Frozen in Cremona
Cremona, peacefully sitting in the middle of the Po Valley, is by far my favorite city.
They make violins, everyone rides a bike, they sell the best Gorgonzola and are the only place that makes a killer pumpkin tortellini. They also sell legs and legs of prosciutto.
Who wouldn't love Cremona? You can walk down the cobblestone streets and hear the romantic and sad or vigorous tunes of a violin floating from window to window. I love Cremona. If I had to pick one reason I wouldn't be able to. I love the people there: they are nice, they remind me of the people from Washington State: shy and friendly. I love the bookstores: they have layers that you find your way through. I love the main shopping avenue, of course. I love the coffee shops, the abundance of Kebab restaurants, the weekly Wednesday market with vendors and hagglers. I love that at 12:30 it is a ghost town when everyone goes to eat and I can walk the streets alone and drink it all in. I never get tired of Cremona. One day, when I have raised a family and boot my kids off to college, I will return to Cremona and find an apartment where I can see the market and write. I know where I will get my bacon, my coffee, my kebab and where to park my bike. Why don't I do it now? Good question, but apparently I need to be a responsible adult for a few more years. Yes, one day I will come back and eat all the fattening stuff I want then walk it all off strolling by the Po River.
So enough about how much I love Cremona, I could go on and on. There are so many beautiful inspiring cities in Italy and I'm sure Cremona doesn't make the list for other reasons like it is usually immersed in a cloud of fog, the outskirts stink of pig crap and that could deter camera happy tourists. But not me! Did you know there are even pools of the turd that the farmers use to nourish the fields of produce? Very resourceful people. If I were from one city in Italy it would be Cremona. The people are good people, they smile, ride bikes, speak low and eat strong.
Today, the temperature was -4. When we woke up I thought that I should skip going to Cremona today since we have been dutifully warned by the TV to stay in and avoid the third week of Siberian cold. Another blizzard is coming soon, Friday I think, and for sure we will be tied in the house. However, today there was just ice on the street, not enough to scare me off from my favorite city. My husband tried to talk some sense into me to stay home, I had a feeling he was right, but I went ahead and accompanied him. Yes, it was cold today. I walked carefully. My goal was to go to the Archaeological Museum of Cremona to visit, get informed and draw but it was closed due to the cold. By the time I walked there the other museum I wanted to go to was too far to walk to in the cold. My nose was red. My hands totally numb. I tied my scarf over my nose and mouth, pulled my sunglasses on for extra warmth and went to my second favorite place: the library. This place is always open, warm, and I love their archives that date back to the 14th c. They were preserved by a monastery of Franciscan Monks till the 17th century when they handed their precious archives over to the state. I would love to learn a lesson or two from the Franciscan Archives. After the library I headed over to my favorite coffee shop where I sat to read La Reppublica, the Italian newspaper, and catch up on the world. I love this newspaper because it covers the best things of the world. Believe it or not I have been finding out all about Mitt Romney, Michelle Obama doing push-ups with Ellen, and The Help coming out in Italian movie theaters thanks to La Republica. I think I will switch reading the NY Times for La Rep to get better world coverage.
On that note, I'm sorry if these are not the most exciting photos, but today it was pretty cold and I didn't get to walk around as much as I had hoped. Enjoy though, and I hope you see some spot of beauty that you love in Cremona too:
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| Bikes and Luthiers (string instrument makers) = Cremona |
They make violins, everyone rides a bike, they sell the best Gorgonzola and are the only place that makes a killer pumpkin tortellini. They also sell legs and legs of prosciutto.
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| A show of prosciutto crudo di Parma |
Who wouldn't love Cremona? You can walk down the cobblestone streets and hear the romantic and sad or vigorous tunes of a violin floating from window to window. I love Cremona. If I had to pick one reason I wouldn't be able to. I love the people there: they are nice, they remind me of the people from Washington State: shy and friendly. I love the bookstores: they have layers that you find your way through. I love the main shopping avenue, of course. I love the coffee shops, the abundance of Kebab restaurants, the weekly Wednesday market with vendors and hagglers. I love that at 12:30 it is a ghost town when everyone goes to eat and I can walk the streets alone and drink it all in. I never get tired of Cremona. One day, when I have raised a family and boot my kids off to college, I will return to Cremona and find an apartment where I can see the market and write. I know where I will get my bacon, my coffee, my kebab and where to park my bike. Why don't I do it now? Good question, but apparently I need to be a responsible adult for a few more years. Yes, one day I will come back and eat all the fattening stuff I want then walk it all off strolling by the Po River.
So enough about how much I love Cremona, I could go on and on. There are so many beautiful inspiring cities in Italy and I'm sure Cremona doesn't make the list for other reasons like it is usually immersed in a cloud of fog, the outskirts stink of pig crap and that could deter camera happy tourists. But not me! Did you know there are even pools of the turd that the farmers use to nourish the fields of produce? Very resourceful people. If I were from one city in Italy it would be Cremona. The people are good people, they smile, ride bikes, speak low and eat strong.
Today, the temperature was -4. When we woke up I thought that I should skip going to Cremona today since we have been dutifully warned by the TV to stay in and avoid the third week of Siberian cold. Another blizzard is coming soon, Friday I think, and for sure we will be tied in the house. However, today there was just ice on the street, not enough to scare me off from my favorite city. My husband tried to talk some sense into me to stay home, I had a feeling he was right, but I went ahead and accompanied him. Yes, it was cold today. I walked carefully. My goal was to go to the Archaeological Museum of Cremona to visit, get informed and draw but it was closed due to the cold. By the time I walked there the other museum I wanted to go to was too far to walk to in the cold. My nose was red. My hands totally numb. I tied my scarf over my nose and mouth, pulled my sunglasses on for extra warmth and went to my second favorite place: the library. This place is always open, warm, and I love their archives that date back to the 14th c. They were preserved by a monastery of Franciscan Monks till the 17th century when they handed their precious archives over to the state. I would love to learn a lesson or two from the Franciscan Archives. After the library I headed over to my favorite coffee shop where I sat to read La Reppublica, the Italian newspaper, and catch up on the world. I love this newspaper because it covers the best things of the world. Believe it or not I have been finding out all about Mitt Romney, Michelle Obama doing push-ups with Ellen, and The Help coming out in Italian movie theaters thanks to La Republica. I think I will switch reading the NY Times for La Rep to get better world coverage.
On that note, I'm sorry if these are not the most exciting photos, but today it was pretty cold and I didn't get to walk around as much as I had hoped. Enjoy though, and I hope you see some spot of beauty that you love in Cremona too:
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| The long snowy road to a pig factory and a lovely country villa |
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| Cremona, Chiesa di San Luca, built in the 12th century |
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| Flower stand outside of the Duomo of Our Lady of the Assumption |
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| View from the library |
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| All bundled up |
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| Cold Cold Cold |
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| I love all the chimneys |
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| la Reppubblica |
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| "Should we fight out who is responsible?" "Ok, we'll get warm!" |
Yay for libraries and archives!! What other repositories have you been to?
ReplyDeleteI have been to the one in Venice and Verona, both very big but also hard to get into. All personal items go in a locker and you have to pass through security like at the airport before being allowed in the manuscript room.
ReplyDelete