Pubs, Ferrara, and a HUGE picture update

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Hey all, sorry I havent updated in a while. its been a crazy past few days. So lets start with yesterday. My program has really been encouraging us to explore and figure out the massive public transit system here in Italy so yesterday we had another type of scavenger hunt assignment. The only difference was, instead of it being here in Parma, they broke us up into 3 groups, gave us the name of some random city and the directions to the train station, and from there we were pretty much on our own.

Not only did we have to figure out HOW to get to our respective towns, but we had to figure out how to get back, it was kind of intense. Anyway, My group was assigned to the city of Ferrara (no Ferraris are not made here haha) In order to get there, we had to take a train from Parma to Bologna and change trains in Bologna (the biggest train station in Italy north of Rome, great.) So me and the 2 guys in my group (who mind you speak ZERO italian) got to Ferrara surprisingly easily and we were off for our daily adventures.

The first place we went to was Il Castello Estense, a huge castle literally IN the middle of the town, we were shocked. It was gorgeous tho, it had a huge mote surrounding it and everything, the same family has been living in this castle for ages, so the story tells us. Then we walked to Il Palazzo dei Diamanti (the Palace of Diamonds. As im sure you can tell by the pictures, this place acquired its name from the 12,600 diamond shaped stones that cover its outer walls, it was pretty crazy to see.

SO then, the most important part of the day, was lunch! My group and I saw in this travel book that Europe's oldest running wine bar exists in this relatively quiet city of Ferrara..to give you some perspective, Copernicus himself lived upstairs back in 1450 and was a regular. We ordered a bunch of food and of course some delicious wine, and by the end of the day i was COMPLETELY exhausted.

We came back to Parma and went to the local pub (called Chelsea pub) ordered a delicious sandwich and my Italian friend tricked me into ordering the biggest size beer they had. Great. here are a few pictures from the pub.

Also, i found this interesting as a completely random aside. My friend caleb and I went into a grocery store to buy some wine, and we saw this bottle of beer. Cannibus beer, who knows if its effects match its name, but its one hell of a good marketing scheme regardless.

I have been spending a lot of time with the Italians and less time with my American friends so my grasp of the Italian language is improving with impeccable speed. All the italians that our program has introduced us to call me quite often. In fact, the other night i was out on the town speaking in Italian like a local. Who knows if my grammar was anywhere near correct, but its the message that matters...right?

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Photos

Il Castello Estense
Literally, as you can see. Its in the middle of town. You can tell by the street in front of it.

Mote-Il Castello Estense
Its surrounded by this HUGE mote, about 20 feet below the street's surface. haha first time ive ever seen a genuine mote

Il Castello Estense
Here I am, next to a huge pile of cannon balls. Aww cute

Il Palazzo Dei Diamanti
you cant really tell as well from this picture but... see how the stones on the walls are shaped like diamonds? coool!

Big Church
I dont knwo the name of this church, but its pretty no less

Church and Mcdonalds
I thought this was really interesting. SO theres this GORGEOUS church, your typical european architechture cathedral, and right across the street is Mcdonalds, I guess not even europe can escape the assimilation from American fast food. Its really rather depressing

Osteria di Brindisi
Heres a picture of the inside of the oldest wine bar in Europe. There were only 4 tables, but enough wine to last you a lifetime, all the walls were lined in bottles, as you can see

Acting Cool on the Train
So after a long day of intercity traveling, Caleb and I put on our shades and relaxed. It was fun, very fun indeed

Weed beer?
Yeah, who knows if its actually got any marijuana at all but, I found it interesting no less.

Chelsea Pub
Heres a pic of me and Caleb (an American friend from Pitzer) and in the background is our friend Luigi. This beer was the size of my head...dont worry mom I didnt drink all of it ;-)

Comments

[anonymous]

I ORDER YOU TO TRY THIS SO CALLED WEED BEER