Trippin mag 2

OCTOBER 2014

TRAVEL, ART AND CULTURE IN ITALY

VENICE AIR, EARTH, WATER AND FIRE, TOO MUCH FIRE!

RIVER PO PEARL FERRARA ONE OF ITALY’S MOST HIDDEN TREASURES

HOT MUSEUMS FERRARI MUSEUM, MARANELLO THE MECCA OF THE ITALIAN SPORTS CAR

SIENA THE PAST IN THE PRESENT

BELLEARTI DOORS OF CAMPO DI MARTE PHOTOGRAPHIC ESSAY

6 28 48

FERRARI MUSEUM, MARANELLO THE MECCA OF THE ITALIAN SPORTS CAR

HOT MUSEUMS

FERRARA ONE OF ITALY’S MOST HIDDEN TREASURES

RIVER PO PEARL

AIR, EARTH, WATER AND FIRE, TOO MUCH FIRE!

VENICE

CONTENTS

58 74 78 94

Duomo

Ferrara

BOOKS, MOVIES, ALBUNS AND SOME TIPS

CULTURAL TIPS

MODERN EXPLORER’S ULTIMATE GUIDE ITALIAN TRAIN GUIDE

THE TRAVELLER

DOORS OF CAMPO DI MARTE PHOTOGRAPHIC ESSAY

BELLEARTI

THE PAST IN THE PRESENT

SIENA

Porta Camollia

Siena

CIAO! Summer is gone and here comes fall bringing all red leaves and much fun! Trippin Mag arrives in such a good moment bringing some interesting stories and spots. We start with the eternal magic of Venice, its misteries and its beauties, fascinating people all around the world. Then, we make a jump towards south, visiting Ferrara, one of the most gifted of the Italian cities, just around River Po. Next, we’ll take a ride across the river till Maranello to visit the sacred Ferrari Museum and explore all its glories and triumphies. The next step will be at the medieval jewell of Siena, its obscure tiny alleys, fine food and all tradition of the Palio. Then, drive some kilometers north to discover an extraordinary side of Florence through a photography essay and finishing this edition with a smart guide to travelling by train in Italy and some cultural tips as new releases of books, music and movies. We hope you’ll have enough stuff to be prepared to explore more Italian treasures! Arrivederci!

Photos and design by Pablo de Mello

VEN

AIR, EARTH, WATER AND

NICE

D FIRE, TOO MUCH FIRE!

VENICE

ROMA

VENICE. A NAME THAT EVOKES MAGIC VISIONS. AN

SINCRONIZED THE RYTHM OF LIFE. THE BRIDGES AND

UNIQUE PLACE THAT SHAKES SOMEWHERE IN THE

ALLEYS. FISHERMEN AND MASK DANCERS. WEALTH

IMMAGINARY OF PEOPLE ALL AROUND THE WORLD. ITS

AND LUXURY. DECADENCE AND SADNESS. LET’S TALK A

CHANNELS, THE SMOOTH MOVEMENT OF THE WATER

WALK THROUGHT THESE AND MUCH MORE.

enice bursts into a riot of sound and colour this week, as masked Venetians take to the streets for the city’s annual carnival. With less tourist traffic than you’ll find during the warmer months, the Serene Republic is also the ideal destination for a romantic break.

For starters, the cruise ships are doing damage to the Venetian lagoon (and therefore the city itself), so if you can avoid cruises that have Venice as a port of call you’re already doing the city a great service.

But beyond that, the magic of Venice is much harder to experience when you have very limited time and when you aren’t spending the night. The best times of day in the city

– without question – are the early morning (before the daytrippers arrive) and the late evening.

If you’re driving to Venice and back, you have more flexibility to get there early and leave late for a long day-trip – but if you’re relying on public transport, your options aren’t going to allow you to get bewitched by Venice. So take my advice, spend at least one night (not on the mainland, either) and plan on two full days in the city.

You’ve just arrived by plane into Venice’s Marco Polo Airport, and it’s relatively early in the day. You’ll gather your bags and pull your groggy self toward the exit. You’ve read about how to get from Venice Airport into Venice, and you’ve decided which method of transportation makes the most sense for you. You’re also armed with the necessary information from your hotel or hostel, who told you which vaporetto (water bus) stop was closest to their front door.

V

IL VAPORETTO In most cities, your first order of business upon arrival is to chuck your stuff in your room and get back out to actually see the city. In Venice, you get to see the city before you even see your hotel. Assuming you’ve cleverly chosen a water transport method, secure a place by a window so you can see Venice come into view as you make your way across the lagoon from the airport. If you’ve splurged a bit on a water taxi, you’ll appreciate the ability to poke your head out of the top of the boat so you can really get a look at things. Have your camera ready. You’ll need it.

After you eventually check into your Venice hotel and put your bags down, resist the urge to crash for a nap. I know you’re jetlagged, but I hope the impossibility of the canal city has captivated you upon your entry and you’re eager to explore.

Because that’s what you’ll spend the rest of the day doing.

Depending on when you’re visiting Venice, you may find that the lines to get into the city’s top sight – St. Mark’s Basilica – aren’t too long when you wander by. If that’s the case, jump at the chance to visit this amazing church. It’s my favorite church anywhere (so far, at least), and it’s worth an hour (if you visit all the mini-exhibits within the basilica, that is, including taking the steep staircase to the roof where you can look over the square).

V

transportation of Venice.

The number 1 vaporetto route

Vaporetti take visitors

runs up and down the Grand

along the main canals, to

Canal, stopping in each of the

the islands, and around the

six sestiere. Number 2 Also

lagoon. In 2013 the single

runs on the Grand Canal and

vaporetto fare is 7 euro (good

connects the Tronchetto with

for one hour from the time

the train station, Piazzale

it’s stamped) but if you plan

Roma, Lido, and Guidecca.

to spend much time on the

Route N Night bus, follows

vaporetto system, it’s wise

the number 2 route but skips

to buy a travel card that can

the Giardini stop.

be bought at any vaporetto

Routes 4.1 and 4.2 Go around

ticket office or online through

the outside of Venice, serving

Venezia Unica. Travelcards

the train station, Piazzale

are good for both water and

Roma, and Guidecca and

land transport in the Venice

going to Murano Island from

area (land services on the

Fondamente Nove.

Lido and in Mestre). Here

Route 12: Goes to Murano

are prices as of May 2014: 18

and Burano Islands from

€ - 12-hour travelcard and 20

Fondamente Nove.

enice’s vaporetti,

€ - 24-hour travelcard.

or water buses, are the public

ROUTES

ST. M RK

Basi

If you’ll be in Venice during the high season, you might look into booking a free reservation time to get into St. Mark’s Basilica – it’s free to enter, and free to book the entry time.

You get about a 15-minute window in which to enter, and you just show your reservation code to the guard to bypass what can be quite a long line.

Along with a spin through St. Mark’s, the other attractions to visit during your first day in Venice are the Doge’s Palace (right next door to St.

Mark’s, and worth the admission if for no other reason than it’s the only way to walk over the famous Bridge of Sighs) and the Campanile (bell tower) in front of St. Mark’s (you can take the elevator to the top for a view over the basilica), but otherwise your first day in Venice should be spent getting as utterly lost as you possibly can.

I’m serious.

See the direction the bulk of the crowd is going? Turn left. Or right, if left would put you in a canal. And

keep walking. Find another crowd? Go the other way. Keep walking until you find those quiet back-streets of Venice, where Venetians live and work and shop. It won’t take long, I swear. It’s just that most people don’t bother to give it a try.

Oh, and put down the map for now. Maps in Venice are almost entirely useless, and you can’t get too lost, anyway.

You’re on an island, after all,

O

MA

ne of the grandest, most confusing and certainly the most exotic of all cathedrals

in Europe, Basilica di San Marco is a grand treasure-heap of Venetian art and all sorts of lavish booty garnered from the eastern Mediterranean. Legend has it that St. Mark, on his way to Rome, was

St. Marks Basilica story

told by an angel his body would rest near

ilica

the lagoon that would one today become Venice. Centuries later, the city fathers were looking for a patron saint of high stature, more in keeping with their lofty aspirations, and in 828 the prophecy was duly fulfilled when Venetian merchants stole the body of St. Mark from Alexandria in Egypt. Modeled on Constantinople’s Church of the Twelve Apostles, the shrine of St. Mark was consecrated in 832, but in 976 the church burned down. The present incarnation was completed in 1094 but extended and embellished over subsequent years, serving as the personal church of the doge. Even today San Marco looks more like a Byzantine cathedral than a Roman Catholic church, with a cavernous interior exquisitely gilded with Byzantine mosaics added over some 7 centuries and covering every inch of both ceiling and pavement.

Here you can mingle with the celebrated Triumphal Quadriga of four gilded bronze horses dating from the 2nd or 3rd century a.d.; originally set on the Loggia, the restored originals were moved inside in the 1980s for preservation. The horses were brought to Venice from Constantinople in 1204 along with lots of other loot from the Fourth Crusade. For centuries, these

and you can always ask someone to direct you back to St. Mark’s Square or the Rialto or something major and find your way from there.

Later in the evening of your first day in Venice, swing by the Rialto Bridge – it’ll still be kind of crowded, but it’s sometimes less busy at night when the day-trippers have left. And this is a great time to take that leisurely “cruise” along the Grand Canal on the #1 slow vaporetto water bus that I listed as one of my 20 things everyone

should do in Italy.

If you found St. Mark’s Square unbearably busy earlier in the day, walk back through one last time late at night – and I mean late, if you can keep your eyes open, like on your way back to your hotel from dinner.

