Entries about romagna.

Gabicce Mare was the second base for my summer holiday. It was chosen by chance.

I visited this town in order to get to Gabicce Monte. Unfortunately I couldn' t get there due to lack of time. So I thought about looking for a room in Gabicce Mare.

This way I should have had more time to visit Gabicce Monte.

Gabicce Mare is a modern sea side resort. It has not an old core.

Spending some time on the beach is one of the things to do in Gabicce.

At the entrance of some beaches there are some paintings. Some of these are real masterpieces in my opinion.

I booked a room for some nights at hotel Paris. It is a nice two stars hotel; even if it is quite old.

I was given a room with three beds and the bathroom en suite.

At hotel Paris they seved a good buffet breakfast with several home made pastries.

Gabicce Monte is a nice village. It is some kilometers from Gabicce Mare. It is part of Gabicce Mare.

In the old times it was a fortified village.

I went to Gabicce Monte by bus.

From Gabicce Monte you can enjoy the view over Gabicce Mare and on some other places.

There are some cafes and restaurants in Gabicce Monte. I think there are even some hotels here.

Gabicce Monte is a small village. It is possible to visit it in a couple of hours.

Here we can read that Gabicce Monte was the birthplace of Girolamo Lanfranco and his son; Giacomo.

They were potters who lived here in the 1500.

I also did a day trip to Gradara from Gabicce Mare. I went there by bus. The journey took around twenty minutes.

Gradara is a Medieval village situated on a hill. It is only six kilometers from Gabicce Mare.

Gradara is a small village, but there is no shortage of cafes and restaurants here.

There are some churches in Gadara. One of these is the XIV century church of saint John the Baptist.

Its main sight is a crucifix sculpted by a friar in the first half on the XVII century.

If you look at the Christ' s face from three defined spots on the floor, you can see its three expressions on its face. Silence, sufference and relief.

There is a castle in Gradara. It was built between the 11th and the 15th centuries.

I did not visit it because I was in Gradara on monday; the closing day.

The castle is where the tragic story of Paolo and Francesca happened.

It was written in the Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri. One of our most famous witers.

Francesca was Giovanni (AKA Giangiotto) Malatesta' s wife. She had a love affair with her husband' s brother, Paolo.

One day, when Giangiotto came home and caught the two lovers together in Francesca' s room he killed them.

Probabably this sad story took place between 1283 and 1285.

The street from the main entrance of the village is quite long and steep.

I hope to re visit Gradara quite soon.

The Gabicce Express train is a way to head to Gabicce Monte and to Gradara.

It is not a comfortable mean of transportation but you can use it if you have children.

I have been to Parma twice in some months only (2016 or 2017...I don' t remember). The first ime I visited this city, it didn' t impressed me much. I appreciated it more the second time I visited it.

Parma is not a very beautiful city, but it is nice. It has a good choice of things to see. There are several churches and some museums to visit; a large park and a plethora of shops.

One of Parma' s main sights is the baptistery. This octagonal tall structure was built in 1196 and finished in 1307.

Inside it is decorated with frescoes between the XIII and the XIV centuries. There are also frescoes on its dome. These were painted in the third decade of the XIII centuries.

Beside the baptistery I visited the cathedral of Parma (duomo).

The cathedral highlight is the dome. It was painted by Antonio Allegri, called Correggio between 1524 and 1530.  It depicts the Virgin Mary with clouds, apostles and angels.I think one should do more than one visit to the cathedral to appreciate this worship place. 

I also visited the church of saint John the Evangelist. I is part of a monastery. 

Here I visited the cloisters and  the old library.  This  was frescoed  in one year  only; between 1574  and  1575.  A priest told me a lot of things about this library and talked me about the frescoes of this beautiful room.

Sometimes, on the way to my hotel I had a stroll at a large public park; the Parco Ducale. It was laid out in 1561 by the duke Ottavio Farnese as park for his villa. In 1700 fell under disrepair. After 1749 it was restored. It was later restored even in the 1800 and between the years 2000 and 2001.

This park has a large lake, various kind of trees and some beautiful statues. There are some buildings inside as well; including the Palazzo del Giardino. I haven' t visited this palace, but I will do it next time I visit Parma.

Art lovers can visit the Palazzo della Pilotta. It is  a huge palace built from 1583 and enlarged through the centuries. It houses more than 700 masterpieces from the Middle Ages to the 1900. Moreover there is a wooden theater inside this  palace; the Farnese theater. 

There are also a couple (or more) of museums inside the palace. I only did a very fast tour inside this palace, so I cannot write much about it.

