Howard

Sure, 8 days in Italy is a tease...but especially if you go with the attitude that you can't see and do everything, you'll have a great time! We did. (PS: It helps to have Italian friends with a car!)<BR>It also helps that we lucked in with great weather over the period (October 25-November 1)--sunny, except for a half-day of rain, with temperatures in the mid to high 60s!<BR>First, Bologna: This was a delightful surprise. It exceeded our expectations. Just walking around Piazza Maggiore and its surrounding area in the center of the city were a real treat. The Museo Civico includes a surprisingly large and impressive (to us) collection of Etruscan artifacts.<BR>Another attraction of Bologna is its shopping. We found a wide, wide selection, with prices more favorable than in the major tourist cities. Just walking through some of the 20 miles (!) of porticos was another treat.

Howard

Part 2:<BR>We were also fortunate to spend a little time in Ferrara, a city of 130,000 people about 30 miles from Bologna. And, we can highly recommend two things about the city:<BR>1. A fantastic 14th Century castle, complete with a moat and drawbridges in the historic center.<BR>2. An outstanding restaurant--Il Bagattino on Via Correggiari 6.<BR>We hope to spend more time there on our next trip.<BR>From Bologna, we stayed for two days at Fattorie di Donatella Cinelli Colombini in Trequanda in Tuscany. Highly recommended. Check out its website:<BR>http://www.cinellicolombini.it<BR>During the high season, they only take bookings for a week or longer. Off season, we were able to stay just 2 nights. Our accommodations offered incredible views of the Tuscan landscape.<BR>(For photographers, Tuscany and Umbria are paradise!)<BR>We visited Siena for half a day (too short) and San Gimignano the first day. Day 2: Pienza was a definite highlight. We also visited Sant'Anna in Camprena (where The English Patient was filmed) on the outskirts of Pienza and Bagno Vignoni.<BR>Restaurants: An excellent lunch at Il Prato in Pienza on the patio overlooking the valley. A mediocre dinner at La Griglia in San Gimignano.<BR>

Howard

Part 3: From there it was 2 nights at Castle San Gregorio, just outside of Assisi. It was great fun. When I asked for their email address, one of owners replied, &quot;Hey, we're a castle, we don't have a computer!&quot; They do have a phone (0758038009) and a fax (0758038904). The rate was 70 euro per person, including breakfast and dinner. We felt it was well worth it.<BR>We spent a full day in Assisi and it was the high point of our trip. We loved everything about the city. We fell in love with the city.<BR>Our final full day started off with a brief stop in Deruta to buy a ceramic piece and then on to Orvieto. <BR>Our luck with the weather ended as it was cloudy and rainy. When we got to the duomo, there was a double diappointment: 1. The front was almost completely covered with scaffolding; 2. It was closed for midday siesta. Since it was raining and we wanted to get to Florence where we were spending the evening, we decided not to wait for it to reopen. It turned out to be a wise decision. An hour after we left, the road was closed because of mud slides caused by the heavy rains there!<BR>It was a joy to return to Florence even for a brief period. The weather was warm, the streets were alive, as it was the beginning of a 3-day weekend. Another restaurant recommendation: It Messere on Via Guelfa 98, off Via Nazionale (sp?).<BR>Some miscellaneous observations:<BR>*Tourism is way down, especially by Americans.<BR>*The sound system at the Basilica di San Francesco in Assisi was playing the title song from Jesus Christ Superstar!<BR>*Roadsigns on the autostrada are hard to read at night!<BR>*My most unusual pizza was one topped with cheese and pears! (It was delicious!)<BR>*We already know where we want to go next time!<BR>

Terry

Howard - Thanks for the details of your wonderful trip to Italy. I had to laugh at your mention of Jesus Christ Superstar playing over the sound system at the Basilica de San Francesco! Sounds unforgetable!

Roberta

The most wonderful pizza I ever ate was the gorgonzola, pear and walnut &quot;Capriosa&quot; at the pizzeria/trattoria &quot;Listone&quot; in Verona.<BR><BR>Are cheeese and pear pizzas a northern Italian thing?

kk

Wonderful details, Howard. Thanks.<BR>Looking forward to your usual fabulous fotos!

BOB THE NAVIGATOR

Grazie Howard, We need to see Bologna.

sam

Me too!

