Verona to Rimni via Ferrara & Ravenna

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Trip Start Sep 01, 2011 Previous
Entry Trip End Sep 08, 2011

  Rimini, Emilia-Romagna, Italy
Saturday, September 3, 2011

 With our romantic revisit to Verona over we hit the road on to pastures new. I would have said uncharted territory, but thanks to Garmin et al, I had a route planned that would take us through Ferrara and Ravenna before arriving in Rimini. It is worth noting to all travellers/ tourists that the Garmin product range of GPS devices has one very powerful tool : Garmin Mapsource. This is a free software to be used in conjunction with your garmin, so that you can create you own custom driving routes before you arrive in - wherever you are going, and I would recommend the outright purchase of a Garmin rather than paying EUR15/day for rental with your hire vehicle. In any case with Mrs Garmin (as we called her) activated and announcing instructions we set out on the road.
Not before leaving Verona, we decided to make a pit stop at the Giardino Gusti,about 2km from the heart of Verona. It is a famous Garden which whilst having no single amazing feature, brings a real sense of peace or tranquility in a city which is simply bustling with people. I joked to Isabella on our way out, how it would be a fantasic job if I was the gardener here, living in the little cottage by the sides of the garden, and simply having the responsibiliy to keep the gardern in it current beautiful condition. What a pleasant fiction.
Back on the road we were now off heading for our second waypoint - Ferrara. I agreed with Mrs Garmin to avoid the main highways. We headed south east along the SS434 pretty much all the way to Ferrara. It was interesting to see what 'speed freaks' the italians are. Speed cameras or Radar touting traffic police were both absent on this corsa.

The lay of the land in this part of the world is low, and there are many waterways. GPS indicated elevations of 2m below sea level at some points. The banks of most waterways were composed of fishing installations. They were wooden huts cantilevered out over the water, suspending nets. I didn't manage to get a photo, but a look on google earth would soon illustrate them. I dont know what fish they catch, but I am sure they get almost every fish with this method.
 
Upon arrival in Ferrerra you are almost immediately inside the town center, and stuck by the image of Castello Estense. I was so distracted that I ran a red light whist staring at the Goliath building. 'Nice Pile of bricks' I thought to myself. We parked up and took a stroll through the city center. It was a typical lazy sunday morning feeling there, despite it being saturday. An antiques market was open on one of the side Piazzas. We saw everthing from junk to collectable. No body seemed in the mood to buy, only to browse. We decided to have lunch here in Ferrarra. We found a small pizzeria : Pizzeria Este. Seated around us were some Greek girls, and on another table, a French couple. Two of the Greek ladies were over visiting their friend, who was studying in Ferrara - not that I was listening of course - 
Back to the car and on to Ravenna. Not only is ravenna a small town, it is riddled with one way streets. This makes navigation a little annoying.We stopped just to look around and have a Cuppacino. We Parked up near Via di Roma, and headed off to Piazza Garibaldi. A wedding congregation was forming as we arrived. We sat and watched as numbers grew. Then the groom appeared on the back of a Ducati Monster - to the sound of a cheer. Five minutes later the Bride arrived, and the spectacle moved indoors. With that little piece of excitment we were spurred on to final destination Rimini.

 

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