Turner e l'Italia

Today Nicole, Adri, and I took a day trip back to Ferrara to see the newly-opened art exhibition Turner e l'Italia. The exhibit, in the Palazzo dei Diamanti which houses Ferrara's Pinacoteca Nazionale, was a collection of works by J.M.W. Turner (including paintings, sketches in the original sketchbooks, watercolors, and engravings) representing his relationship with Italy. All of the works were either scenes he painted while in Italy, or scenes of the British landscape that were inspired and influenced by the Italian landscape. It was a great exhibit, and as Nicole said, it was so cool to stand in front of a painting and realize that a beautiful view of Italy that moved Turner - Florence's Arno river, for example - was the very same view that we saw firsthand, and were equally awed by. 

After the exhibit, it was time for lunch. And of course, we had to return to the restaurant where we ate the outstanding cappellacci di zucca (pumpkin-filled ravioli) last time. Last time we tried the pumpkin ravioli with butter and sage, but this time we decided to try it al ragù, which our server told us was more traditional. Naturally, it was equally outstanding. And I had to take a picture of this dish too, to go with the one I took last time.

The one place left for us to hit in Ferrara was the Osteria al Brindisi, reputedly the oldest alehouse in the world, already famous in 1435. It boasts such famous clientele as Titian, Cellini, and Pope John Paul II. Aside from the awkwardness and slight offense we took at the waiter asking if we were over the age of 16 (not to mention that this is Europe, and it was the first time any of us were questioned of our age, aside from people joking that since we're Americans under 21, we're not allowed to drink), it was a great experience. We got an assortment of their desserts, which was a small plate of traditional Ferrarese cookies and cakes, and the waiter brought us a red strawberry dessert wine to go with them. It was very sweet, but it went well with the desserts.

Because we hadn't had enough sugar yet, on our way back to the train station, we stopped in a bakery and each got one marron glacé - candied chestnuts. (Italians do love their chestnuts.)  We'd seen them around for a while but tried them for the first time today...and they were, like everything else, delicious.