Howard

Bob and Sam,we barely scratched the surface of Bologna and loved it. Bologna and Ferrara make a great viewing tandem! The architecture of the old parts of the cities is a real treat.<BR>I hope to send out some photos to Sally to post on her website within a couple days. <BR>Adding to my original report, how could I forget to mention the wide variety of pastas we ate, everything from Bolonese, of course, to pici (pronounced &quot;peachy&quot, a specialty of the Pienza area, to another (the name of which I don't know) which was in a creamy mushroom sauce, to others that I can't remember! And, no trip to Tuscany is complete without savoring riboletta, a vegetable and bread soup. (I hope I've described that one correctly!)<BR>

Connie

Oh, I am so jealous. I just had to cancel my Nov. trip to Bologna, florence, siena, assisi and Rome. Ahh. I am depressed but glad you had fun

Gigi

Howard, it sounds marvelous! I hope to see some more of your pictures and perhaps paint from one again. <BR><BR>When you return to this area, Howard, where would spend more or less time? <BR><BR>Any thoughts on where I should set up my easel if I do make it back to Italy next fall?<BR><BR>Thank you, and so glad you had a great trip!<BR><BR>Warm regards,<BR>Gigi

Howard

Gigi, I well remember you. (After all, it's not every day that someone wants to do a painting based on a photograph of mine!) In response to your question about where to set up your easel.....Anywhere! Seriously, so much of Tuscany is so beautiful, I'd be hard-pressed to pick a specific site. All I can tell you is that we continually stopped so that I could take photographs as we were driving every day! In addition, there are so many great subjects is every town. When you see my photographs, you'll understand why. (I hope to send them on to Sally tomorrow.)<BR>And, in response to you question about where I would spend more or less time, we would probably want to see other parts of the area since this was our first trip there. Among our first choices for the next trip are Lucca, Volterra, Cortona and probably some more of the small hilltowns, since we loved Pienza so much.<BR>PS to Gigi: Any chance I can see a photograph of your painting based on my Venice photo?

russ

Howard,<BR><BR>You're descriptions brought back many memories of my 2-1/2 years living there. There are still things that I want to see as well. Ferrara was also the essential day trip to take visiting family and friends. No trip is complete without sampling the Tortelli di Zucca, pumkin filled pasta. I'm glad you had a good time.<BR><BR>russ

rar

Glad you liked Bologna.. I am surprised more tourists dont come here. Then again, I enjoy the lack of tourists, gives the city a 'real' italian feel, which as an American exchange student, is much to my benefit! Bologna is so fun, and has such a well preserved medevial downtown, that it's a real treat living here. Not to mention the best food in Italy!

Howard

Russ and rar, obviously you can add me to the Bologna Fan Club! We already are looking forward to the possibility of going back there next fall! Both are also correct about the food!

Modeen

Howard,<BR><BR>Great information! Did you spend the night in Bologna? If so, where did you stay and would you recommend it? Thanks.

Howard

Modeen, sorry, but I can't be of much help, since we stayed at the Sheraton Bologna near the airport. (That's where the conference I spoke at was taking place.) It was a 6-7 km ride (about 12-15 euro) to the center of the city.

John H.

Howard,<BR><BR>Is Bologna an easy trip to make from Florence as a day trip, either by car or train? Would you recommend it over Lucca/Pisa (if you have been to the latter)?<BR><BR>For you Bologna lovers: the Nov/Dec issue of National Geographic Traveler has a 1.5-page article on Bologna.<BR><BR>John H.

Alice Twain

Roberta:<BR><BR>No pizza in a northern Italy thing. Pizza is basically a southern thing, in particular the thin crust with topping thing we all know as &quot;pizza&quot; is basically a Neapolitan thing, and you can't possibly find a better pizza than in Naples. On the other hand, bread crusts (thin or thick, with or without topping) are common all through the Mediterranean (as a mater of facts, they seeem to have originated in the Middle East!).<BR>In Italy we have several diferent kinds of such bread crusts, with various names (pizza, focaccia, scaccia, cresente, etc.), cooked in various ways (in the oven, fried, grilled...), and garnished in several ways (or not garnished at all). Actually real neapolitan pizza should be garnished with just tomato, anchovy and garlick or (in the case of pizza margherita) tomato, mozzarella and basil. In the last 25 years people started putting everything on pizza, including gorgonzola cheese and pears, but this is by no mean a traditional dish anywhere!<BR>Yet there is a saying in italy that goes &quot;al contadin non far sapere come &egrave; buono il formaggio con le pere&quot; (Do not tell the peasant how good is cheese with pears). The association of pear and cheese is frequent all through Italy, and the tastier the cheese (and a blue cheese like gorgonzola IS tasty!) the better the association with pear tastes. Also, the association of several cheeses with walnut is common all through Italy (in shops and supermarkets you can also find slices of gorgonzola mixed with mascarpone with walnuts).

Alice Twain

John H:<BR><BR>Bologna is a very easy trip from Florence, both by car and by train. The only problem with train travel from Florence to Bologna is hat the cheaper trains (which are much better than the high-cost Intercity or Eurostar trains on such a short trip) do not usually leave from Florence but from Prato. A good option, both travellin by car and by train, is to take the Porrettana route. By car you have to take superstrada Firenze-Mare (A11) to Pistoia and than follow the directions for &quot;porrettana&quot; road (or simply to Bologna). By train you have to take the train to Pistoia. Evary coule of hours there is one train from pstoia train station to Porretta Terme, in Porretta you will find a train to Bologna ready to leave. This route is far slower, but it is really scenic. It can be a daytrip on its own, paired with a one-night stay in Bologna.