Cremona, Italia
One of my favorite cities in northern Italy is the city of Cremona. It has the right combination of unintentional weirdness that blends beautifully. Their main stars are bacon, bikes, and fiddles. See what I mean? What a great combination.
Cremona is a solid hour drive south from Rivoltella. One thing I have learned here is that there is a local mentality/personality for each town, province and region. Brescia, my region, has a bit of an abrasive attitude. History makes a difference though: here in Brescia the region is known as the "engine of Italy" because of its factories. Brescia has done good for herself, the people are work-minded and goal oriented for their factories. They have reason to be proud. Hop in the car and head towards Cremona. You will see the landscape change from industry to agriculture. The local behavior change like from in-your-face Brooklyn to Punxsutawnney Phil (Groundhog Day). The prominent things produced towards Cremona are cheese, salami, and pig products. Yum! They also make gorgeous violins. The drive goes from traffic and winding streets to flat and strait roadways. Most of the year, flat Cremona is surrounded by fog. It is in the middle of the Pianura Piadana (Po Valley) and historically foggy. Drive 1 hour in fog bearing the smell of manure and you will arrive to Cremona. I like it despite the fog. There are a variety of people here ranging from Amy Winehouse look alikes
to sweet old men strolling the streets in suits and in deep contemplation.
The level of abrasive Brescian pride can't exist here. Stating "My daddy owns a Maserati and makes billions with our family fabric factory" works in Brescia. Here they can cooly state" My daddy has the tastiest pigs in town, bought me a cool bike and fiddles on the roof like Tevye". The "my daddy is better than yours" mentality still exists for connections to get good jobs, no doubt.
Anyway, everyone rides a bike in Cremona. The city is famous for making violins and there are violin shops everywhere. It is a classy city with a bit of artistic quirkiness to it but totally unaware of its quirkiness so it isn't affected or forced like some cities that strive to be unique.
I think the artistic freedom for Cremona started in the church and church square, where most important decisions were made in most cities. The Torrazza, next to the cathedral, is the highest bellwork tower made of brick and has an huge clock with the symbols of the constellations.
In the Cathedral there are beautiful paintings and sculptures (like most Italian cathedrals) but one of my favorite is the life size marble sculpture of Saint John's head on a plate.
I think Cremonese were onto something from the beginning. Maybe the Romans were not so interested in the area because of the fog and didn't fuss as much with the people so they were more free to make things as they liked.
The bicycles in Cremona are perhaps my favorite thing, though not historical or impressive. There are so many bikes here! There are:
My second favorite thing here are, of course, the violin shops.
My third but not last favorite thing about Cremona are the kebab restaurants. I was thrilled to see so many kebab food posts! Finally some spicy food. Restaurants here are sometimes all male. All male bars, all male kebaberies....girls NOT allowed! Seriously, it the level of Bro-mance here is a little silly.
( Bro-mance definition for my mama: The intense relationship shared between heterosexual males who usually call each other "brother" or "bro". This bond is normally only shared between males that have a deeper understanding of each other, in a way no woman could ever realise)
So, many coffee shops are filled to capacity with retired men, sipping girly cocktails or espresso and playing cards. I spotted an empty Kebabery and went in making sure all body parts that could be freely stared at were covered. The Kebab cook was a boy of 22 from Turkey and nice. He knew instantly that I was not Italian and asked me so many questions about the US. He wants to go one day to California and learn to surf. I quickly finished my kebab when a few older men came in and grunted at the site of a woman in their restaurant. The boy instantly stopped talking to me. I would have taken a picture but it wasn't the right moment.
Cremona is a solid hour drive south from Rivoltella. One thing I have learned here is that there is a local mentality/personality for each town, province and region. Brescia, my region, has a bit of an abrasive attitude. History makes a difference though: here in Brescia the region is known as the "engine of Italy" because of its factories. Brescia has done good for herself, the people are work-minded and goal oriented for their factories. They have reason to be proud. Hop in the car and head towards Cremona. You will see the landscape change from industry to agriculture. The local behavior change like from in-your-face Brooklyn to Punxsutawnney Phil (Groundhog Day). The prominent things produced towards Cremona are cheese, salami, and pig products. Yum! They also make gorgeous violins. The drive goes from traffic and winding streets to flat and strait roadways. Most of the year, flat Cremona is surrounded by fog. It is in the middle of the Pianura Piadana (Po Valley) and historically foggy. Drive 1 hour in fog bearing the smell of manure and you will arrive to Cremona. I like it despite the fog. There are a variety of people here ranging from Amy Winehouse look alikes
to sweet old men strolling the streets in suits and in deep contemplation.
My main reasons for liking Cremona are that the people are more relaxed.
The level of abrasive Brescian pride can't exist here. Stating "My daddy owns a Maserati and makes billions with our family fabric factory" works in Brescia. Here they can cooly state" My daddy has the tastiest pigs in town, bought me a cool bike and fiddles on the roof like Tevye". The "my daddy is better than yours" mentality still exists for connections to get good jobs, no doubt.
Anyway, everyone rides a bike in Cremona. The city is famous for making violins and there are violin shops everywhere. It is a classy city with a bit of artistic quirkiness to it but totally unaware of its quirkiness so it isn't affected or forced like some cities that strive to be unique.
I think the artistic freedom for Cremona started in the church and church square, where most important decisions were made in most cities. The Torrazza, next to the cathedral, is the highest bellwork tower made of brick and has an huge clock with the symbols of the constellations.
In the Cathedral there are beautiful paintings and sculptures (like most Italian cathedrals) but one of my favorite is the life size marble sculpture of Saint John's head on a plate.
Poor guy
The bicycles in Cremona are perhaps my favorite thing, though not historical or impressive. There are so many bikes here! There are:
the one with one basket in front
the deluxe version with a wicker basket
and the super deluxe with two baskets
Stylish moms ride them.
Elderly men in shamefully short shorts ride bikes.
And, if it's raining? Not to worry! True Cremonese can handle a bit of rain.
My second favorite thing here are, of course, the violin shops.
Stradivari is the most famous violin maker.
Stroll around and see that there are dozens of violin making shops here.
Makes me wish the windstorm of Olympia, Washington in 1993, when I was a kid, never knocked a tree on my violin teachers house. Reconstruction took so long that I lost interest and picked up trying to learn how to cartwheel and do hand-stands instead.
Maybe I will take lessons when I am 60 and retired.
My third but not last favorite thing about Cremona are the kebab restaurants. I was thrilled to see so many kebab food posts! Finally some spicy food. Restaurants here are sometimes all male. All male bars, all male kebaberies....girls NOT allowed! Seriously, it the level of Bro-mance here is a little silly.
( Bro-mance definition for my mama: The intense relationship shared between heterosexual males who usually call each other "brother" or "bro". This bond is normally only shared between males that have a deeper understanding of each other, in a way no woman could ever realise)
So, many coffee shops are filled to capacity with retired men, sipping girly cocktails or espresso and playing cards. I spotted an empty Kebabery and went in making sure all body parts that could be freely stared at were covered. The Kebab cook was a boy of 22 from Turkey and nice. He knew instantly that I was not Italian and asked me so many questions about the US. He wants to go one day to California and learn to surf. I quickly finished my kebab when a few older men came in and grunted at the site of a woman in their restaurant. The boy instantly stopped talking to me. I would have taken a picture but it wasn't the right moment.
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