Venice isn’t a nightlife town, so when restaurants close up it can get eerily quiet. Walk through those weird backstreets you found earlier. Walk to the edge of the islands and look out over the blackness of the Venetian lagoon.

were symbols of the unrivaled Serene Republic and are the only quadriga to have survived from the classical era. Not to be outdone by looting-prone Venetians, Napoleon carted the horses off to Paris in 1798, though they were returned to Venice in 1815 after the fall of Bonaparte.

The church’s greatest treasure is the magnificent altarpiece known as the Pala d’Oro (Golden Altarpiece), a Gothic masterpiece encrusted with over 2,000 precious gems and 83 enameled panels and much, much more.

Ponte Listen to the water lapping against the edge of this city that shouldn’t exist, and whisper thanks that it does.

And sleep well.

You’ll get up early on your second day in Venice, partly because you want to soak in the city as it’s waking up and getting ready for the day-trippers and partly because you’re still jetlagged.

Whatever, go with it – it’ll work to your benefit in Venice.

If you’re out and about early enough, you may get treated to the city’s custodians sweeping up yesterday’s detritus in St. Mark’s Square, or Venetians doing their morning shopping near the Rialto Bridge at the city’s market (some of which is on boats). Yes, this is a real city where

real people live, although the number of Venetians in Venice declines dramatically every year.

The way I see it, you’ll have two main options for how to spend your second day in Venice. If there are other sights (like the Guggenheim Museum or the Accademia) you want to see but missed on your first day’s wanderings, or if you loved your wandering so much that you felt like the sun set too soon, then by all means spend your second day much like your first. Since it’s easily the best way to spend time in Venice, there’s nothing wrong with just strolling aimlessly for two days.

If, on the other hand, you’re feeling restless and want to see something else, you can spend a good part of the

day on an excursion visiting the three major islands in the Venetian lagoon.

Murano is famous for glass-making, Burano is famous for lace-making (and it’s brightly-painted houses), and the remote Torcello is where the city of Venice got its start.

Murano is the most popular of the three, so you won’t really be escaping the crowds there – and you might be sucked into a half-hearted glassblowing demonstration that spits you

out in an overpriced gift shop (it’s not all bad, but be wary of people luring you into free demonstrations). Burano is a little less crowded, and its multi-colored houses can’t be beat for almost dollhouse-like cuteness.

Torcello (pictured at the right) is my favorite of the three, mainly for its seclusion and the stunning mosaics in its old cathedral.

Whatever time is left after your lagoon excursions can easily be taken up with more wandering – especially since you’re probably going to get lost a few times on your way to one place or another.

Ponte Rialto

Rialto This graceful arch over the Grand Canal, linking the San Marco and San Polo districts, is lined with overpriced boutiques and is teeming with tourists and overflow from the daily market on the San Polo side. Until the 19th century, it was the only bridge across the Grand Canal, originally built as a pontoon bridge at the canal’s narrowest point. Wooden versions of the bridge followed; the 1444 incarnation was the first to include shops, interrupted by a drawbridge in the center. In 1592, this graceful stone span was finished to the designs of Antonio da Ponte (whose last name fittingly enough means bridge), who beat out Sansovino, Palladio, and Michelangelo, with his plans that called for a single, vast, 28m-wide (92-ft.) arch in the center to allow trading ships to pass.

IL GONDOLIERE

A

visit to Venice is not complete unless you take a gondola ride down the world-famous Grand Canal. A classic gondola ride is the perfect way to appreciate the beauty, charm and color of this unique city built on water. You will be enthralled by the elegance of the grand mansions with their fine facades and richly toned plaster work.

You’ll also explore many hidden canals so small you can literally touch the palazzos and breathe in the Italian culture, all the while being cradled in the atmosphere unique only to Venice.

It is estimated that there were ten thousand gondolas during the 17th and 18th century. There are just over four hundred in active service today, virtually all of them used for hire by tourists.

Feel part of an ancient Venetian tradition and experience Venice as the locals have for more than a thousand years. Gondolas hold six people and can be shared without affecting the fee so you can save money by sharing a tariff with several people around 80 euro each. A standard gondola ride is 40 minutes.

CANAL GRANDE A

leisurely cruise along the “Canalazzo” from Piazza San Marco to the Ferrovia (train station), or the reverse, is one of Venice’s (and life’s) must-do experiences. Hop on the no. 1 vaporetto in the late afternoon (try to get one of the coveted outdoor seats in the prow), when the weather-worn colors of the former homes of Venice’s merchant elite are warmed by the soft light and reflected in the canal’s rippling waters, and

the busy traffic of delivery boats, vaporetti, and gondolas that fills the city’s main thoroughfare has eased somewhat. The sheer number and opulence of the 200-odd palazzi, churches, and imposing republican buildings dating from the 14th to the 18th centuries is enough to make any boat-going visitor’s head swim.

Many of the largest canal-side buildings are now converted into imposing international banks, government or university buildings, art galleries, and consulates.

Chiesa di

San Zaccaria

B

ehind (east of) St. Mark’s Basilica is a 9th-century Gothic church with its original 13th-century campanile and a splendid Renaissance facade designed by the Venetian architect Mario Codussi in the late 15th century. Of the interior’s many artworks is the important Madonna Enthroned with Four Saints, painted by Giovanni Bellini in 1505. Art historians have long held this as one of Bellini’s finer Madonnas. Ask the sacristan to see the Sisters’ Choir, with works by Tintoretto, Titian, Il Vecchio, Anthony Van Dyck, and Bassano. The paintings aren’t labeled, but the sacristan will point out the names of the artists.

In the fan vaults of the Chapel of San Tarasio are the faded ceiling frescoes of the Florentine-born artist Andrea del Castagno, who was the first to bring the spirit of the Renaissance to Venice.

*

Hours Mon-Sat 10am-noon daily 4-6pm Vaporetto San Zaccaria Where Castello, Campo San Zaccaria Phone 041-522-1257 Prices Free admission

Galleria della

Accademia A

long with San Marco and the Palazzo Ducale, the Accademia is one of the highlights of Venice, a magnificent collection of European art and especially Venetian painting from the 14th to the 18th centuries. Visitors are currently limited to 300 at one time, so lines can be long in high season—advance reservations are essential. The core galleries occupy the old Scuola della Carità, dating back to 1343.

Rooms are laid out in rough chronological order, though the ongoing renovation means some rooms may be closed when you visit. Room 2 includes Carpaccio’s grim “Crucifixion & Glorification of the Ten Thousand Martyrs of Mount Ararat” and his much lighter “Presentation of Jesus in the Temple,” but the real showstoppers of the collection reside in rooms 4 and 5, with a gorgeous “St. George” by Mantegna and a series of Giovanni Bellini “Madonnas.” Pride of place goes to Giorgione’s enigmatic and utterly mystifying “Tempest”.

Rooms 6 to 8 feature Venetian heavyweights Tintoretto, Titian and Lorenzo Lotto, while Room 10 is dominated

by Paolo Veronese’s mammoth “Feast in the House of Levi”. Tintoretto canvases make up the rest of the room, including his three legends of St. Mark: “St. Mark

Rescues a Slave,” “The Theft of the Body of St. Mark,” and “St. Mark Saves a Saracen.”

Opposite is Titian’s last painting, a “Pietà” intended for his own tomb. Room 11 contains work by Tiepolo, the master of 18th-century Venetian painting, but also Tintoretto’s “Madonna dei Tesorieri.”

The next rooms contain a relatively mediocre batch of 17th and 18th-century paintings, though Canaletto’s “Capriccio: A Colonnade” (Room 17), which he presented to the Academy when he was made a member in 1763, certainly merits a closer look for its elegant contrast between diagonal, vertical, and horizontal lines.

*

Hours Daily 8:15am–7:15pm (Mon until 2pm)Vaporetto San Zaccaria Where Vaporetto: AccademiaPhone 0415200345 Prices Admission 9€ adults Site www.gallerieaccademia.org

Chiesa di

San Giorgio Maggiore

T *

Hours Mon–Sat 9:30am– 12:30pm; daily 2:30–6pm Vaporetto Take the Giudecca-bound vaporetto (no. 82) on Riva degli Schiavoni and get off at the 1st stop, San Giorgio Maggiore Where San Giorgio Maggiore island Phone 041-5227827 Prices Free admission

his church sits on the little island of San Giorgio Maggiore across from Piazza San Marco. It is one of the masterpieces of Andrea Palladio, the great Renaissance architect from nearby Padua.

Most known for his country villas built for Venice’s wealthy merchant families, Palladio was commissioned to build two churches (the other is the Redentore on the neighboring Giudecca island), beginning with San Giorgio, designed in 1565 and completed in 1610. To impose a classical front on the traditional church structure,

Palladio designed two interlocking facades, with repeating triangles, rectangles, and columns that are harmoniously proportioned.

Founded as early as the 10th century, the interior of the church was reinterpreted by Palladio with whitewashed stucco surfaces, stark but majestic, an unadorned but harmonious space. The main altar is flanked by two epic paintings by an elderly Tintoretto, “The Fall of Manna,” to the left, and the more noteworthy “Last Supper” to the right, famous for its chiaroscuro.

Through the doorway to the right of the choir leading to the Cappella dei Morti, you will find Tintoretto’s “Deposition.”

un

trans la table

T

he island of Murano has long been famous throughout the world for the products of its glass factories, but there’s little here in variety or prices that you won’t find in Venice. A visit to the Museo del Vetro (Museum of Glass), Fondamenta Giustinian 8 (tel. 041-739-586), will put the island’s centuries-old legacy into perspective and is recommended for those considering major buys.

