar

Later we arrived at an ex-monastery out in the sticks and were shown around Anna Lisa's lovely home. We were also shown the church and wine cellars which also form part of the monastery buildings. She had entertained some illustrious guests here, including Ronnie Wood and some of President Obama's advisors and now it was our turn. The cellar was interesting as the central pillar contained an inscription from the time of its construction which has been translated as a prayer for the making of good wine, and also a request for forgiveness from the master mason for any faults the building may have. The wine Anna Lisa produces is named after the master mason.

Pressing olives

The next day we visited an olive press to have a look at how new olive oil is made. We were kindly shown around the press and given a very good description from a policeman from Firenze who was helping his aunt for a week (as his vacation) pick and press the olives from her land. It was interesting to see the whole process and the bright green liquid that is produced at the end.

Sambuca

On the 9th we headed towards Firenze and stopped off for lunch at a nice little village called Sambuca, but there was not a drop in sight. It was only a little de-tour but we did manage to spot some interesting wildlife, with what looked like voles hanging out with some ducks on the side of a swollen river. They seemed to be quite good friends. We ended the day on the outskirts of Firenze having had a little scout of the area and found a suitable campsite for the next day and we admired the view from Piazzale Michelangelo which was just breathtaking as the sun was going down.

Firenze

On the 10th we checked into the campsite as we had previously been warned about motor-homes with foreign plates being targeted by opportunists in Florence by our friendly policeman. It was quite a nice site surrounded by olive trees and having seen the presses in action I had more than an idea about some late-night olive scrumping (the next morning the staff were busy picking them so I had missed my window of opportunity!). We had a nice day walking around Florence with it's imposing palaces, gigantic cathedral and vast numbers of churches and museums. The Ponte Vecchio, the only bridge left standing after WWII, was particularly cool. When the Medici family (the powerful rulers of the Firenze city-state) bought the Pitti Palace they needed to use the bridge to cross to cross the river from their other Palace they ordered the resident butchers out as they were too smelly, and ordered goldsmiths in, and the bridge is still lines with tiny jewellery shops. We saw the huge Duomo, Giotti belltower and Baptistry which dominate the skyline when seen from Piazzale Michelangelo and the copies of statues of David in the Piazzale Signoria as well as many other sculptures. We were finishing up our little tour of Firenze when a really impressive electrical storm broke right overhead and combined with the particular roof-style of the Florentine buildings it created a surreal "Big trouble in little china" type vibe. Although there were some pretty amazing sights in the city, and it was very pretty in parts, I think it looked better from overhead than up in the streets themselves.

Road signs and padlocks

Another thing worth including was the creatively altered road signs. Some had been changed to feature angels, some devils and some just generally changed for a bit of fun. We had a good game trying to spot new ones as we made our way around the city. There was also an interesting tradition of adding padlocks to certain railings. People just seemed to come up, add a lock and then leave it there so gradually railings and chains were being covered in a kind of hairy padlock growth.