Parma ~ Bologna ~ Ravenna ~ Ferrara ~ Padua

Nina is on a quest today....5 cities and a rental car. Hope you found a nice full sized car. Today's activities included ~ Parma, Bologna, Ravenna, Ferrar, and Padua. This map shows the proximity of each city. Padua is not shown on this map but it is a little northeast of Ferrara.

Padua is a pilgrimage city where millions of pilgrims and tourists come every year to visit the Basilica di Sant’Antonio.

City Gates of Ferrara

The Este family ruled Ferrara from 1208 to 1598, constructing many of the monuments you can see today. Under the Estes, Ferrara became a center of the arts. Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Titian, and Petrarch, among others, spent time under their patronage. But the Estes lacked a male heir. So the Pope claimed Ferrara and it became part of the Papal States, beginning a three decade decline before awakening in the 1900s, seemingly becoming aware of it's own glorious past.

Ravenna is known as the mosaic city because of the stunning 5th-6th century mosaics that adorn the walls of its churches and monuments and because it is still one of Italy's top producers of mosaics. Ravenna has eight UNESCO World Heritage Sites, Roman sites, museums, Dante's tomb, and many cultural events. Much of Ravenna's historic center is a pedestrian zone. Wonder if you DF had time to do a walking tour in this city.

Neptune Fountain.....this is the place!

Bologna is a town of 400,000 people in the Po river valley in Emilia -Romagna. Known for its cuisine, it's porticoed (A porch or walkway with a roof supported by columns, often leading to the entrance of a building)streets, and for hosting one of the oldest Universities in Europe, Bolgona is a great tourist destination--especially if you like people and food. Don't all of us love both?

Our BC read "Playing for Pizza" this put Parma on the list of a must see. I'm sure the football stadium was not exactly on Nina's list........maybe James talked her into it???

Parma is famous as the capital food centre of Italy, for its inimitable products and in particular for its Prosciutto of Parma,cured pork meats and its famous Parmesan Cheese. There is going to be some serious dieting when you return home girlfriend. I'll be there with you, just blogging about all the wonderful place in Italy....makes me want food!