After our rustic farm stay, we drove to Urbino, a well preserved walled city not far away. It is home to a university within its walls so feels (and is) like a college town, medieval Italy style. The main tourist attraction is the Ducal Palace, which also houses the city's collection of art. This structure dates from the mid 1400's and the art collection includes perhaps Piero della Francesca's most famous painting, the Flagellation of Christ. Surprisingly, the museum allows photos as long as you sign a form before entering (which I did). Therefore, this blog has a wealth of photos from this palace/museum. They tell the tale much better than my words can.
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| One entrance to the walled university small city of Urbino |
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| The eagle - the symbol of the city (or at least the Duke of Urbino) |
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| The walk to the top of the city where the palace is situated |
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| The Duomo, the main church, which is next to the Ducal Palace |
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| The unimpressive exterior of the Ducal Palace hides the riches within |
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| Randy in the main square of Urbino |
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| Eagle medallions were found in the central ceiling of nearly every room in the palace |
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| Detail of the painting "Ideal City" made by followers of Piero della Francesca |
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| A detail of one of the many religious paintings in the collection |
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| Detail of a tapestry |
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| The Flagellation of Christ, a quite small painting |
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| Detail of the Flagellation |
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| Detail of the very interesting but highly enigmatic figures on the right of the painting |
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| Ceiling detail from the palace |
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| A room was filled with inlaid wood walls and ceiling and included this nice squirrel and fruit basket |
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| Pieces from the palace's archeology collection |
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| Another interesting piece from the archeology collection |
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| The evocative streets of Urbino |
After finding our way out of Urbino, we decided there was not enough time to visit the mosaics of Ravenna but chose to see a little known city, Rimini, on the coast. This is an Italian seaside resort (on the Adriatic), but being out of season, is deserted of tourists, Italian or otherwise. It is notable for two other reasons, however. One, it is the hometown of film director legend Frederico Fellini (and where he filmed a couple of his films) and, two, it is the site of the Piero fresco, Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta Praying in Front of St. Sigismund, executed in 1451. The fresco is located in the downtown area in the Chapel of the Malatesta Temple. This work is large and has not been restored but is magnificent in its own way. The temple was not yet open when we arrived so we found a quaint and elegant tea room to have drinks and snacks.
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| The central square of Rimini |
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| The interesting clock which includes the day (below) and time (above) |
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| Another view of the main part of Rimini |
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| A traditional tea room on the main square in Rimini |
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| Randy relaxes before his tea and cookies. Alice opted for a glass of prosecco. |
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| Signs to the sights of Rimini led by the remarkable Temple Malatesta |
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| The temple exterior |
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| Alice in front of this beautiful and little visited building from the middle ages |
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| Detail of entry pediment |
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| Interior |
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| The fresco in its original place |
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| A closer view |
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| Detail of Piero's patron Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta |
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| Detail of Saint Sigismund |
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| Detail of the white greyhound |
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| Detail of the black greyhound. These dogs are magnificent in execution and design. |
After paying final homage to Piero, we drove to the seaside so Randy could see the Adriatic for the first time, and we passed Fellini park near the shore, a very small and unremarkable park, it must be said. We then made the two hour drive north to outside of Padua, in Due Carre, the sight of our next bed and breakfast.
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| The underwhelming tribute to hometown boy Frederico Fellini in Rimini |
This bed and breakfast is in a fabulously large and beautiful house with friendly owners and a very handsome dog, Pepe. We were treated to a very comfortable room and bathroom, and an amazing breakfast spread (we were the only ones staying there, of course). The hostess, Renza, recommended a local restaurant, Le Querce, and we went there. It was full of locals and only the guy at the next table spoke some English. He helped us a lot and we ate very well on salad, pasta (for Alice) and sliced beef steak with olive oil (for Randy). We had a liter of local red wine and Randy had gelato to finish and our bill was only 28 Euro. We could hardly believe it, but were happy at this unexpected frugality. Coupled with the mere 65 Euro for our stay with Renza, this made Due Carre a top candidate for our next visit to Italy. It is well placed for Venice, Padua, Ravenna, Verona, etc.
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| Pepe in front of the very large and beautiful villa where we spent the night in Due Carre, just south of Padua |
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| Pepe was both handsome and friendly |
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| The main living area |
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| The breakfast spread was impressive and all for us, and we took full advantage of it |
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| Alice with the jug of local red wine |
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| The salad with meat, maybe an air cured beef |
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| Alice's big spaghetti with duke, a very local dish we were told |
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| Randy had some of Alice's pasta with his steak (which also came with a massive bowl of very good French fries) |
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