we were headed to an overnight
closer to the Milan airport,
but we squeezed every last drop
out of Parma before we left!
we made a final
revisit to the beautiful Duomo,
of course
& enjoyed watching locals traverse
these oh-so-old streets
on their way to 21st century jobs
another last revisit to
& an amazing tour of the library inside
about five Benedictine monks still reside
we were able to see the public-facing spaces
& our tour guide let us peek into the hallway
of the monk's residence
(a dark stretch with a few wooden doors
that led into each monk's small room)
such an historic space that is
a great expense to maintain
i believe there were, also,
Benedictine nuns in residence
a lovely interior courtyard
the tour guide was a volunteer
(not a monk); however, the monk librarian
did join us towards the end of the tour
an absolutely stunning room
with murals on every surface
our tour guide spoke only Italian,
so we managed with help from
the young Italian man also on the tour
(& my Spanish brain) in translating what was
sometimes self-evident
lots of time looking UP
in the hallway outside the library,
i was especially taken by a series
of artwork in a primitive style
there were no titles, labels, or names
so i assume the artist was a current or former monk
with the initials C.G.
...wish i could have found out more about these,
but neither the tour guide nor the librarian monk
knew anything to share...
i had my eye on
the Pinacoteca Stuard,
which we had narrowly missed
due to arriving 30 minutes prior to closing
one afternoon earlier in our stay
my primary motivation was their
collection of Amedeo Bocchi pieces,
but they had a substantial museum otherwise, as well
Enthroned Madonna with Child
Maestro de la Misericordia
1350-75
Madonna with Child and Two Angels
Greek artist, Byzantine 17th c.
Adoration of the Shepherds
Maestro della Elle, 2nd half of 16th c.
Christus Patiens
start of 16th c.
The Crowned Virgin
mid 14th c.
Madonna and Child
16th c.
Madonna and Child, with St. John,
St. Francis, and a Blessing Saint
Francesco Maria Rondani, early 16th c.
Testa di Donna
attrib. to Trophime Bigot, 1st half 17th c.
Donna con Colombe
18th c.
Portrait of Maria of Portugal, Duchess of Parma
Anthonios Mor, 16th c.
Still Life
Felice Boselli, 17th c.
The Sculptor Tommaso Bandini
Enrico Bandini 19th c.
Contadinella con Vaso di Fiori
(Peasant Girl with Vase of Flowers)
Cecrope Barilli 19th c.
Personification of the City of Parma
Cecrope Barilli 19th c.
Luigi Barbieri
Paolo Baratta 20th c.
and, then...
an entire room of Amedeo Bocchi
(the reason for my visit)
😍
Fior di Loto 1905
(Lotus Flower)
Viaggio di un'Anima 1935
(Soul's Journey)
Esodo 1951-60
(Exodus)
i just love how he uses color
bronze sculpture
Tramonto Rondinella 1956
(Rondinella Sunset)
Campo della Rondinella 1956
(Rondinella Countryside)
church bells and street scene
on our way back to our place,
we purchased some ham & cheese
for the journey home
so many choices of prosciutto e formaggio
hard to leave, as this meant the end of
The Trip
we got off at Busto Arsizio,
unfortunately at the wrong train station
& had to take a cab to our airbnb
(glad we didn't go through with our thought
to walk...oh, my...it was a gray, drizzling rain...
our bags were heavy...and that would have been
a looooooong walk)
the cab driver left us off in the muddy courtyard
of a strange, rundown complex of buildings
in a somewhat industrial part of downtown
the directions for determining which door
was the airbnb were confusing &
resulted in concerted efforts to
enter the wrong apartment (gah)
we finally figured out the correct one,
and it was sorely lacking in charm
(though clean & had everything we needed).
so slightly bedraggled,
we headed out to try to find the silver lining
of Busto Arsizio...
we, actually, weren't far from
the town center
(& the train station i thought
we'd bought tickets for)
we ducked into their main church
& strolled (in the drizzle)
the few old streets
finally landing at a small
grocery store,
where we purchased
odd items
that matched our moods
though our train tickets into the airport
were from the other station,
we decided we'd chance it
& jump on the train closer to us
...which worked out fine, thankfully!
&, the next morning,
we made our way to
the ever-so-glamorous
Milan airport...
high fashion
& conveyor-belt sushi
ready (not ready)
for the long journey home
it was the trip of a lifetime
