Mantua and Cremona

Tuesday, September 30

First of all, I need to clear something up. Tom did not buy me one of those hats; even though I'm always ribbing him about the sorry state of his favorite baseball cap, he knows better than to think I'd don one of those!

We spent the first part of today in Manuta, a city surrounded on three sides by the meandering Mincio River. We visited a monumental cathedral, an 11th century church in the round, and several lovely piazzas in this medieval-feeling city. Once home to the Gonzagas, it was both ruled by them and the beneficiary of their patronage of the arts.

This afternoon, we visited Cremona. This city was the home of Stradavarius, the Guarneri dynasty, and other famous makers of violins and the tradition continues; the shops of today's liutai (violin makers) are everywhere in the old center of the city. In addition, Cremona's massive duomo boasts Europe's tallest bell tower.

We leave Bergamo tomorrow morning and head for Tuscany, where we will spend the next week in Chianti, outside of Siena. We have happy memories of a previous visit there and are looking forward to this one.

Unfortunately, for the rest of our trip, we will not have access to the Internet in our apartments. We will keep in touch via e-mail and I'll try top post to the blog as often as possible. Please keep writing; letters from home are as welcome as they've ever been!

Ciao for now,

MER