A Northern Adventure - Ferrara

I suspect I am going to start a trend of being somewhat repetitive when I type this next sentence. I suspect I am going to start a trend of being somewhat repetitive when I type this next sentence. Couldn’t resist. Ferrara was an amazing city and that’s the part I am probably going to keep repeating. “Insert city name here” was an amazing city. Blah, blah, blah. Going forward I’ll keep my eyes peeled (I had to explain that expression to someone the other day and wasn’t quite sure of the origin or why we say it, just that we do and it means to keep a look out.) for somewhere that isn’t amazing.

Five Ferrara Fun Facts (supplied, of course, by Valentina and supplemented by me):

Over 9km of ancient city walls remain, dating from the 15th and 16th centuries. They are Renaissance walls and now have running and biking paths along them.

The city is home to a very famous palace, the Palazzo dei Diamanti which as far as I can tell became famous for having diamond shaped (diamanti) bricks in its exterior walls.

UNESCO has placed the city on the World Heritage Site list. This means you have to be extra careful with your garbage and where you walk.

At one point in history, Ferrarans could boast of having the widest street in all of Italy. This one!


City Hall offices are located in a real castle with a real moat and real drawbridges, called Castello Estense, it was started in the mid-14th century. When we were there it also had a nativity scene floating in the moat. I knew Jesus could walk on water but didn’t realize the cows could too. Clipped to a chain in the castle were these lucchetti (padlocks).


I noticed the same thing on the Passerelle de Arts bridge in Paris.


I assumed couples left them as symbols of love but I never knew the whole story. Now I do. And it’s a nice one. A few years ago, an Italian author named Federico Moccia wrote a story and in it two teenagers in love lock a padlock to a lamppost on the Ponte Milvio in Rome. After the book came out, couples began imitating art. It proved so popular that the lamppost eventually collapsed into the Tiber river. Now there is a fence erected specifically for the locks and the practice has spread throughout Europe. For those who fall out of love, bolt cutters are available at reasonable prices.

It’s a beautiful city and the day we spent there was a cold, clear, crisp winter day that formed a perfect back-drop for exploring the streets, watching people and overindulging in holiday pastries typical of the region. Once again I’ve created a slide-show (click here) with some additional pictures from the day. And up next, wading in Venice.

And now, apropos of nothing, in a Christmas package that I received (thanks again guys!) there were a couple boxes of Peeps. As everyone knows you can only safely eat one Peep per lifetime so I brought the box to work to share the remainder. Until word spread that they were food, the Peeps sat uneaten in the break room for most of the day because everyone thought they were expired air fresheners for their car (same tree shape, no scent). Today someone told me they thought Oreos were originally an Italian cookie. I’m losing my mind. A Big Mac value meal here costs 6€.