imprimis travel design

Following the Po river course..: Cremona, Mantova, Ferrara

Some time ago the Imprimis Travel Design team decided to fill up some voids it had on certain cities in North Italy.. We pride ourselves to know extremely well our country, and we do, but being such a variegated and diverse country, it is hard, almost impossible to know everything, and to do our job well we need to keep going around and getting to know well cities, areas, restaurants and hotels.

With this spirit we organized a trip to some nearby towns, because our time was limited, the winners were Mantova and Ferrara, with short stops at Cremona on the way there and Modena on the way back.

We stopped in Cremona for a quick visit to this small jewel, a lovely little town an hour or so from Milan, we parked and wondered around the pretty historical center, which is small and won’t take you very long… we wanted to reach Mantova in time for lunch so we only saw the architectural pearl of the “Chiesa di Sant Egidio e Sant Omobono”, in the center, and proceeded eastwards.

Mantova is a bigger town, but yet as with Cremona it didn’t pose a challenge to find parking close to the historical center and walk inside. We always suggest to park, if driving, at the edges of the historical center, which often charges ludicrous hour rates, and walk; it is often a good way to find hidden gems or corners you wouldn’t see otherwise. In Mantova our first stop was the “Osteria dell’Oca”, one of the restaurants with the best reviews, and we were driven to see if that was true.. and indeed it was! What a restaurant. (full review by Imprimis in our profile on www.tripadvisor.com) Then we wondered around the center going to such sightseeing as Palazzo Della Ragione, Palazzo Te, La Casa del Mercante and the grand Palazzo Ducale with its Castle (Castello di San Giorgio, home of the Gonzaga family) and the lovely archeological museum inside. By the end of the afternoon we saw it all, and proceeded to Ferrara, less than a hundred kilometers down the Po river course..

Ferrara is bigger than Mantova, we found a very good safe parking right at the edge of the historical center and at good nightly rates, which was also very close to our hotel. (Hotel Corte Estense, a good option. See full review on tripadvisor)

We walked thru the main “piazza” looking for our restaurant, another highly anticipated one, having a glimpse of the Duomo of Ferrara, lighted in the night. The restaurant (Il Mandolino, good but slightly below expectation) offered a good position in a lively street in town, where we had an aperitivo waiting for dinner time.

The following morning was taken by sightseeing, which is very easy to do considering most of them are located in walking distance to each other: The mighty Duomo, which we saw the previous evening, was now explored inside, the Palazzo di Ludovico il Moro, the Monastero di Sant’Antonio in Polesine, the magnificent Castello Estense and the Jewish quarter and its museum were all done in one morning, included the museum inside the castle which took us some time, all of it within the “Mura di Ferrara”, the historical walls which protected the town (now the town center) which are a sight themselves.

Happy with our “sightseeing tour the force” and the consequent purchase of guides and collection of info brochures and books to better assist our clientele, we went back to the parking lot, paid the fare and left on our way to Milan.

Slightly out of our way lied the small town of Modena, famous mostly for the Ferrari legacy.. and its superb culinary standards. This is why we thought going to the center and looking for a restaurant was a brilliant idea! This time we didn’t look for reviewed restaurants, but wondered and looked for one we didn’t know what to expect from. We ended up going to a small trattoria called “La Bonissima” which offered the real Modenese deal at great value, had lovely wine, purchase some for us and left highly satisfied and with a full stomach. (review still on www.tripadvisor.com) We wondered around the city center for about an hour, had a coffee and then got back on our way to Milan, which took us less than two hours.

This is what Italy can offer, with the right expertise and knowledge, for those who do not have too much time but want to experience as much as they can, may be going to destinations out of the mainstream of mass-tourism. In two full days spending only one night out, we visited four towns in a range of 250 kilometers using a big hub as Milan as the base, see the things we had to, and ate at restaurants which offered local cuisine, using user- generated reviews or our own luck to find the best options we can in turn offer to you.

Come to www.imprimistraveldesign.com and see what we are capable of!

Tommaso & Matteo

Walking in Cremona

Pretty Cremona

Corner in Mantova

Mantova Overview

Rotonda of S.Lorenzo

"House of the Merchant"

Clock Tower (next to Palazzo della Ragione)

pretty interiors, Mantova.

The Castle of S.George

lovely corner in the castle.

Duomo of Ferrara by night

Palazzo Ducale

the great Estense Castle

the Imprimis Travel Design team, inside the castle.

Modena historical centre

more Modena

The Riviera:Cervia & Milano Marittima

Cervia and Milano Marittima:

This is a small reality on the typical shores on the “Riviera romagnola”, which will guarantee the right balance between fun and relax.