MUR ANO Hours are Tuesday to Sunday 10am to 6pm (to 5pm Nov-Mar), and admission is 8€ for adults and 5.50€ children 6 to 14 and students under 30, or free with the cumulative Museum Pass and for children 5 and under.

Dozens of fornaci (furnaces) offer free shows of mouth-blown glassmaking almost invariably hitched to a hard-sell (“No obligation! Really!”) tour of the factory outlet. These retail showrooms of delicate glassware can be enlightening or boring,

depending on your frame of mind.

Almost all the places ship, often doubling the price. On the other hand, these pieces are instant heirlooms.

Murano also has two worthy churches: San Pietro Martire, with its altarpieces by Tintoretto, Veronese, and Giovanni Bellini, and the ancient Santa Maria e Donato, with an intricate Byzantine exterior apse and a 6th-century pulpit and columns inside resting on a fantastic 12th-century inlaid floor.

BUR ANO

L

ace is the claim to fame of tiny, colorful Burano, a craft kept alive for centuries by the wives of fishermen waiting for their husbands to return from sea. It’s still worth a trip if you have time to stroll the island’s back streets, whose canals are lined with the brightly colored simple homes of the buranesi fisherman. The local government continues its attempt to keep its centuries-old lace legacy

alive with subsidized classes.

Visit the Museo del Merletto (Museum of Lace Making), 187 Piazza Galuppi (tel. 041-730-034), to understand why something so exquisite should not be left to fade into extinction. It’s open Tuesday to Sunday 10am to 6pm (to 5:30pm Nov-Mar), and admission is 5€ adults and 3.50€ children 6 to 14 and students under 30, or free with the cumulative Museum Pass and children 5 and under.

{

PALAZZO

DUCALE A masterpiece of Gothic architecture The interior, with works by artists such as Titian, Veronese, Tintoretto, A.Vittoria and Tiepolo, includes vast council chambers, superbly decorated residential apartments, and austere prison cells. Along the facades of the Palace run loggias that overlook St. Mark’s Square and the lagoon. The combined entrance ticket to the St. Mark’s Square Museums grants access to the Doge’s Palace, Museo Correr, Museo Archeologico Nazionale and Biblioteca Marciana

T

he pink-and-white marble GothicRenaissance Palazzo Ducale, residence and government center of the doges who ruled Venice for more than 1,000 years, stands between the Basilica di San Marco and the sea.

A symbol of prosperity and power, it was destroyed by a succession of fires, with the current building started in 1340, extended in the 1420s, and largely redesigned again after a fire in 1483. Forever being expanded, it slowly grew to be one of Italy’s greatest civic structures. If you want to understand something of this magnificent place, the fascinating history of the 1,000-yearold maritime republic, and the

intrigue of the government that ruled it, take the Secret Itineraries tour.

The 15th-century Porta della Carta (Paper Gate), the entrance adjacent to the basilica where the doges’ official proclamations and decrees were posted, opens onto a splendid inner courtyard with a double row of Renaissance arches (today visitors enter through a doorway on the lagoon side of the palace). The self-guided route through the palace begins on the left side of the main courtyard, where the Museo dell’Opera contains assorted bits of masonry preserved from the Palazzo’s exterior. Beyond here, the first major room you’ll come to is the spacious Sala delle Quattro Porte (Hall of the Four Doors), with a worn ceiling by Tintoretto. The Sala dell’Anticollegio, the next main room, is where foreign

Ponte dei Sospiri

Sala Maggior ambassadors waited to be received by the doge and his council. It is covered in four works by Tintoretto, and Veronese’s “Rape of Europe” , considered one of the palazzo’s finest. It steals some of the thunder of Tintoretto’s Mercury & the Three Graces and “Bacchus and Ariadne” the latter considered one of his best by some critics.

The highlight of the adjacent Sala del Collegio (the Council Chamber itself) is the spectacular cycle of ceiling paintings

by Veronese, completed

between 1575 and 1578 and one of his masterpieces.

Next door lies the most impressive of the spectacular interior rooms, the richly adorned Sala del Senato (Senate Chamber), with Tintoretto’s ceiling painting, “The Triumph of Venice.” Here laws were passed by the Senate, a select group of 200 chosen from the Great Council.

The latter was originally an elected body, but in the 13th century it became an aristocratic stronghold that could number as many as 1,700. After passing again

through the Sala delle Quattro Porte, you’ll come to the Veronese-decorated Stanza del Consiglio dei Dieci (Room of the Council of Ten, the Republic’s dreaded security police), of particular historical interest. It was in this room that justice was dispensed and decapitations ordered.

Formed in the 14th century to deal with emergency situations, the Ten were considered more powerful than the Senate and feared by all. Just outside the adjacent chamber, in the Sala della Bussola

(the Compass Chamber), notice the Bocca dei Leoni (Lion’s Mouth), a slit in the wall into which secret denunciations and accusations of enemies of the state were placed for quick action by the muchfeared Council.

The main sight on the next level down—indeed, in the entire palace—is the Sala del Maggior Consiglio (Great Council Hall).

This enormous space is animated by Tintoretto’s huge “Paradiso” at the far end of the hall above the doge’s seat (the painter

was in his 70s when he undertook the project with the help of his son).

Measuring 7x23m (23x75 ft.), it is said to be the world’s largest oil painting; together with Veronese’s gorgeous “Il Trionfo di Venezia” (“The Triumph of Venice”) in the oval panel on the ceiling, it affirms the power emanating from the council sessions held here. Tintoretto also did the portraits of the 76 doges encircling the top of this chamber; note that the picture of the Doge Marin Falier, who

was convicted of treason and beheaded in 1355, has been blacked out—Venice has never forgiven him.

Although elected for life since sometime in the 7th century, over time il doge became nothing but a figurehead (they were never allowed to meet with foreign ambassadors alone); the power rested in the Great Council. Tours culminate at the enclosed Ponte dei Sospiri (Bridge of Sighs), built in 1600 and which connects the Ducal Palace with the grim Palazzo delle Prigioni

(Prison). The bridge took its current name only in the 19th century, when visiting northern European poets romantically envisioned the prisoners’ final breath of resignation upon viewing the outside world one last time before being locked in their fetid cells. Some attribute the name to Casanova, who, following his arrest in 1755 (he was accused of being a Freemason and spreading antireligious propaganda), crossed this very bridge.

One of the rare few to escape, something he

achieved 15 months after his imprisonment began, he returned to Venice 20 years later. Some of the stone cells still have the original graffiti of past prisoners, many of them locked up interminably for petty crimes.

*

Hours Daily 8:30am–7pm Vaporetto San Marco Where Piazza San Marco Phone 041-2715911 Web Site www. palazzoducale.visitmuve.it/ Prices 18 euro

“

Venice never quite seems real, but rather an ornate film set suspended on the water.

PEARLS OF RIV

FERR

One of Italy’s most

VER PO SERIES

R AR A

t hidden treasures

MILANO VERONA MANTOVA FERRARA PO RIVER

BOLOGNA

W

hen Papa Borgia (Pope Alexander VI) was shopping for a third husband for the apple of his eye, darling Lucrezia, his gaze fell on the influential house of Este. From the 13th century, this great Italian family had dominated Ferrara, building up a powerful duchy and a reputation as patrons of the arts. Alfonse d’Este, son of the shrewd but villainous Ercole I, the ruling duke of Ferrara, was an attractively virile candidate for Lucrezia’s much-used hand.

(Her second husband was murdered, perhaps by her brother, Cesare, who was the apple of nobody’s eye -- with the possible exception of Machiavelli. Her first marriage, a political alliance, was to Giovanni Sforza, but it was annulled in 1497.)

Although the Este family might have had reservations (after all, it was common gossip that the pope “knew” his daughter in the biblical sense), they finally consented to the marriage. As the duchess of Ferrara, a position she held until her death, Lucrezia bore seven children. But one of her grandchildren, Alfonso II, wasn’t as prolific and left the family without a male heir. The greedy eye of Pope Clement VIII took quick action, gobbling up the city as his personal fiefdom in the waning months of the 16th century. The great house of Este went down in history, and Ferrara sadly declined under the

papacy rbunle.

Incidentally, Alfonso II was a dubious patron of Torquato Tasso (1544-95), author of the epic Jerusalem Delivered, a work that was to make him the most celebrated poet of the Late Renaissance. The legend of Tasso (who’s thought to have been insane, paranoid, or at least tormented) has steadily grown over the centuries. It didn’t need any more boosting, but Goethe fanned the legend through the Teutonic lands with his late-18th-century drama Torquato Tasso. It’s said that Alfonso II at one time made Tasso his prisoner.

Ferrara is still relatively undiscovered but it’s richly blessed, with much of its legacy intact. Among the historic treasures are a great cathedral and the Este Castle, along with enough ducal palaces to make for a fast-paced day of sightseeing. Its palaces, for the most part, have long been robbed of their furnishings, but the faded frescoes, the paintings that weren’t carted off, and the palatial rooms are reminders of the vicissitudes of power.

Modern Ferrara is one of the most health-conscious places in all Italy. Bicycles outnumber the automobiles on the road, and more than half of the citizens get exercise by jogging. In fact, it’s almost surreal: Enclosed in medieval walls under a bright sky, everywhere you look, you’ll find the people of Ferrara engaged in all sorts of self-powered locomotion. Beware of octogenarian cyclists whizzing by you with shopping bags flapping in the wind.

T

he first problem I had when I started writing a novel set in a 16thcentury convent in Ferrara was that my spellchecker kept trying to turn the city into a car.

It was one of many realisations that this history-rich place on the banks of the River Po is one of Italy’s hidden treasures.

