I am glad I bought a new air conditioning unit last month! It has been sweltering here day after day, week after week, yet after the very wet spring, at least in my part of Italy, the landscape remains green.
Some days it has been an effort even to go as far as the local supermarket and the local bars have nobody sitting at their tables under parasols. Extreme heat is bad for business. Locals prefer either to drive up into the Dolomites where the air is cooler or to stay at home in air-conditioned comfort.
When we have ventured out, it has been either to one of the many luxurious thermal pools or to a bench under a tree in the park, where for a short time we can be entertained by young people having a crazy game of tennis before they give up and melt away.
The usual squadrons of multi-colored cyclists are not hurtling past the balcony on their way to the challenges of the hills. Even they have given in to the weather.
So, what are we doing with our time here? We can still enjoy the trains, which are all wonderfully air conditioned, even if there’s an inferno at the destination. This week it was Ferrara, an hour away, and a trip to the magical Palazzo Schifanoia as it has been several years since we’ve been there. Its name is thought to mean ‘escape from boredom’, and its 15th century allegorical frescoes are unique of their kind.
The Hall of the Months has frescoes which were covered with whitewash for centuries and finally rediscovered in the early 19th century. Predictably, there are 12 panels, about half of which are in very good condition, depicting the months of the year, signs of the zodiac, and mythical scenes showing the triumph of the Borso family which owned the Palazzo, painted in 1469-70 by amongst others, Francesco del Cossa. People are painted in groups having fun, with monkeys, rabbits, a girl peering over the heads of old men to see what’s going on, courting, building, farming…all human life is showcased.
Ferrara is a great city with so much history. The moated castle is right in the city center and the ancient, cobbled streets lead away from the cathedral to fascinating churches and small palaces. La Gazzetta readers of a literary bent might try reading “The Marriage Portrait” by Maggie O’Farrell. It is the rather creepy story of Lucrezia de’Medici and her journey to live in Ferrara castle to marry the Duke of Este, at the age of 16, to provide him with an heir.
As we left our favourite restaurant, Ca’ d’Frara, we were chatting to Barbara, the owner, and saying that the actor Stanley Tucci should come here. (He’s made an excellent series on Italian cooking for the BBC.) A couple of American tourists came to join in the conversation, saying “We like Stanley Tucci too!”
Luckily, we return home to England next week, and will be back in a month when things, mainly the weather, have returned to normal.
