Apartments

Today I took the train from Bologna to Rome.  Now I am settled in my new place, having walked a few blocks to the local market for food for tonight  and the morning.  Tomorrow I will be a tourist again.

I liked both places but they were different.  The one in Bologna matched a dream I have had of living in a hidden garden in the midst of a city.  The front door from the street was fortress like.

Then you walked down a long hallway and up some steps and through a gate

And there was the garden.  The place itself was good sized and had the best organized small kitchen I have seen.

Here in Rome I am on a quiet back street with a small garden out the window.  But it is much more charming inside.

I do love finding different ways to do things, knowing that I have a beautiful new home waiting for me.

Museums

It was quite cold today and all the museums were closed yesterday.  Therefore…. The first was the archeological, which I quite liked, but all the really good jewelry was too delicate for pictures.

Then I went to the site of the original university, to the anatomical theatre and the library.  On graduating the students got to put up their family crests.  Really steeped in history.

Then to the Middle Ages museum which had collections o the cabinet of curiosities style.

Lunch at the bookstore/cafe Eataly, a portion risotto.  Then the seven churches of San Stefano, they just kept adding another to the complex.

Now I feel at home here and tomorrow I leave for Rome.

24 hours

Or a bit more.  But very full. I went to the museum of the history of Bologna, which is a rich story  presented with graphic ingenuity.  This  is the reconstruction of a medieval street.

Then I found a good place for lunch.  The waiter is grating fresh Parmesan on my ragu bolognese 

Then I got turned around, well there was a glass of wine, and just took pictures on my way home.

This morning I walked through the university section, which has a lovely Piazza for gathering.

I will spare you the pictures of today’s lunch, which involved prosciutto and truffles, because it disappeared before the idea of stopping for a picture crossed my mind.

Bologna

Went sight seeing until my feet gave out.  Way too many pictures to show.  I saw the Piazza Maggiore, which is the main tourist area.  Most of the streets around there are pedestrian only, full of happy people on vacation or shopping in the upscale stores.  Bologna is the city of porticos.  Here are two.

Christmas season is a good time to be here.

Here is Piazza Maggiore.

The cathedral, in typical Italian style, was meant to be the biggest.  It is quite impressive, but balanced in all directions, filled with light, has an accurate meridian line and 22 ornate side chapels.

This is the perfect place for my style of tourism.  And I have not yet gotten to the serious food.

OMG A Smartphone?

I lost the power cord to my laptop on The Night of Marilisa, which is too long and boring a story for the laptop.  In the process of Susan and I moving to a hotel in Lugano.  I want to send some pictures of Bologna, which is where I arrived today.  Now I know why I came here.

And the gate to my courtyard in the old palace, thanks so much.

Which is the top picture.  This will take some practice.

Real Life

Susan and I are not on vacation now.  She is working and I am backing her up and tagging along. Mostly I am watching the weather change on the mountain across the lake, which is all incredibly beautiful.  Everything is an adventure.  The other day I went across the lake to Lugarno to do laundry and shopping.  The first issue was the machines all wanted Swiss francs, because it is Switzerland over there, while still being Italy in Campione.  The nice man at the laundry was prepared for that and was really helpful.  I gave up on getting a cart at the market, paid for my groceries with a credit card, which, thank God US cards now can be read by European machines.  And I had some change left from the laundry to get out of the parking garage.

The next day I got to go with Susan to lunch at the house of a woman who had taken her class in England and lives across the lake and over the hill.  She also has a stupendous view.  And lives right next to a 13th century church which was built by people grateful to have escaped the plague in Milan.  Her mother lives just up the hill and is the caretaker so we got to go inside.

Campione d’Italia

This is the view from our apartment here.

Or, in the other direction.

The lake is Lake Lugano and that is the town of Lugano over there.  Campione turns out to be an Italian enclave in Switzerland, founded as an outpost by the Romans and given to the Pope a few centuries back.  It is a tourist residential town.  All the businesses are in Lugano.  Or, more so, in Como, where I went this morning to find a supermarket.  Damn good thing I now have a smartphone with GPS.  There are no readable street signs and narrow little twisty streets.

I arrived on Monday and picked up a car and drove up here.  Was welcomed by the landlady who then took off to drive to her home in Zurich.  Today I drove to Milan, Malpensa airport instead of Linate where I landed, to pick up Susan.  We are now tucked up in  the comfy living room, thinking about things we might do tomorrow.

Cold November Day

I made an early dash out to buy groceries with a stop for coffee to set me on  my  way.   Then I took the bus to the Musee de Luxembourg.  But, on the way past le Mairie, out my front door, I came upon a wedding party with musicians escorting them inside.

It is a lively neighborhood.  My bus route took me through Montparnasse down to the Latin Quarter and the medieval streets.  The exhibit was of Fantin-Latour, who did wonderful still lifes and group portraits of his circle of artist friends.

When I came out it had gotten quite cold, so I felt some warm food was in order.  Found a nearby café, tiny and very French, where I had the pate de campagne and a pork chop with, yes, perfect potatoes.

This warmed me up a bit, but not enough to walk in the Luxembourg gardens.  Instead, I came straight back and have been  reading and now listening to the rain.

On the way to the bus

ooksMy goal for today was the Musee de la Vie Romantique and the Musee Gustave Moreau, which are across Paris in the 9eme arrondissement on the right bank.  I am in the 14eme, on the left bank, near Montparnasse.  Which, if nothing else, gave me an excuse for a long bus ride across Paris, past the Seine, Louvre, Opera, and lots of people watching.

Just out my front door I came upon a celebration in front of the Mairie of the 14eme and the Friday market.

The Opera Garnier is so glorious.  I had gotten a window seat by that time.

Both museums were good, in typical 19th century homes, built new in a developing area which became home to many artists.

This is the staircase in Moreau’s studio, which is a huge loft.    It overlooks a garden in back.  Obviously more of a suburban atmosphere in those days.  I do love this city.

Paris

ATTENTION. Dangerous Neighborhood!  Where it is practically impossible to walk anywhere without spending money.  But I forget, every place I have stayed in Paris is like that.  But there is a particularly delicious shopping street in only two blocks.  Which I reached after stopping in a bookstore and then a café for café au lait and a croissant.

You can bet I got some things to stock the kitchen.  The cooking equipment is minimal, but adequate.  But I almost broke my leg getting out of the shower.

The architecture is the lovely Parisian mix.  This is the front of my apartment.

And this is a few blocks away.

I will stop now and open the wine and heat up the fish in curry sauce.  A bientot.