We’ll get inside the convent later first, Ferrara itself. I arrived there early one summer morning on a train from

Florence. My walk to Florence station had been an obstacle course of cars and crocodile files of sweating tourists so busy adjusting their commentary earphones that they barely managed to lift their eyes to see what particular Renaissance wonder the guide was instructing them to appreciate.

An hour and a half later, hopping on a bus from Ferrara station, which is situated outside the massive, crumbling medieval walls, I found myself in a well-nigh perfectly preserved medieval and Renaissance city, with barely a car or a tourist to be

seen and with a prevailing soundtrack of bells - the bass ones coming from the churches and the upper register from the hundreds of bicycles that are the lifeline of transport for the modern Ferrarese.

For those with the time and energy to travel outside the accepted tourist trail of Florence, Venice and Rome, north-east Italy is a goldmine. Padua, Verona and Mantua are each treasures in their way, but for my money Ferrara is the best of them all. An energetic, aggressive city state until the Papal States gobbled it up in 1597, it was

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Castello Estense is pretty much the center of town. The Duomo and twisting lanes of the medieval town are just to the southeast.

Corso Ercole I d’Este, flanked by beautiful palazzi, leads north into the Renaissance city and past Palazzo dei Diamanti to the city walls.

* run for centuries by the d’Este clan, who started out as barely concealed thugs but morphed into sophisticated Renaissance patrons, with an eye for town planning and an ear for fabulous music. The buildings you can still see; the music takes a bit more imagining.

A great boulevard divides the medieval quarter from the Renaissance side, conceived and built in the early 16th century by Duke Ercole d’Este.

In the Renaissance city all is space and dignity: parks, palazzi and grand houses. In the medieval quarter the humble Ferrarese brick (one of the

many wonders of this city is that much of it is built from warm brick rather than the colder glory of marble or stone) lights up a criss-cross of tiny jumbled roads, packed with churches, cloisters, old palaces and ordinary houses. The variety and ingenuity of their arches, windows and grilles are worth a small slideshow of photos in their own right.

In the middle of the divide stands the outrageous d’Este castle: half palace, half fortress, even down to its surrounding moat. Inside, under baroque sweetness lies a history of

Hours Daily 9:30 | 17 pm Where Largo Castello Phone 0532-299233 Site www.castelloestense.it/it Prices 8 euro

naked power. It was here, in 1425, in the marital bedchamber and the dungeons, that Niccolò d’Este had his second wife and her lover - his own son, Ugo - murdered for an alleged affair.

This venting of medieval righteous anger is perhaps understandable until you learn that he himself boasted of sleeping with 800 women and that the chroniclers of the time talked of how, “left and right of the river Po, everywhere there are children by Niccolò”.

Luckily, visitors to Ferrara can now find safer places to rest their heads.

Writers, of course, travel on pathetic budgets, but one can still nose out a little style. Suite Duomo on Corso Porta Reno is slap-bang in the middle of town: if you ask nicely they will give you a room with a view of the cathedral facade and you can breakfast on a terrace that overlooks the grand piazza in front. On my second day I woke to find the market in full swing, as it would have been for centuries.

Amazingly, the grand cathedral had shops built into its side, and while the majority of the cheap clothes on sale now may come from China, the vegetables, meats and cheeses still roll in from the surrounding countryside.

How you spend the rest of your days

* (and I would recommend at least a long weekend) will depend on whether your taste leans towards ostentatious art or more humble secret architecture.

By my third visit, the writer in me was already in a convent in my head, so I no longer had any time for the splendid decadence of the Palazzo Schifanoia - its name roughly translates as “avoiding boredom” - with its salon of frescoes by 15th-century Ferrarese masters depicting peasants and gods at work and at play (I leave you to guess which are doing what).

Instead, I was sticking my nose inside churches and cloisters. Casa

Romeo is a beautifully restored 14thcentury merchant’s house that once abutted an old convent, its central courtyard silent and serene. An equally perfect and even sweeter example of medieval cloister architecture is to be found at the entrance to the cathedral museum, right in the middle of the city’s most thriving modern thoroughfare. Opposite is a popular local wine bar where the quality of the wine is as high as the prices are low.

Somewhere off that same street I found a great secondhand clothes shop (had I had one or two fewer glasses of wine I might have remembered the exact address, but at least it gives the visitor

SNAROLA AVO A Christian preacher born in Ferrara, reformer, and martyr, renowned for his clash with tyrannical rulers and a corrupt clergy. After the overthrow of the Medici in 1494, Savonarola was the sole leader of Florence, setting up a democratic republic. His chief enemies were the Duke of Milan and Pope Alexander VI, who issued numerous restraints against him, all of which were ignored. something to aim for), where I bought a leather jacket so fine I am considering being buried in it.

Which brings me to the churches.

And the convents. Five hundred years ago, Ferrara, like all other Italian cities, was so nervous about female sexuality that as soon as respectable women reached the age of menstruation they were either married off or - more likely, given how expensive dowries were by this time - incarcerated in convents.

“Christ is the only son-in-law who doesn’t cause me any trouble,” wrote the great Ferrarese Renaissance patron Isabella d’Este, after walling up two of

PALAZZO MUNICIPALE

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Hours Daily 9.00 | 14.00 Where Largo Castello Phone 0532 209370 / 299303 Site www.artecultura.fe.it/index.phtml?id=1617 Prices Free Entrance

her own daughters for safety.

But while no one can deny the appalling unfairness of the practice, it was not all terrible. Sisters, nieces, aunts and cousins within a family would all have been nuns - and, bearing in mind the forced marriages, abusive husbands, lack of birth control and death toll from childbirth outside the walls, convents could be

sanctuaries as well as prisons. Those nuns with fine voices could use them daily (convent choirs were a source of great glory to a city like Ferrara); others played instruments and even in some cases composed music or wrote plays.

The more you dig, the more a portrait emerges of small republics of women with their own dramatic ebb and flow of power.

Most Italian convents were disbanded after Napoleon invaded but among the glories of Ferrara two working ones still exist, both of them rich in history. Corpus Domini is famous both for its visionary 15thcentury nun and for the tomb of the infamous Lucrezia Borgia, who married into the Ferrarese royal family in 1502 and produced a crop of heirs.

Begun in 1245, the City Hall was the residence of the Este family until the 16th century. The main entrance is through Volto del Cavallo, opposite the cathedral, and is flanked by two sculptures, copies of the original 15th century ones.

To the right, above an arch designed by Leon Battista Alberti, is a statue of Niccolò III d’Este on horseback; to the left, seated on a column, is his son Borso.

The present-day facade is a neo-Gothic reconstruction that includes the Torre della Vittoria, where the bronze monument to Victory, a work of great value by Arrigo Minerbi (1918) is housed.

In the courtyard of honour the architect Pietro Benvenuti degli Ordini began construction of the covered monumental staircase at the end of the 15th century.

Once through the main door, two large rooms, still with remains of Renaissance decoration, are crossed before reaching a modern room which leads into the Stanzino delle Duchesse, which probably belonged to Eleonora and Lucrezia d’Este, the sisters of Duke Alfonso II.

} The other, Sant’Antonio in Polesine, on which I based my novel Sacred Hearts, is even more special. Originally a thriving Benedictine convent for noblewomen, it now sits serene and secluded at the edge of the city wall, home to just 17 elderly nuns.

Like the nuns of Corpus Domini they are enclosed, but if you visit between

certain hours and ring the bell, a sister will talk to you through the grille, then crack open the door and guide you to the inner chapel, the walls of which are filled with wonderful, delicate frescoes from the time of Giotto.

Later you can sit in the outer church and listen while those 17 nuns sing public vespers on the other side of the

altar grille. Their ageing voices are cracked and desperately sad compared with the great choir that would have enthralled the city’s dignitaries 500 years ago, but like so much in Ferrara, the experience is a reminder of the unexpected delights that this jewel of a city has to offer the more intrepid tourist.

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Cattedrale San Giorgio Martire

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he faithful did not even have to step beyond the magnificent 12th-century porch to understand that salvation was a pretty dicey affair. In exquisite carvings above the entryway, the dead creep out of their tombs as an angel weighs sins and good deeds on a scale; as if to prove that the odds are against salvation, a devil mischievously tugs on the evil side so it skews toward sin. The saved, gloriously crowned, proceed toward Heaven, where they are welcomed into the lap of Abraham; the naked damned slouch down to Hell to be tormented by sneering Devils. In the vast interior, redone in dark baroque style after an 18th-century fire, a fresco

by Guercino (“the squinter”) portrays the martyrdom of St. Lawrence. When Roman authorities demanded that Lawrence, an early church deacon, turn over ecclesiastic treasures, he

brought them the poor, saying “Behold in these poor persons the treasures which I promised to show you.” As punishment Lawrence was tied to a spit and burned over a roaring fire. After the good-natured saint roasted for a time, he allegedly said, “I’m well done, turn me over,” and the wisecrack has earned him a place as patron of chefs and cooks. The museum, housed in the former San Romano monastery opposite the church, is well stocked with works by Ferrara’s leading 15thcentury painter of the Este court, Tura.

Most arresting among them is “St. George,” an especially intense portrayal of Ferrara’s patron saint savagely trying to do away with a dragon to save a damsel in distress. The tale was a popular part of religious tradition as well as a romantic legend of chivalry, so it may well have satisfied both the Este’s spiritual and courtly aspirations.

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Hours Daily 7.30 | 18.30 Where Piazza della Cattedrale Phone 0532-207449 Prices Free Entrance

“ FERRARA

magnificent and very well preserved medieval and renaissance city, filled of art treasures, where the humanist concept of the ‘ideal city’ came to life, and declared as an UNESCO World Heritage site in 1995.

