It was probably not the best plan on my part. I had thought Easter Sunday might be a problem and was kind of worried about finding places open. We did luck out with a gigantic meal at Osteria Carducci in an almost sedate Piacenza. Which pointed out two things I didn't know about Easter in Emilia-Romagna; folks in the big city head out to smaller towns; like Ferrara, to celebrate and enjoy life. Two, the Monday after Easter is a holiday and places would be packed. We searched for a decent place for lunch but every place was booked, or just served stuff like pizza and panini. We did manage to snag reservations for dinner.
We decided to just go ahead and check out this charming city; remember the amazing Street Performer?
Ferrara Cathedral dominates Piazza Trento e Trieste considered to be the center of the city. While there was a lot of restoration work going on, we decided to check out this structure which dates back to the 12th Century.
The interior is quite grand in a rather foreboding kind of way; as it is rather dark.
There were services going on; so we decided to just take a quick look around.....
It would be interesting to see the Cathedral after all the restoration work is complete.
As we slipped into the quite street behind the Cathedral we saw this place.
Al Brindisi....where did I hear that name before? Then in a rare example of my brains cells all firing at the same time, I remembered. Al Brindisi is said to be the "Oldest Wine Bar in the World".
Like 583 years old! So now for the name dropping; Copernicus studied at the University of Ferrara in 1503. While matriculating, he actually had a room right above Al Bridisi.
So, if it was good enough for Copernicus; it must be good enough for us.
Being a bit later in the afternoon; we just decided on some Culatello (of course) and a couple of glasses of wine. A red for the Missus and a white for me.
Along with the Culatello, we were served the famous and typical bread of the city; Coppia, which means "couple" has a unique shape, two strands of rolled dough are connected like a cross, with four "legs".
This was fairly dry and crumbly, though very "yeasty".....it's not something we'd search out.
The Culatello was decent, not quite melt in your mouth, but still satisfying.
There is a definite porky-cheesy flavor to culatello which I really love.
So, are you ready for our Al Brindisi story? It's about the Missus's red wine....first of all, it was turning a bit skunky to the nose....
It tasted like it was on its way to becoming a nice vinegar. We motioned our really nice Server over and explained to him that the red wine was going south. His response? He flashed us an uneasy smile and said "SOOO-rrreeee". And walked away never to be seen again! You couldn't help but laugh!
Oh well, we cut our losses...this red was really inexpensive.
And we now have a story about the oldest wine bar in the world, right?
Enoteca al Brindisi
Via Guglielmo Degli Adelardi 11
44121, Ferrara, Italy
After our snack we headed out and stretched our legs.
Ferrara was indeed an "interesting" town.....looks like this fellow is trying to sell his books?
Just a few blocks from the center of town; things were a lot quieter. This is the Piazzeta Sant 'Anna
This was once the sight of the first hospital in Ferrara, dedicated to Saint Anne.
We headed away from the city center......just taking in some of the wonderful structures along the way.
That's the Chisea del Gesu above, a Jesuit church built in the 16th century.
You kind of get the idea that they measure time in centuries here. In need of a nap before dinner we headed back, past the Castello Estense di Ferrara.
Past all the busy craft booths.
It was time for a nap....and then dinner!
Thanks for stopping by!
eew skunky wine....
Posted by: kat | Monday, 08 October 2018 at 08:06 PM
Yeah, not so good wine Kat!
Posted by: Kirk | Tuesday, 09 October 2018 at 06:54 AM
Hopefully the wine wasn't 583 years old too!
Posted by: Junichi | Tuesday, 09 October 2018 at 10:14 AM
Lol Junichi!
Posted by: Kirk | Tuesday, 09 October 2018 at 10:20 AM