I had to get out of Florence, and so this morning I packed my bag and struggled up to the train station. Each day in Florence has been great but I seem to have added excess weight to the backpack in the form of book, maps and so on. Also, these items have changed the shape of the way I pack, so now my backpack is bulging with heavy items, making it drag me backwards more. It puts more strain on my shoulder muscles.

Eveything I read last night about Bologna said that it was a place where roads and railways met, and while having the Italian charm, was nothing special. I had thought of going back west to Livorno but the book summarised that town into “it sucks, don't go there”. From the write up they gave Naples, which mentioned it might be a little seedy, Livorno must be a real shit of a place.

So I'm in Ferarra. It was the next stop to Venice from Bologna, and is a town about the size of Tamworth or Coffs Harbour, with a similar feel. Unlike those Australian towns, Ferrara has an almost fully intact city wall and bloody great castle (complete with moat) in the dead centre of town. Quite a pretty place, it lacks most tourist trap nonsense, but of course is made less tourist friendly because its less likely to have people who understand English, which is a common language between Euro countries.

I was happy to be able to ask for a room and work out money and which key and where's the bathroom and so on without using English. My Italian is still hopeless and I'm sure I'll forget everything the second I step off the plane home, but for day to day simple needs it's fine. I am often frustrated at many things which you don't normally think twice about. When eating or ordering, how do you ask how large the serving is? When leaving, how do you say “it was very nice”? How do you ask for a carry bag?

Language difficulties aside, I'm finding the town nicer in a way than some of the bigger places, because of the feel that is not a popular tourist destination. It feels more authentic (if a little pokier).

Talking with the hotel manager back in Florence this morning, he suggested a few places around the Ferrara area that were interesting. Apparently he had friends up here some time ago, but the sites don't change much! He thought Ravenna was interesting with its Byzantine architecture, and as it was the capital of the Roman empire before Rome, is bound to have interesting things. Another town is Modena, home to Pavarotti, Ferrari and Masserati. It doesn't look that big on the map but I might try to spend the night there. There's a Ferarri museum and a town called Carpi nearby which sound interesting.

The land around here is flat farm land, which reminds me a lot of the flat hobby farms (because of the population density) out west. Around the city I can see towers, factories and silos, so it's also a big agricultural reigon.

I was going to do Venice on a day trip tomorrow but I still have plenty of time, and who knows – this cols spell might ease up. I suspect Venice is freezing at the moment. It's not so bad here – probably 10-15 degrees with a 20kph wind from the northeast (where the snow is). The Dolomites are getting early snow and thats where the sudden chill is coming from. I'm mostly warm enough – maybe I'll buy a scarf or cravat before heading anywhere else. A small one that doesn't take up too much room.

2005-02-03T19:16:19