PALAZZO DEI DIAMANTI

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he facade of the Este’s most remarkable residence comprises 8,500 spiky, diamond-shaped, white marble blocks, creating an architectural spectacle that shimmers in the light and seems to be constantly in movement. The palazzo stands at the intersection of two monumental avenues that were the main thoroughfares of the Addizione that Ercole d’Este laid out in the late 15th century, doubling the size of Ferrara and making the city into a Renaissance showplace. The Pinacoteca Nazionale occupies the ground floor of the palazzo and provides a handy overview of the School of Ferrara, especially the trio of old masters who flourished under the Estes—Cosmé Tura, Francesco del Cossa, and Ercole Roberti. Pride of place belongs to Tura’s “Martyrdom of St. Maurelius,” in which the subject, an early bishop of Ferrara, calmly kneels as his executioner swings a sword above his neck and some decidedly cheerfullooking putti look on from a cloud.

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Hours Tues–Sun 9am–2pm Where Corso Ercole d’Este, 21 Phone 0532-205844 Site www.palazzodiamanti.it/ Prices 4€ adults, free for children

PALAZZO SCHIFANOIA

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he Estes retreated for leisure to several pleasure palaces around Ferrara, including this one enlarged by Duke Borso d’Este between 1450 and 1471. Schifanoia translates roughly as “chasing away tedium,” and the concept comes to the fore in the Salone dei Mesi (Salon of the Months), where a mesmerizing cycle of frescoes represents the 12 months—or did, as only a few remain intact, each divided into three horizontal bands: The lower bands show scenes from the daily life of courtiers and people, with Duke Borso frequently making an appearance astride a horse; the middle bands illustrate signs of the zodiac; and the upper sections depict gods and goddesses associated with the sign. In this collaboration of the masters of the Ferrarese school of painting—Francesco del Cossa, Ercole dei Roberti, and Cosimo Tura—characters of those distant times seem to come alive and step out of the scenes (one figure actually does, and perches on the edge of the frame as if he’s about to jump into the room). Men ride horses and run footraces, harvesters pick grapes, women do needlework and play lutes.

The artists even dug some skeletons out of the Este closet: In a mythical scene depicting Mars and Venus caught in a net as they make love, their clothing is laid beside the bed in such a way to suggest a decapitated man and woman—a sly reference to the fate of the adulterous Ugolino and Parisina d’Este

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Hours Tues–Sun 9am–6pm Where Via Scandiana, 23 Phone 0532-244949 Site www.artecultura.fe.it/ Prices 6€ adults, free for 17 and under

CASA ROMEI

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Hours Tues–Sun 9am–2pm Where Via Savonarola, 30 Phone 0532-234130 Site www.ferraraterraeacqua.it/en/ Prices 3€ adults, free for children

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his lavish mansion was built between 1440 and 1450 for Giovanni Romei, a once lowly administrator who married into the family of the fleshy Borso d’Este (1413-71), first duke of Ferrara. Its elegant furnishings were carted off by the Este clan in 1598, but many of the wonderfully vibrant frescoes that smothered the chambers remain. The Sala delle Sibille, with its original terra-cotta fireplace, is the best example, richly painted with images of the sibyls (classical Greek prophetesses). Beyond the courtyard, the Lapidario contains a mixed bag of historic artifacts saved from churches in the area (as well as the original house baths), and you can view more frescoes by Sebastiano Filippi (aka Bastianino) in the rooms upstairs.

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errara is a city of wine bars, beginning with this one—allegedly Europe’s oldest—which opened in 1435. Copernicus drank here while a student in the late 1400s, and the place still has a somewhat undergraduate aura. Most of the staff and clientele are twentysomethings.

Perfectly dusty wine bottles line the walls, and there are wooden booths in another small room for those who want to eat while they drink. A young staff pours terrific wines by the glass, and offers three different sauces (butter-and-sage, tomato, or ragù) with its cappellacci di zucca. Those in search of lighter fare might enjoy any of the salads or the grilled vegetable plate with melted pecorino.

OSTERIA AL BRINDISI

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Hours Tues–Sun 11am | 24pm Where Via Adelardi, 11 Phone 0532 471225 Site www.albrindisi.net

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WITH ITS WIDE AVENUES, EMPTY SQUARES AND AUST

OUT OF A PAINTING BY G

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ERE PALACES, FERRARA SEEMS TO HAVE COME STRAIGHT

GIORGIO DE CHIRICO.

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MARANELLO, MODENA

FERRARI MUSEUM THE MECCA OF THE ITALIAN SPORTS CAR

ou might easily associate the Ferrari name with Italy, but did you know that Ferrari is based not far from Bologna? In the town of Maranello, just outside Modena, you’ll find not only the Ferrari Museum but also the factory complex and the famous Fiorano test track.

The Ferrari Museum - Museo Ferrari in Italian is a few steps from the factory in Maranello where every Ferrari is made. The museum contains a number of cars, including both cars designed for regular driving and some from the company’s illustrious Formula 1 racing history. In addition to the actual cars, the museum also has exhibits

of photographs and racing trophies as well as interactive displays.

For racing enthusiasts, the Ferrari Museum has an F1 racing simulator based on the Monza race track outside Milan. You need to reserve a slot in the simulator in advance, and before you begin your experience you’ll even get pointers from a Ferrari technician.

A few steps from both the Ferrari Museum and the factory is the Fiorano test circuit where Ferrari tests its road and racing cars. You might be lucky to hear the familiar roar of a high performance engine as you’re walking to the museum from the parking lot - or you can arrange a special tour of the factory and the test track to get a behind-the-

scenes look at what makes these cars so special.

Ferrari has officially opened its expanded museum in its hometown of Maranello, Italy.

Stretching about 3,300 square feet larger than before, the Museo Ferrari has been thoroughly renovated in order to better showcase more of the prancing horse’s road-going and racing cars. In particular, Ferrari now has more single-seat race cars on permanent display than before “The Museum represents a vital way of showing the general public the history and culture of a company that is strongly focused on the future,”

said Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo, who was on hand today to inaugurate the expanded facility. “I am particularly pleased to see that so many visitors come from abroad. This year we will reach the figure of 300,000 visitors which, for a Museum which is not located in a big city, is a great success.

Racing fans aren’t the only museum-goers Ferrari has courted. The brand is aiming to lure in a more mainstream audience with temporary exhibitions like a new “From Cinecitta to Hollywood: All Ferraris in the cinema.” Some of the most significant Ferraris associated with Hollywood will be on display alongside clips of Ferraris in film. An ex-Steve McQueen 275 GTB4 will be shown alongside a Mondial T Cabriolet driven by Al Pacino in “The Scent of a Woman,” along with a one-off custom inspired by the 330 LM used in Federico Fellini’s “Spirits of the Dead.”

A new Ferrari store adjacent to the museum is also now officially open. The nearby city of Modena, Italy, opened last year a museum dedicated to the life of Ferrari founder Enzo Ferrari.

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Hours Daily 9:30am - 6pm Where Via Dino Ferrari, 43 Phone 536 949713 Site museomaranello.ferrari.com Prices 13 euro

Ju

Michael Fe

Tazio Nuvolari, Luigi Chinetti, Alberto Ascari, Wolfgang von Trips, Phil Hill, Olivier Gendebien, Mike Hawthorn, Peter Collins, Giancarlo Baghetti, John Surtees, Lorenzo Bandini, Ludovico Scarfiotti, Jacky Ickx, Mario Andretti, Clay Regazzoni, Niki Lauda, Carlos Reutemann, Jody Scheckter, Gilles Villeneuve, Didier Pironi, Patrick Tambay, RenE Arnoux, Michele Alboreto, Gerhard Berger, Nigel Mansell, Jean Alesi, Eddie Irvine, Rubens Barrichello, Kimi RAikkOnen, Felipe Massa.

uan Manuel Fangio

Alain Prost l Schumacher ernando Alonso

# 15 F1 DRIVERS TITLES

# 16 F1 CONSTRUCTORS TITLES # 209 F1 Grand Prix victories # 603 F1 Grand Prix PODIUMS

# 203 F1 Grand PrixPOLE POSITIONS

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If you can dream it, you can do it. enzo ferrari

TEST DRIVE TEST YOUR SKILLS ON A REAL FERRARI! You can feel the emotion of driving a real Ferrari

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Hours Tues–Sun 9am–17pm Where Via Dino Ferrari, 41 Phone 346 3705035 Site www.pushstart.it/en Prices Short tours - 10’ - 80 euro

Why not test drive a Ferrari or drive around a race track while in Maranello? By car rental, you can choose between two companies, Push Start and No Limits. Pushstart is a shop that offers all kinds of memorabilia and collectibles but the main attraction is the Ferrari test drives. A nice selection of 360 Modena, 458 Italia, 420’s, California, and the monster 599GTB are all available for short and long duration drives, ranging from 15 minutes up to an hour on a track, starting from roughly €80 and increasing with duration and car pedigree.

SIENA FLORENCE SIENA

The past in THE present

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High as 102 meters, Tower del Mangia is part of the imposing Palazzo Pubblico, the Gothic style town hall, and dominates the vast Piazza del Campo since the XIII century

ith its narrow streets and steep alleys, a Gothic Duomo, a bounty of early Renaissance art, and the glorious Palazzo Pubblico overlooking its magnificent Piazza del Campo, Siena is often described as Italy’s best-preserved medieval city. It is also remarkably modern: many shops sell clothes by up-and-coming designers. Make a point of catching the passeggiata (evening stroll), when locals throng the Via di Città, Banchi di Sopra, and Banchi di Sotto, the city’s three main streets.

