May 1st is Labour Day, and a holiday here in Italy. Traditionally, it is a day when workers celebrate their rights, but now most Italians celebrate by taking it easy and maybe having a picnic with family and friends.
Having a day off school, we decided to head off for the delights of Parma, an hour from Bologna by Treno Regionale. The regional trains are fairly slow, but inexpensive, and usually still comfortable, so comfortable that when we were returning from Parma at the end of the day, some tourists from Eastern Europe were concerned that they’d wandered into first class by mistake. The Frecciarossa trains are the really fast, smart trains but not too expensive, provided you book far enough ahead.
When we arrived at Bologna Station this morning, a large crowd of trade union representatives were gathering in the square outside with their various flags. We saw a corresponding gathering in Parma, but with a far fewer number of attendees.
We liked Parma, although hard not to with the wonderful blue sky, and apart from stopping for food (we had to have Parma ham and Parmesan cheese) we just visited the Cathedral and Baptistery to see the wonderful frescoes.
Parma Cathedral Inside the Cathedral The frescoes are mostly fifteenth century, and some are in monochrome.The guy on the left looks as though he is sharing a piece of gossip he has just come across.St Sebastian on the left being shot, and John the Baptist’s beheading on the right.This little trio of pictures looks like a cartoon and appears to tell a story, but I don’t know what it is.These men look as though they are in a communal bath.They’re either heating iron or cooking pizza.I loved this twelfth century carving. The angels look as if they’re crowd surfing.The roof of the Baptistery is having some work done to it at the moment.Carving on outside wall of BaptisteryInside the dome of the Baptistery, frescoed in the thirteenth century. The exterior of the building is octagonal, but inside there are sixteen sides.Double baptistery bath made from a solid block of beautiful two-tone marble from Verona. We estimated that the original slab would have measured 3.5 m x 3.5 m x 1 m. This is the reason it is called a ‘double’ baptismal bath. The priest would stand in the middle, keeping dry, but I am not sure how he got there, other than in a fairly ungainly manner.Me, outside the Cathedral
My husband, Mark, and I have just sold our house and are taking a year out to have an adventure before we settle down to retirement. We decided on a journey through Italy as it has the perfect combination of good weather, interesting history, great wine and wonderful ice-cream! As we will be starting our journey in January, we are beginning in the very south of the country.
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