Modena

Vicki was running low on aceto balsamico, and I was running low on Ferraris, so we decided to head on to Modena. We found ample public parking close in to town, by the bus station, and walked the rest of the way to the centro storico, a few hundred meters.

An old San Giovanni church, dated 1190

Above the Farmacia San Marco (his attribute is the lion)

Street scene, on a major piazza

Painted arcades

Love the gentle curve

Ditto

Before Old Navy, Original Marines

Central piazza

Orator's stone, a Medieval soapbox of sorts

Modenans killed resisting Mussolini

Contemporary building art; oh, Vicki got some 30 year-old aceto balsamico; the
Ferrari will have to wait until the lira drops dramatically

More Parma Churches

But not too many more...

Just east of the duomo is the monastery
church of St. John the Evangelist...mostly
16th century

Stern to bow shot; note the floor tile, which runs throughout

View from altar

Coronation

More Corregio

Interesting St. John receiving the Revelation, over the west
door

And now for something completely different: in the monastery
museum next door, this interesting scene, identified only as
"Luigi Tessoni, 1987, Parma, Italia"; Tessoni died in 1988, and
there was a retrospective of his work some years back at the
monastery; the above was in a closed off room

Moving right along, we were in the Church of St. Mary della
Steccata, and I was snapping another apparent swirler, when
Vicki observed a Celebration was in progress and that I
should show more respect..."fanculo quella merda" I muttered,
respectfully...

Parma Cathedral

One of the sights in Parma that attracted us was the cathedral, the duomo, which was consecrated in 1106. Much within it is newer, merely Renaissance, etc., but still of great interest.

Lombard Romanesque, the tower under scaffolding

Of equal interest is the Baptistry, same age, same beautiful pink
Verona marble

One of the Baptistry doors

Detail, sort of a Judgment...

Tree of Jesse

It has been some time since we were in an Italian cathedral; they're darker, of
course, lacking the great windows of the north; and the great height; but every
square inch is painted or otherwise decorated, sometimes gloriously; not a bad
trade-off

Even the ceiling...which in this case looks like standard
four-part Gothic vaulting...painted

Fortunately, there is often a Divine Illumination Machine;
we have learned now to be patient and let someone else pay
the two euros... although this deprives me of the opportunity
to stage-whisper "Let there be light"; also any side
benefices or indulgences

Apse area with its great domes

Antelemi's Deposition relief; same guy who designed the Baptistry

The central dome, Antonio Corregio's Assumption of the Virgin

Closer up: one of the first great swirlers...

Closer still...that's Mary at about 7 o'clock, bare-breasted; you'll
have to guess who is there in the center, with clean feet (I can
never look at these things without thinking of The Assumption of 
Gala and Salvador into Heaven at Figueres) (hint: don't look up
His drawers)

Alas, the only conspicuous stained glass in the place actually ruins what might
have been a great Mannerist Maesta (inside west wall)

Gated side chapel

Elevation; dark; but color everywhere

Exterior, high up on the bow

Parma

We had run out of ham and cheese so we decided to go to Parma. Unfortunately, we took the blue road from La Spezia to Parma, which afforded us many hours of scenic driving, especially crossing the Apennines, where, for very, very long stretches, we were the only car on the road. The tunnels and bridges of the autostrada, even the expense, would have been better. We got to Parma and on to its peripherique, which is here called the tangenziale, and to the appointed coordinates of the sosta, only to find, at length, that it had been moved. A sign directed us to exit #10 on the tangenziale, and from there, more signs led us to a nice camper parking area, free, in the Park & Ride, helpfully located right next to the Lidl. With little more difficulty we hopped the bus into town. For the record, the P&R was the west parcheggio.

Scenic driving

Helpful sign; in English too

Thus

Parma opera

Where they are doing the Verdi bicentennial

And The Master's; alas, He does not get
top billing in Italy; nor in Parma, near where
Verdi was born; Toscanini, perhaps the
foremost interpreter of both Verdi and Wagner,
was born in Parma

Verdi chocolates

On one of the big piazzas along the Via di Repubblica

Parma street scene

Beautiful storefront; love the pink Vernona
marble

Now in the Piazza Garibaldi

And the Governor's Palace

Where Galileo discovered (but later recanted)
that each minute has sixty seconds

While Vicki bought the prosciutto and parmesan cheese
at some famous shoppe, I photographed the boutique-quality
Lambrusco, which hails from around here; among serious
winos, Lambrusco is regarded as alcoholic cool-aid; but these
puppies cost as much as 10 or 12 euros a bottle!

Vicki displays the best and best-spooned gelato yet, her
favorite cream and pistachio