Sienese mythology holds that the city shares common ancestry with Rome: the legendary founder, Senius, was said to be the son of Remus, the twin brother of Rome’s founder, Romulus. The city emblem—a she-wolf and suckling twins—promulgates the claim. Archaeological evidence suggests there were prehistoric as well as Etruscan settlements here, which undoubtedly made way for Saena Julia, the Roman town established by Augustus in the 1st century BC. Siena rose to prominence as an essential stop on that most important of medieval roads, the Via Francigena (or Via Romea), prospering from the yearly flow of thousands of Christian pilgrims coming south to Rome from northern Europe. Siena developed a banking system—one of Europe’s oldest banks, the Monte dei Paschi, is still very much in business—and dominated the wool trade, thereby establishing itself as a rival to Florence. The two towns became regional powers and bitter enemies, each taking a different side in the struggle that divided the peninsula between the Guelphs (loyal to the Pope) and Ghibellines (loyal to the Holy Roman Emperor). Siena aligned itself with the latter.

Victory over Florence in 1260 at Montaperti marked the beginning of Siena’s golden age. Even though Florentines avenged the loss nine years later, Siena continued to prosper. During the following decades Siena erected its greatest buildings (including the Duomo); established a model city government presided over by the Council of Nine; and became a great art, textile, and trade center. All of these achievements came together in the decoration of the Sala della Pace in Palazzo Pubblico. It makes you wonder what greatness the city might have gone on to achieve had its fortunes been different, but in 1348 a plague decimated the population, brought an end to the Council of Nine, and left Siena economically vulnerable.

Siena succumbed to Florentine rule in the mid-16th century, when a yearlong siege virtually eliminated the native population.

Ironically, it was precisely this decline that, along with Sienese pride, prevented further development, to which we owe the city’s marvelous medieval condition today.

But although much looks as it did in the early 14th century, Siena is no museum. Walk through the streets and you can see that the medieval contrade, 17 neighborhoods into which the city has been historically divided, are a vibrant part of modern life. You may see symbols of the contrada—Tartuca (turtle), Oca (goose), Istrice (porcupine), Torre (tower)— emblazoned on banners and engraved on building walls.

The Sienese still strongly identify themselves by the contrada where they were born and raised; loyalty and rivalry run deep. At no time is this more visible than during the centuries-old Palio, a twice-yearly horse race held in the Piazza del Campo, but you need not visit then to come to know the rich culture of Siena, evident at every step.

Bucolic detail of the Fonte Gaia

The imponent Mangia Tower is the highest building of Siena

PIAZZA DEL CAMPO

Detail of the bricked buildings The colorful flags of the contradas

The vast and austere Piazza del Campo

T Detail of the Mangia Tower

he Piazza del Campo is a unique place in the whole of the world, starting with the very particular conformation of the ground, which turns the square into a big concave shell. The paving is made of red bricks arranged in fishbone style, divided into a sunburst pattern by nine strips of travertine (in memory of the Government of the Nine, who ruled over the city from 1292 to 1355). The white marble of the Gaia Fountain stands out on the paving, it is the masterpiece of 1419 by Jacopo della Quercia, later replaced by a copy.

There is also the Palazzo Comunale (town hall), unusually built on the lowest part of the square, and also the tall, slender Torre del Mangia that stands out against the sky (it reaches 102 metres including the lightning conductor). At the base of the Palazzo is the Chapel of the Virgin, or Chapel of the Square, constructed and voted for by the Sienese, after the end of the plague of 1348.

And surrounding the chapel are the elegant faรงades of the Palazzi Signorili, belonging to the wealthiest of families: the Sansedoni, the Piccolomini, and the Saracini.

Detail of the Piazza del Campo

> > > > > > > > > > > > PALAZZO > > PUBBLICO > The magnificent Palazzo Pubblico is a gothic jewell from the XIV century

Mappamondo room with the superb fresco by Simone Martini painted in 1314

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iena’s medieval governors, the Council of Nine, met in the Sala della Pace, and to help ensure they bore their duties responsibly, in 1338 Ambrogio Lorenzetti frescoed the walls with what has become the most important piece of secular art to survive from medieval Europe. His “Allegory of Good and Bad Government and Their Effects on the Town and Countryside” provides not only a moral lesson but also a remarkable visual record of the Siena and the surrounding countryside as it appeared in the 14th century.

Probably not by accident, the good government frescoes are nicely illuminated by natural light, while scenes of bad government are cast in shadow and have also deteriorated over the years.

In an uplifting panorama on the good side of the room, the towers, domes and rooftops of Siena appear much as they do today, with horseman, workers, and townsfolk going about their daily affairs; in the countryside, genteel lords on horseback overlook bountiful fields. On the bad government side, streets are full of rubble, houses are collapsing in frame, and soldiers are killing and pillaging; in the

Allegory of the Good Government, fresco by Ambrogio Lorenzetti painted from 1337 to 1339

countryside, fields are barren and villages are ablaze.

Among other frescoes in these rooms is Sienese painter Simone Martini’s greatest work, and his first, a “Maestà” (or Majesty), finished in 1315, in the Sala del Mappamondo.

He shows the Virgin Mary as a medieval queen beneath a royal canopy, surrounded by a retinue of saints, apostles, and angels. The work introduces not only a secular element to a holy scene but also a sense of three-dimensional depth and perspective that later came to the fore in Renaissance painting. Mary’s presence here in the halls of civil power reinforces the idea of

good government, with the Virgin presiding as a protector of the city. Just opposite is another great Martini work, the “Equestrian Portrait of Guidoriccio da Fogliano.”

The depiction of a proud mercenary riding past a castle he has just conquered was part of a long lost “castelli,” or “castles,” fresco cycle that showed off Sienese conquests.

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Hours Nov–Mar 15 daily 10am–6pm; Mar 16–Oct daily 10am–7pm Phone 0577-292-226 Prices Admission With Torre del Mangia 13€ Site www.comune.siena.it/

> > > > > > > > > >

IL PALIO Piazza del Campo houses the race for more than 500 years

Before the start there is a traditional parade with all contradas

{ The traditional horse race in action

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he Palio is the most important event in Siena, taking place on July 2 and August 16 every year.

In the Palio the various Sienese “contrade”, or areas in which the city is divided, challenge in other in a passionate horse race in the heart of the city in the Piazza del Campo.

Originally, there were about fifty-nine “Contrade”; now only seventeen remain, ten of which take part in the historical pageant and in the race at each Palio as Eagle, Snail and Goose.

Each Contrada has its own unique emblem and colors and represents an area of the city. As one walks through

the streets of Siena it is easy to know in which Contrada you currently are in by observing the flags and emblems displayed along the street. Much like street signs, corners often designate the entrance into a different Contrada.

The Palio horse race has its origins in the distant past, with historical records indicating horse races in Siena already taking place in the 6th century.

The Palio is much more than a simple event for the Sienese, it actually is a large part of their lives since the time of their birth. Each person belongs to a Contrada, participates in the life of the Contrada and the organization of the Palio throughout the entire year.

Siena’s Palio is as much about pageantry, civic identity and Sienese pride as it is about a bareback horse race that lasts, on average, just seventy-five seconds.

The Sienese live the Palio with great passion and you’ll certainly be able to see this if you have the chance to attend one of the races.

The Palio prize is called Drappellone or large drape, a large painted canvas each year designed and created by a different artist. The horses must run three laps around the Campo, overcoming dangerous points such as the very narrow curve of San Martino where collisions are frequent. The first horse that crosses the finish line, even if he arrives without his jockey, wins the race. The winning side receives the Drappellone and the go to the Duomo for the “Te Deum” or prayer of thanks.

IL DUOMO a gleaming marble treasury of Gothic art from the 13th and 14th centuries

Detail of lower west facade, designed by Giovanni Pisano

West facade of the Duomo

Sumptuous interior of the Duomo

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uch of the artistic greatness of Siena comes together in this black-and-white-marble cathedral, begun in the 12th century and completed in the 13th century, a magnificent example of Italian Gothic architecture. You should come away from a visit with a greater appreciation for the Pisanos, father and son. Nicola was the principal architect of the church, until he fell out of favor with the group overseeing construction and left Siena, while young Giovanni did much of the carving on the facade, where a vast army of prophets and apostles appears around the three portals (most of the originals are now in the Museo dell’Opera Metropolitana.

They both worked on the pulpit, where the faithful may have taken great comfort in the sumptuously sculpted scenes of the life of Christ and the

prophets and evangelists announcing salvation.

Beneath the pulpit spreads a flooring mosaic of 59 etched and inlaid marble panels (1372–1547), a showpiece for 40 of Siena’s medieval and Renaissance artistic luminaries. Most prolific among them was Domenico Beccafumi, born into a local peasant family and adopted by his lord, who saw the boy’s talent for drawing. Beccafumi studied in Rome but returned to Siena and spent much of his career designing 35 scenes for the flooring (from 1517–47); his richly patterned images are a repository of Old Testament figures. Matteo di Giovanni, another Sienese, did a gruesome Slaughter of the Innocents.

Umbrian master Bernardino di Betto is the star in the Libreria Piccolomini, entered off the left aisle. Cardinal Francesco Piccolomini (later Pope Pius III—for all of 18 days before he died

in office) built the library in 1487 to house the illuminated manuscripts of his famous uncle, a popular Sienese bishop who later became Pope Pius II. Pinturicchio’s frescoes depict 10 scenes from the Pope’s life.

In the Baptistery (not a separate building but beneath the choir), the great trio of Sienese and Florentine sculptors of the early Renaissance, Jacopo della Quercia, Lorenzo Ghiberti, and Donatello, crafted the gilded bronze panels of the baptismal font. Donatello wrought the dancing figure of Salome in the “Feast of Herod,” and della Quercia did the statue of St. John that stands high above the marble basin.

