bologna to parma and back

we left bologna early to visit parma...arrive in parma mid-morning, walking from stazione to the courtyard of the majestic palazzo della pilotta (named after the pelota game which used to be played in the courtyards...we passed the angel victory column along the strada della repubblica...i looked all through the internet to identify this statue with no luck...

while in the courtyard, looking for the teatro farnese, we had to dodge bicyclists of all ages, of all dress, of all economic ranges...it's like parma is the city of bicyclists...well, it is a university town after all...

we found teatro farnese in all its baroque styling...it was built in 1618 under order of the duke of parma to honor the visit of cosimo ii de medici, a visit which never happened...the theatre was almost destroyed by an allied air raid during world war ii (1944)...it was rebuilt and reopened in 1962...there was a no photographing policy; but, as soon as we paid the entry fee and walked into the space, the theater guide walked out, leaving us alone in the space...so i took a few shots with my spy camera and got some crummy shots except this one...

we left the theater space which is quite remarkable and went next door to the palatine library which is the union of the royal parmense library, the national library, the imperial bibliotheque, and the ducal library... it was founded on the request of ferdinando di borbone...the library displayed many of its illuminated manuscripts...i was impressed with the addition of the koran in the collection...

we passed through the open market behind the palazzo, selling everything from clothes to shoes to produce to food...we passed the partian monument in the gardens nearby...dring wrld war ii, parma was a strong center of partisan struggle...the monument, inaugurated in 1956, was designed and built by architect and sculptor william lusignoli marino mazzacurati...the monument sums up, in its three parts, the death of the partisans for an ideal, and the heroism with which they continued to struggle to make sense of this sacrifice to achieve their ideals..the monument is, in fact, made up of the statue of a fighter with a gun in his hand and cloak billowing in the wind, which rests on a pedestal and the statue, on the ground, of a partisan killed...in the background is the wall that was built with bricks from a house collapsed under the bombing of 1944...

we headed for the duomo which was closing in 15 minutes for its lunch break...construction on parma's present cathedral began in 1059 by bishop cadalo (who later became the antipope honorius II) and was consecrated by pope paschal II in 1116...a gothic belfry was added in the 1200s and twin towers were started, never finished...i was impressed with correggio's assumption, a fresco in the cupola...the other impressive art work in the cathedral was the deposition, a theme i have seen in several italian churches...

we left the duomo, passing the baptistry which was closed...we continued our walk in the piazza and decided to have lunch in t cafe, and i had couscous con pollo and zucchini...

we walked back to the stazione and returned to bologna and rested up for dinner...we decided to hunt down allessandro’s recommendation for the best gelato in bologna...passing st. petronio’s statue for the umpteenth time, we walked down via castiglione in search of sorbetteria where I ordered chocolate, pistachio, and coffee triple decker...we then went for dinner at la cesarina...we started with mixed antipasti of cubed mortadella (mousse-like and most delicious), artichoke salad, coppa, and prosciutto e melone; then tagliatelle bolognese; then stuffed zucchini with a bottle of house red, campo cellini, a tavola rosse...i finished the meal with vin santo and espresso...a good meal to end a good day of travel...

after breakfast at the hotel, we caught a taxi to the suburbs of bologna to visit the ducati museum...on the tour we were told that there were 500 workers with an equal number of administrative and support staffs...they were making 220 cycles a day, all preordered...90% of the parts are made in Italy...the worker doesn’t just bolt on a screw repetitiously but rather builds a section of the cycle and then stamps it with his/her name...the cycles are sent to dealers without seat and rear view mirrors to avoid breakage...the work force was mainly male with more females being added to the work force...the company attempted to soften the factory with plants...after the factory visit, we visited the museum with the history of the ducatis from making projectors, vacuums to making motorcycles...many of the winning cycles were on display as were the suits from the winning cyclists...there were several display cases with trophies from the many races ducati has won over the years...

we returned to the city to visit MAMbo, the modern art museum of bologna...the works were modern and contemporary...my favorite work was guttuso renato’s funerali di togliatti  for its scope and its depiction of history, a good example of expressionism...palmiro togliatti (26 march 1893 - 21 august 1964) was a politician and leader of the italian communist party from 1927 until his death...he died while on vacation in the crimea, and his funeral in rome brought out millions of supporters...here's a link to view that painting ...http://www.pasolini.net/immagini_raccolta_uccellacci_a.htm...

most of the works lacked the humor that contemporary painting and sculptures need to compensate for their lack of artistic "value"...

we had lunch at ex forno, part of the MAMbo complex...the dulce of limon sorbetto served up with prosecco in a champagne glass was one of the highlights of the trip...
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we walked back to the hotel, rested for an hour in the heat of the day, and then caught a taxi to piazza galvani named for luigi galvani (1737-1798) who was born, educated and taught anatomy in bologna...the italian physiologist made one of the early discoveries that advanced the study of electricity...we then headed for biblioteca comunale dell’archiginnasio to the second floor to find the teatro anatomico...one of the main historical rooms in the medical school in bologna is the anatomical theatre...the palace, or archiginnasio, was built quickly, between 1562 and 1563, by order of saint charles borromeo, then pontifical legate in bologna...the theatre – completely made with spruce wood – underwent several modification and reached its final shape between 1733 and 1736...the theatre was destroyed during the second world war, but was rebuilt with many of the salvaged pieces...the two famous statues of the "spellati" (skinned) carrying the canopy surmounting the teacher’s chair are the work of the well-known artist of anatomical wax displays, ercole lelli...in the center of the theatre stands the white table on which the dissection of human or animal bodies took place...

after a return visit to st. petronio where i learned of jp ii's visit, we ended up having an appertivo dinner at tamburini...we walked into a "deli" with cases full of cold cuts, cheeses, and prepared foods...we were told we could have an appertivo by ordering a tray of meats including prosciutto, cotto (ham from the pig's neck), salumi, mortadella, and pancetta...we washed it down with a very dry ferghettina...it was more than enough...and went beyond appertivo to our dinner...

we walked back to the hotel, knowing we had conquered bologna...now on to rimini and san marino...