June 23 Faenza and Bologna

The next stop before Bologna is Faenza. A town devoted to Ceramic that barely is given a mention in the tour books. The Museo Internazionale delle Ceramiche was our goal. You know you can drive round in circles and sometimes the place you’re looking for eludes in such a way that you must stop and ask some questions. We found a parking place and as luck would have it a woman looking for a place (and probably hoping we were leaving rather than parking) spoke a little English. She was delighted at our interest in the museum and sprang out of her vehicle to explain in detail all the twists and turns necessary to find the museum. We were pleased to learn that we had indeed found a legal parking place and that with the time of day in the windshield we would remain legal for about two hours. With her good directions we found the museum quickly where we were treated to a reduced rate because of our mature age. Sometimes it’s good to be going onto retirement financially.

The museum was founded by Gaetano Ballardini in 1908. Renovation since 1990 had enlarged the exhibition space as well as allowing for an expansion of the collection. They offer a world search for new works through an International Competition for Contemporary Ceramic Art every two years. The collection is fascinating and overwhelming. I have dozens of pictures. Everything was beautiful and well displayed.

After the museum we ate our lunch in the shade provided by a tiny dried up tree by a canal. We drank up what was left of a leaky bottle of wine and munch on sausage, dry bread and cheese overrun with ants, a peach, tomatoes, apricots, and green olives.

The whole impetus for the trip came about because R's paper was given the thumbs up to be presented at a conference in Bologna. We were staying in an air-conditioned hotel for the rest of our trip. Not that we ever want to spend much time in the room but as a respite the cool room was certainly pleasant.

Once we were checked in we started exploring the neighbor hood starting at the corner of Via Corticella and Via Giovani Carsoni. Yes, after Johnny Carson of late night television fame. That street made it easy later on when riding the bus to know what stop I needed to best find the hotel after a full day of touring. The area was a little sparse. We found one restaurant but it was not Italian. We wandered over by the Fiera District but everything was closed. Bologna is a place where various commercial fairs take place throughout the year. The hotels and restaurants fill up and they put on extra buses to transport participants to the fairs. It would not be a good time to visit as a tourist. Lucky for this conference there was not much else going on. That doesn't mean the whole town was closed down and, as I expand on my observations later, there is plenty to see.

When we returned from our walk, we washed a few things out, and then we drove over to the university where R's conference was to take place. Mostly we did this to become familiar with that area as well. Registration was taking place on a casual basis. Most participants were already registered as was R. Still it was fun to chat with people and learn of a few other adventures around Italy. We were interested in possibly taking a train to Florence and people talked about how great the train was so we were encouraged to try that because we didn't have much experience using the train and R was tired of driving.

Driving in town is tough because of the thick traffic and crazy Italian drivers. Even worse is finding parking. We did find some but we were never sure if the car would be towed away. We went back to the hotel and walked to another restaurant that I had spotted on one of the drive byes. It was great. There was no outside seating left but we really didn't mind that because the inside was air-conditioned. The inner restaurant was full of people most of them there for the evening. An Italian restaurant unlike an American restaurant does not expect you to order, eat and leave as soon a possible so the tables can be filled several times throughout the evening. Eating out with family and friends is the evening's entertainment. They assess a cover charge that is the rent for this spot for several hours and it’s yours. We were not interested in anything more that good food and wine. The place was noisy with animated conversation. We ordered a variety plate of seafood, a salad, and a side of sautéed veggies to go with the liter of sparkling white house wine. Everything was very nice. I think this was my favorite restaurant.

After dinner (and I have forgotten how we got there) we went to the center of town to look around. Street musicians were dotting the Piazza Maggiore and the Library/Book store was open. Most everything else aside from restaurants was closed. The evening was warm but cooling as the sun receded.