*

Hours Mar–May and Sept–Oct Mon– Sat 10:30am–7:30pm, Sun 1:30–5:30pm Phone 0577-283-048 Prices Admission 3€, except when floor uncovered 6€ Site www.operaduomo.siena.it

{

Every step of the way to heaven is heaven St. Catherine of Siena

Basilica DI/ San Domenico FOrever linked to the veneration of Saint Catherine of Siena is the great Basilica of San Domenico

{

T

he Dominican’s Siena home is an enormous, severe, and vaguely unattractive pile of bricks (1226), jutting above a modern section of town.

There are good views here, though, of the Duomo and Siena’s rooftops.

The raised chapel off the west end (to the right as you enter) preserves the only genuine Portrait of St. Catherine, painted by her friend and contemporary Andrea Vanni.

The Cappella di Santa Caterina (Chapel of St. Catherine) halfway down the right wall was frescoed with scenes from the saint’s life. All except the right wall (where in 1593 Francesco Vanni painted Catherine performing an exorcism) were frescoed by Sodoma in 1526. The large work on the left wall of her interceding on behalf of a condemned man as well as the other scenes of her in ecstasy and swooning

are some of Sodoma’s best work. The focal point of the chapel, however, is Catherine’s venerated head, in a gilt reliquary case, on the altar.

At the end of the nave, on the right, is an Adoration of the Shepherds

by Francesco di Giorgio Martini, dominated by a crumbling Roman triumphal arch in the background and a Pietà above. The first chapel to the right of the altar is home to a Madonna and Child with Saints by Matteo di Giovanni, one of whose masterpieces, St. Barbara Enthroned with Angels and Sts. Mary Magdalene and Catherine (1479), is in the second chapel of the left transept.

*

Hours Daily 7am-12:55pm and 3-6:30pm Phone No phone Prices Free admission Site www.basilicacateriniana.com

Nothing great is ever achieved without much enduring St. Catherine of Siena

{ a

The recurrent symbol is the She-wolf with suckling children.

According to an ancient legend, Siena was founded by Remus’ sons, Senius and Aschius, who left Rome with the statue of the she-wolf, stolen from Apollo’s temple. The symbolic colors of the city derive as well from these two legendary founders - Aschius rode a black horse and Senius rode a white one.

land proud of its traditions

A contrada is a district, or a ward, within an Italian city. The most well-known contrade are probably the 17 contrade of Siena that race in the Palio di Siena. Each is named after an animal.

Nicchio, seashell, is situated in the far eastern corner of the city. Traditionally, its residents worked as potters. Nicchio’s symbol is a crowned scallop shell flanked by two branches of coral. Its colours are blue, with yellow and red trim. Nicchio is one of only four nobile contrade; it earned its title for bravery shown during the Battle of Montaperti against Florence in 1260, when its soldiers led the attack.

}

{

Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena was founded by order of the Magistrature of the Republic of Siena as Monte di PietĂ in 1472, when its statute was approved. Since then the bank has been in operation without interruption to the present day. It is therefore considered the oldest bank in the world still operating.

photographic essay

DOORS OF CAMPO DI MARTE

C

ampo di Marte is a medium class neighbourhood situated in the East of Florence. It is separated from the storic center by the railroad connection to Rome and it makes border with Fiesole city. There are the local football stadium where Fiorentina plays and some sportive

centres. I loved to walk throught its streets observing the charming architecture of the 40’s buildings spread all over the place and took pictures of some doors. These simple and elegant elements with refined lines and austere decoration caught my eyes and here comes the essay.

TOURISM TIPS

TRAIN TRAVELING

WHERE DO YOU

?

WANT TO GO

H

ands-down, one of the best ways to get around Italy is by train. Unlike in, say, the States, the Italian rail network connects just about every major city in Italy — and then some. Italian trains are also relatively cheap, frequent, and (fairly) reliable.

That’s why we’re often surprised when people tell us that they’re renting a car to drive from, say, Rome to Naples, or that they’re booking a flight from Venice to Milan. We promise: It’s easier to take the train! Driving in Italy, particularly in Italian cities, can be confusing, chaotic, and, for the uninitiated, even dangerous. Plus, between a car rental and the cost of gas, it’s often cheaper to go by rail. Meanwhile, with all of the hassles of flying these days and the time required in getting out to the airport, a flight often winds up taking as long, or longer, than the train — and, again, is often more expensive. And finally? Some of the train lines, particularly those along the coast, have beautiful views.

Of course, we know it’s easy for us to say that taking a train is easy. If you don’t speak Italian, even figuring out the train schedule can be tricky.

That’s why we’ll walk you through how to book, and take, a train — right now.

HOW TO FIND A TRAIN SCHEDULE

T

he first step is to go to Trenitalia’s main website. Trenitalia is the national rail service, so it includes all of the national routes. (Small, local trains, like the Circumvesuviana that goes from Naples to Sorrento and Pompeii, aren’t included, but you don’t need them for most major destinations).

At the website, click the button that says “English” at the top. Then, on the left, you’ll see your options for searching routes. You can opt for one-way or for return, and you have to put in your starting point, destination, and date.

Let’s take a Rome to Naples trip as an example.

When you put your options in and click “Send,” the next page will show you a list of options around the time, and on the date, you selected.

You might notice that under “Departure,” though, it doesn’t say Rome. It might say “Roma Te.” That’s because Italians call Rome “Roma,”

and the “Te” is short for Rome’s main train station — Termini. Similarly, instead of “Naples,” it’ll often say “Na C.le,” short for “Napoli Centrale.”

We know this can be confusing, so here’s a list of Italy’s major train stations and how they’re abbreviated on the Trenitalia site: Rome Termini (central station) – ROMA TE Naples Centrale (central station) – NA C.LE Florence Santa Maria Novella (central station) – Fl.SMN Venice Santa Lucia (on the island) –> VE. S.L. Milan Centrale (central station) – MI C.LE Genova Piazza Principe (central station) – GE P.P. Pisa Centrale (central station) – PISA C. Sometimes, you might notice that one train station name at the top will be black, followed by a number of others in red.

That means that there’s more than one station in the city you’ve picked, and the train stops at all of the stations on the list.

MAIN DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE TRAINS

O

nce you’ve got your destination and date down, you’ll often still have a number of options for exactly which train to take.

You’ll notice clear differences under “length of journey,” with some (more expensive) trains being much faster than the other trains. You can also look at “train category.” The “Frecciarossa,” “Frecciargento” and “Frecciabianca” trains are the fastest, with speeds of up to 200-250km/hr. The “Eurostar” trains are also very fast. These are also the most expensive trains, and they connect only Italy’s most major cities. The most economical option tends to be the “Intercity” trains, which connect everywhere else, make more stops, and are slower, or the “Regional” (local) trains.

What are the price and speed differences, exactly? Well, let’s take our Rome to Naples journey as an example (one-way). On a weekday, leaving around noon, a “Frecciarossa” train takes only 1 hour 10 minutes. It costs €45 2nd class, or €58 1st class. Then there’s the “Intercity” train, which takes 2 hours 13 minutes and costs €22 (2nd class) or €29 (1st class). Finally, there’s the regional train, which takes 2 hours 34 minutes and costs only €10.50 (one class only).

What train you pick, of course, is up to you.

But because the Eurostar and Frecciabianca/ argento/rossa trains tend to be not only faster, but more comfortable and cleaner, if we’ve got a little cash to spare, they’re our transport of choice.

That’s especially true when there are discounts on those trains — as there often are.

BOOKING YOUR TRAIN TICKET: ONLINE OR AT THE STATION?

Y

ou can either book, and pay for, your ticket online, or, if you’re feeling a little more spontaneous, wait until you get to the train station.

Waiting has a major benefit: If you buy a ticket online, you then have to be on that exact same train — if you’re late or miss it, you have to change your reservation online. That can be a hassle, so if you can’t be quite sure when you’ll make the train, sometimes it’s best to wait.

That said, if you book in advance, you can change your ticket if you miss the train. For the “base” tickets, which are cheapest, you can change your reservation only one time, and it has to be done within the hour after the booked train has departed; you can do it either online, at an agency or at the station, and you have to pay the extra amount if the new train is pricier (you can also get money back if it’s cheaper, but, as to be expected, that procedure is a little trickier). The

“flexible” tickets let you change your reservation an unlimited number of times, but that costs you 25% more.

Of course, the downside to buying your ticket at the station right before departure is that, often, it’s too late to take advantage of any promotional fares. And, very occasionally, particularly popular trains might even be sold out completely. So if you really want to take advantage of a discounted fare, or if you’re on a tight schedule, it might be worth booking online — or buying your ticket at the train station a couple of days in advance.

Finally, be aware that, if you book your ticket online, you don’t need a printer to print it out. Instead, Trenitalia has a nifty “ticketless” option. You receive an email after your purchase; all you need to do is jot down the PNR number on the email, and that acts as your ticket. Or you can get your ticket information sent as a text to your phone, for free!

NOW YOU`VE GOT YOUR TICKET, BUT HOW DO YOU ACTUALLY GET THE TRAIN?

O

nce you’ve gotten your ticket and you’re at the station, look for a big, hanging board with all of the newest trains listed.

(One dead giveaway for where this is tends to be the crowd of people standing underneath it!). Don’t panic if, at first glance, your train isn’t there. You might be too early, since only the soonest departures will be listed. Or you might be looking at “Arrivi” (arrivals) rather than “Partenze” (departures).

It’s also often easiest to go by the train’s number and departure time, rather than your particular destination. (You can find this either when you book it, or on your ticket itself; it’ll say “TRENO” followed by the number). Often your destination won’t be the end of the line for the train, and it’s the last stop that’s listed, not your destination!

