Days Eight and Nine - Ravenna, Italy

Ravenna is famous for mosaics, but we didn't take any excursions to go see the factories.  We just stayed around town.

Waiting for the shuttle bus to take us into Ravenna.  We're docked about 6 miles from the town centre.

Before we got off the shuttle bus, the tour agent reminded us that there are 80,000 people in Ravenna, but 160,000 bicycles!

One of the many statues in the many squares around town.

 As we did in all the cities we visited, we walked around town, and then left the beaten tourist track to find little gems.  Here's a store that was certainly a gem!  And the deli shop owner was a gem, too.  We figured since we're in Italy, we should buy some 'real' balsamic vinegar and went into this store and poked around.  The owner was serving another customer when we arrived, and when the other customer left, he came over to us.  I pulled out the phrase book and in my best Italian said that we were looking for the vinegar, and he (we'll call him Luigi) took us behind the counter where almost the entire wall was filled with balsamic vinegar.  Very expensive vinegar at that!  Luigi brought out a bottle of 10 year old balsamic that was in a bottle almost like a perfume bottle.  He took out the cork and poured a quarter-sized drop on some wax paper and motioned for us to sample it with our little finger.  We could not believe how fantastic it was ... thick like molasses, but sweet, too!  So we decided to get a 12 year old, and while Luigi was still behind the counter, we poked around on the other shelves to see what was available.  Next thing we know, he's coming out from behind the counter with chunks of authentic parmesan cheese drizzled with the vinegar!  It was heavenly!  Then back behind the counter he goes, and brings out this huge carving board with a metal Y sticking up from it.  Then Luigi places a huge pig leg on it, and proceeds to carve off slices of prosciutto - it was amazing!  We would have bought the cheese and a slab of meat, but we knew Canadian Customs would never let us through with it.  At the end of our visit with Luigi, I got a picture of him and Dan together.  Right after the picture, Luigi teased Dan about how big his mustache was!  What a great memory!

This is the little square outside of the deli store.

A little while later, we were back on the tourist track, and poking around some shops.  Dan waited outside while I was trying to find something to bring back, so I could say "This is what I got in Italy!" and he came in and whispered, "Hey, come on outside, this lady wants to show us her house!"  So I threw down whatever was in my hand and went outside.  And sure enough, there was this sweet lady waiting to bring us inside! 

It started with Dan standing outside the shop, then noticed a door to a home with this amazing mosaic tiling around the archway.  And then the lady (we'll call her Maria) rode up on her bike and said something in Italian to Dan, and he replied "Scoozay, I only speak English."  So she spoke some English to Dan and said that he could come in and see inside!  That's when he came into the store to get me.

So Maria opened the large wooden door, and inside was a portico or terrazo where she stored her bike.  We went up a couple of steps, and then across about 10 feet like a bridge, and on either side of this bridge were pictures of buildings and a sculpture.  She explained her husband was an architect and these were buildings he designed that won awards, and his hobby was making sculptures.  After admiring the art, we then walked down a couple more steps, and she opened a wrought iron gate, and we entered a beautiful courtyard with a rock garden, statues and a koi pond.  Maria explained that the first level of the house was her husband's studio, and they lived on the second floor.  But she lives alone now since her husband passed away.  Then we continued through this courtyard, and behind another wrought iron gate was a small, secluded courtyard that was obviously her little haven.  A small bistro table and chair, and lots of vines and flowers on the walls.  I didn't get a picture of the  small courtyard, but Dan took a picture of us in the large one.

Then when we left Maria and she closed the door behind us, we had a look at the mosaic tiles again.  Now it made sense, there were tiles with drafting instruments, which indicated to people that the architect lived behind this door!

We walked around some more, and came across this deli - but nowhere near the experience we had with Luigi!

This is the type of leg that Luigi put on his cutting board - the hoof went into the Y piece on the board to secure the leg on the carving board.

John F Kennedy Square in Ravenna.

 We were also in Ravenna for the next day, the 15th.  We decided to stay close to the ship, and we walked over to the pier where the locals went and fished.  On the walk over, we passed the Ravenna Division of the Italian Coast Guard.

On the way to the pier, I dipped my toes in the Adriatic Sea!

It was chilly!

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On the pier where the locals fished from.  They all took their bikes, and rode out to their favourite spot!

This guy was all kitted out for fishing!  A lot of them had bikes like this.

Our cruise ship is on the right.

Obligatory photo of a mosaic.

I just thought this was funny.  Just in case anyone decided to go racing on the pier??