Ferrara

Stories from the road
October 2, 2018
Ferrara, Italy

We found track 16 and boarded our streamlined rail car for the 25-minute ride to Ferrara this morning. Things went smoothly until we gave our hotel’s name to our cabbie outside the railroad station. We had reservations at an old hotel recommend by Karen Brown, a travel guru, who writes highly regarded travel guides. “That hotel has closed. It is closed for good”, he said. Another cabbie confirmed his comment.

We asked our driver to take us to another hotel he might recommend, but that one was full. The desk clerk gave us the name of another, and we secured a room there for three nights. Emma, the receptionist, told me that the staff of our original hotel had walked off the job a week ago, and the management decided to close the hotel for good.

In the afternoon the skies opened up in this walled city, and it rained for hours. At our hotel’s recommendation,
We ate at a restaurant near the hotel. Emma said that it was one of the best restaurants in town. She was right. Vicki and I both had swordfish which was delicious.  We had a mixed salad which was also terrific. Produce in Italy is frequently locally grown and delicious.

A number of people resonated with my comments about Italian showers. It brought back a memory of a balance problem a few years ago. Vicki and I were hiking in the Dolomites above Cortina d’Ampezzo, and we decided to walk down the final stretch of the mountain rather than take the cable car. Unfortunately, it started to pour as we were hiking down this steep face. Little rivers formed around us, and several times, when Vicki came around the corner of the trail she found me lying in a bush. It was very hard to maintain stable footing on the slippery trail. It was a hair-raising walk. Near the bottom of the trail we met a man who was walking up. He was not well dressed for the weather, wearing blue jeans and a light rain shell. We strongly suggested he turn around, which he did. It then was another couple of miles of walking to get back to our hotel and some warm clothes.