Once you’ve found your train, look where it says “BIN,” for “binario” . That’s your platform number. Don’t worry if this takes a while to come up - you won’t be the only one hurrying to the train, and it’s rare for a conductor to leave a crowd

behind on the platform!

Don’t forget to validate your ticket. You often don’t have to do this for fast trains that required a reservation - but if you’re uncertain, it’s always best to be on the safe side. The validation machines tend to be all over the station, as well as on the platform; they’re usually yellow. To stamp, put your ticket in the slot, arrows facing in, and push until you hear the stamp. If you don’t do this and you were supposed to, you can get a heavy fine when your ticket is checked.

Depending on what kind of train you booked, also check your ticket. After the train number, it might say “Carrozza” followed by a number.

That’s your carriage number. Then it’ll say “posti,” which is your seat number. Many Italian trains have reserved seats, so make sure you sit in the right one. Even if there are a ton of empty seats elsewhere, you never know how many people might be getting on, and trying to sit in their reserved seats, at a later stop. (If someone’s in your seat, showing them your ticket will usually suffice for them to move).

SO YOU MADE YOUR TRAIN. NOW WHAT?

R

elax! Just don’t forget where you put your ticket, as it may be checked by the conductor (you can get a stiff fine if you’re found riding without a ticket!). Also be aware of those around you: Both train stations and trains themselves are a favorite

haunt for pickpockets, particularly on the major lines, like from Rome to Naples.

Know where your things are at all times, be careful of putting your bag or purse on the ground where you can’t see it, and never fall asleep with your purse next to you if you’re traveling alone.

LETTERS, PHOTOGRAMS & ETC

ALBUMS

“This album is directed to “us”, to the people who genuinely love Weezer”

“This is rich, strange, endlessly fascinating music: a subtle, beautiful triumph”

“If you happen to hear something familiar it’s like hearing it for the first time. ”

“It feels like we’ve come full circle in a way”

W

C

A

I

eezer is relevant again.

Maybe all those terrible

albums were released just to

aribou drops this new LP called ‘Our Love’ four

years after he released ‘Swim’.

phex Twin’s return, Syro, bears a 2014 release date,

and it might end up as the

t’s an album that might never have been made.

After the release of 2010’s

make this one look good. But

In advance of this review, I

year’s best album. But that

self-titled effort, the band

it is clearly done with such

can say this record just had

feels entirely incidental—it

were under no obligation to

dedication and carefulness

me from the first day it was on

sounds like nothing else

make another record, so they

that it shows. Will this be the

my Phone. Our Love leaked

this year, or the year before,

went on hiatus and indulged

end? The last we hear from

very early, somewhere around

or the year before that one.

in their own projects. Time

Weezer? Maybe now it’s the

August, which was a bummer

Nor does it fit into any recent

apart seems to have done them

time to say that you, Rivers

for Dan Snaith but I celebrated

musical development beyond

good. As a result, ‘El Pintor’ is

Cuomo, have one of the best

the fact that I could enjoy this

an incidental affinity with the

worlds apart from the difficult,

names ever. This album is

album early. Our Love has

resurgence of analog hardware

dirge-y ‘Interpol’. Instead,

directed to “us”, to the people

the most similatirities with

amongst electronic producers.

it circles back around to the

who genuinely love Rivers

Swim, but what stands out is

Quite a lot has happened in

sonorous, tremulous sounds

Cuomo’s band and their

the variety on the record. The

dance music since Drukqs,

of the glory days, emulating

beautiful first albums. There

electronic soundscapes and

and this album is wholly

their first two albums ‘Turn

is more than a reminder to

melodies combine with beats

ignorant of it all. In its quirky,

On’ and ‘Antics’ while adding

Pinkerton era (“Lonely Girl”,

in a way I haven’t heard before.

globe-spanning promotional

new ideas along the way.

“Go Away”) and some Gree

The single ‘Can’t do without

rollout, comeback-ish aura

Ultimately, ‘El Pintor’ serves

and Blue vibes here and there.

You’ is probably one of the

and heightened disregard for

as a sharp jolt off the path of

All the songs are well written

catchier but also poppier songs

the music around it, That’s

steady decline that the band’s

with variety and catchyness,

on the LP.

probably because it’s not how,

New York peers have been

this album came together.

on since the late noughties.

Aphex Twin Syro 70’04’’ US$ 9.49 cd

Interpol El Pintor 41’12’’ US$ 10.00

though just basically ‘90s pop.

Weezer Everything Will Be Alright in the End 42’22’’ US$ 9.99 cd

Caribou Our love 43’15’’ US$ 11.00 cd

BOOKS

“Unforgettable exploration of how the cocaine trade knits the world into its dark economy”

I

talian journalist Robert Saviano’s 2006 “Gomorra,”

an exposé of the Naples

“A journey into the past and to eastern Europe”

“The story of two teenagers who live and grow within the reality of the working metallurgic”

“The new book by Fabio Volo is also the most sincere and most true”

E

A

“

rnesto Lizza is a television writer who has embarked

on an insane undertaking:

nna and Francesca, “thirteen years almost

fourteen”, living in concrete

I’ll trade all my tomorrows for a single yesterday:

I would change all my

underworld group known

to bring to the big screen

barracks built in the Seventies

tomorrows for a single

as Camorra, was a unique

the story of love between

by Lucchini SpA, the largest

yesterday, as sung by Janis

and gripping bestseller.

Hannah Arendt and Martin

steel mill that still bread and

Joplin.” It is perhaps this time

His latest book tries giving

Heidegger. When his father

despair to all Piombino. Anna

I want. Lorenzo did not know

Naples’ criminal woes a

died, he returned to his home

and Francesca, the brunette

how to love, or simply didn’t

global perspective by focusing

town near Bologna for the

and the blonde, are beautiful,

show it. For this reason he is

on cocaine, which he sees

funeral, and there, in the

irreverent, and above all they

faced with two loves difficult

as underlying all criminal

house where he grew up, he is

are inseparable. But when

to regain, to reconstruct: with

evil. For Saviano, cocaine

forced to come to terms with

Anna discovers love and sex

a father that perhaps there

trafficking propels the

himself, errors, compromises,

with Mattia, something breaks

never was and with that she

modern economy, making

disappointments professional.

between the two, which will

is gone. Perhaps growing up

for improbable connections

At the funeral Ernesto

be sucked into their private

means learning to love and

between struggling Calabrian

sees, after many years, the

stories, alone in front of good-

forgive, to make a long journey

businessmen, Colombian

fearsome grandfather Hector.

for-nothing parents or absent

to find the time that we lost

peasant insurgents, and

Conservative to the core,

or violent, and once more

and we sure this anymore. It is

international bankers.

haughty, stubborn, Ettore

embrace only when life would

the path that makes Lorenzo,

asked his nephew to find his

submit them to the cruel test

a journey in search of himself

old friend Mario Barcelona, ​​

of life.

and of his feelings, the most

the man who dug a furrow

deep and authentic.

between him and his son.

ZERO ZERO ZERO Roberto Saviano 448 pages US$ 28.48

Mille volte mi hai portato sulle spalle Martino Gozzi 157 pages US$ 18.00

Acciaio Silvia Avallone 357 pages US$ 15.00

Il tempo che vorrei Fabio Volo 294 pages US$ 18.00

MOVIES

“An atmospheric thriller of deception that is characterdriven but doesn’t stint on suspense”

“The resulting rivalry eventually escalates in personal intensity until it goes too far”

“Murder and teen sex produce a surprisingly faint pulse in dry Italian thriller.”

“A deeply felt, powerfully delivered, observation on Turkish society”

B

I

K

A

of duplicity and shifting

the gastronomic equivalent of

company of her boyfriend,

Nihal with whom he has a

circumstances, January being

perfect pitch. Displaced from

Andrew. When she is not

stormy relationship and his

derived from the ancient

their native India, the Kadam

with him, she meets secretly

sister Necla who is suffering

god Janus, a symbol of

family, led by Papa, settles in the

other guys, watch video

from her recent divorce. In

beginnings and transitions,

quaint village of Saint-Antonin-

banned on the internet and

winter as the snow begins

whose two faces look to the

Noble-Val in the south of France.

constantly arguing with their

to fall, the hotel turns into a

past and future. The principal

Filled with charm, it is both

parents. The monotony of the

shelter but also an inescapable

characters have two sides to

picturesque and elegant - the

small town in which he lives,

place that fuels their

them and our perceptions

ideal place to settle down and

drags her into a whirlwind of

animosities.

of each alter considerably.

open an Indian restaurant, the

immorality and wrongdoing.

It’s 1962, and a resourceful

Maison Mumbai. That is, until

American adrift in self-

the chilly chef proprietress of

imposed exile, Rydal (Oscar

Le Saule Pleureur, a Michelin

Isaac), has his dark secrets

starred, classical French

and emotional baggage but

restaurant run by Madame

is enjoying himself latching

Mallory, gets wind of it. Her icy

onto tourists (college girls his

protests against the new Indian

speciality).

restaurant a hundred feet from

efitting an ironic psychological mystery, the

title is a play on the themes

n “The Hundred-Foot Journey,” Hassan Kadam

is a culinary ingénue with

atia, 17 years old, apathetic and frustrated,

spends his days in the

ydin, a former actor, runs a small hotel in central

Anatolia with his young wife

her own, escalate to all out war between the two establishments.

The Two Faces of January Hossein Amini 96 minutes 2014

The hundred-foot journey Lasse Hallström 122 minutes 2014

Amoreodio Cristian Scardigno 100 minutes 2014

Winter sleep Nuri Bilge Ceylan 196 minutes 2014