I usually had lunch at Magnosfera when I was in the city. This is a self service cafe and restaurant situated just a few steps from the old center of Parma. It has a large dining room and even if this restaurant is very popular, I always found a seat.

At Magnosfera you can find several first and second courses and various vegetables you can combine and make your salad. There are also several fruits and desserts. Here You can have a pizza as well.

Well, I tried to describe some things one shouldn' t miss in Parma. There is much more to see in this town. Moreover, is it possible to do several day trips from this town.

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Modena is a pleasant town some 40 kilometers far from Bologna.

I have visited it twice; as a day trip from Ferrara. I went to Modena by train.

The center of Modena is not far from the train station.

The Giardino Ducale is probably the first sights you can visit coming from the train station.

This beautiful garden was created in the late '500 and modified in the ' 800. In 1739 it was opened to the public. Here you can see a lake, various plants and a playground area. Joined to this garden there is a botanical garden. It was created in 1758 by the duke Francesco III to grow rare plants and also medicinal ones.

Inside this garden there is a nice building: the Palazzina del giardino Estense. It was built around 1632 and 1634 for the duke Francesco d' Este. Today it is used for art exibitions.

Piazza Grande is Modena' s main square. It was created in the second half of the XII century. It is bordered by the cathedral, by the the town hall and by the bishop' s palace. It is paved with rounded cobblestones.

Here you won' t miss a big red stone. The Pedra Ringadora. It probably was part of an ancient Roman building. In the Middle Ages it was used as a stage for the speakers, but even as a stone of shame.

It was also used to display dead bodies for the identification.

La Bonissima is a nice small statue of a woman which dates to the 1268. There are various stories about it.

They say it could represent a generous noble woman who gave food to poor people in a famine period.

Another story is that La Bonissima should represent honesty at commerce. Bonissima comes from " bona esma" i. e. fair mesure. In old times this statue held a scale and was located on pedestal where various units of measure were written.

You can see La Bonissima on the municipal palace (the town hall) between via Castellano and piazza Grande.

The cathedral of Modena (duomo) was built from 1099 and completed between 1100 and 1300. This church stands on the site where two previous churches had been built since the fifth century.

It was built by the architect Lanfranco on the site of the grave of Saint Geminiano.

From the end of 1100 to 1300 the works of this church were carried on by the so-called Maestri Campionesi. They were architects who came from Campione; in the Lombardy region.

The bell tower joined to the cathedral is named Ghirlandina. It is 86 meters tall. I think you can climb it to its top.

Inside the cathedral there is a crypt. Here you can see the sarcophagus of Saint Geminiano and lots of nice carved columns.

The town hall is made from various palaces joined together and restored between the 16th and the 17th centuries. These palaces were originally built from the XII century.

Inside the town hall there are some rooms open to visitors.

Here is a short summary; the Camerino dei Confirmati. This room was painted in 1770. Another room is the Sala del Fuoco. It is decorated with frescoes dated to 1546.

The Sala del Consiglio Vecchio has a ceiling painted at the beginning of the 1600.

Another interesting room is the Sala degli Arazzi. Its walls are decorated with 18th century paintings on tapestry like canvases. Another room you can visit is the Sala dei Matrimoni; the wedding hall.

The Mercato Albinelli is a quite large covered market. It was built in the 20' s of the 1900 in Liberty style.

Here you can find a large selection of fruits and vegetables stalls.

There are also several meat and fish stalls and some bakeries as well. Here you can find several typical Modenese pastries. This market is a good place to buy various typical products of the Emilia Romanga region; as cheeses, cold cuts and ravioli (filled dumplings).

There is even a kind of pharmacy into the market.

You can have a lunch inside this market. There are some eateries inside.

This market is open usually every morning except on sundays. It is not far from the main square.

The Palazzo dei Musei is a very large palace which its original destination would be to become a hostel for the poors. Ercole II decided to turn it into a place for arts in 1788. This was meant as a school where young people would be educated to learn various crafts.

This palace houses several museums, as a museum of Medieval and modern art, and an archaeological and ethnological one.

Some of them are closed in the afternoon. One of these that is open until late in the evening is the Galleria Estense. This is an art collection belonged to the Este family. It is made of lots of paintings, some statues and other beautiful masterpieces. I liked very much this museum.

Palazzo Ducale was built from 1634 on the site of an earlier castle. It was used as the court of the Este family until 1861. Today it is occupied by the military accademy.

You can visit it inside on guided visits some saturdays and sundays. You have to book your visit at the IAT office in piazza Grande, 14. Tel.059 2032660.

Inside you will visit the Salone d' Onore with 1696 frescoes and the 18th century Salottino d' Oro.

I haven' t visited this palace yet, but I am going to do it next time I visit Modena.