Cervia is lies in the heart of the nightlife of this area, which reaches its highlight during the summer months, attracting a considerable number of people from all over Italy.

This small town enjoys a strategic position, close by the main destinations for the “movida” such as Milano Marittima, Rimini and Riccione, but which offers little for the lovers of tranquillity and good cuisine.

Cervia in fact does not have fashionable clubs, or busy lounges. It possesses mostly a family feeling, which around midnight slowly ends leaving a quite scenario.

Do not think now Cervia is a dead city! On the contrary, the municipality is very dynamic and promotes continuous happenings and events, as well as traditional markets for the enjoyment of local products.

Attracting an aware tourism, the city has improved its techniques for accommodating people in the course of the years and right now offers the biggest and best structured beaches of all the coastal town of Romagna, and a fantastic cousine which can be tasted in the lovely little restaurants in the old town.

Dividing Cervia from Milano Marittima is only a small canal, which ends in a modest little port, directly on the sea. “MiMa”, as it is called from the locals, is the opposite from its neighbour: here lounges and clubs opened until early morning and fashion dominates the local scene.

Surely we cannot say it is the right place for those seeking tranquillity, given the fact that the evening it is hard to walk in the streets for the amount of people, and the various bars and lounges offers loud music.

Nonetheless the chaos, MiMa has a particular character, and fun is assured!

Lovely Apulia

Let’s talk now about another hidden pearl described in our website…: Apulia.

This is another region dear to me as I have been coming here for years and I know it very well. Puglia, the Italian name, or Apulia, the Roman name and how it is known in English, is the most eastern point of Italy, the so called “heel” of the boot.. We drove from Milan, about 950 kilometers door to door: taking it easy, stopping for lunch in a “Autogrill”, in Romagna, eating delicious Lasagne (they come from here..) is a 10 hours drive..Not a quick trip indeed, it takes a day.

A curiosity: “Autogrill” is a very Italian thing: it’s a chain of half restaurant-half bar which has in some cases a full equipped supermarket filled with local (and not) specialties..They are on the national highways connected to the fuel stations. These “service stations” are inside our culture, since we are little we stop here when traveling and actually look forward to do so because the food is great! The sandwiches are yummy and when you find the “Ciao” restaurant attached the food is very good too (for something you find on the highway next to a fuel station..).

Once in Apulia, we stayed in the area called “Valle d’Itria”, a lovely valley where you find the highest concentration of the characteristic “Trulli’, the iconic, conic… buildings found ONLY in this area. Ostuni, the biggest nearby town, is also known as the “White City”, as it has houses and buildings almost entirely of this color. In this valley we also visited “Alberobello” a small town made entirely by “Trulli”, so unique it was declared UNESCO human heritage. Often, we went to “Cisternino”, another pretty hilltop town, famous for its restaurants: here we could eat the famous “Orecchiette alle cime di rape” and the “Pure’ di fave” (mashed fava beans) two very typical dishes of this area; and grilled meats of any kind, other special skill here.

In this area we could also visit the famous “Grotte di Castellana” (Castellana Grotto), a miracle of underground lights and colors, and pushing our way to the sea, the ruins of the Roman city of Egnazia, maintained pretty well with a street passing through almost as it was 2000 years ago.

Then some beach time finally! The sea touching this side of the region is the “Adriatic”, which can give some surprising colors, and with most of beaches having a nice “backbone” of sand dunes, making it look wild and untouched. Here, we went to a series of the so called “Bagni”, structures offering parking, services such as beach umbrellas and chairs, and mostly, food.. We got attached mostly to two, in one you see the owner of the place coming mid-morning with octopuses which have just been fished, that you will find in your plate roasted, with potatoes and rosemary a couple of hours later! In the other you can relax on a hammock, sipping a cocktail or enjoying a fresh caprese salad (salad with super fresh tomatoes and mozzarella, dressed with oil black pepper and basil), some crunchy bruschettas (roasted bread with fresh tomatoes cut to cubes, mixed with garlic and basil) and other Italian specialties.

Then we decide to explore the area called “Salento”, the hidden pearl described in our website.. What a region! “Lecce” is simply outstanding. Capital of the Italian “Baroque”, a unique architecture made of warm colors and wonderful details, this town has it all. Right in the middle of town lies an incredibly maintained Roman amphitheater, all around small family ran restaurants gives you the small town feelings, although Lecce is not that tiny. We then move to the seaside, which on this side (the southern coast) is called “Ionian”, a Greek origin for a Greek looking sea! Here the waters can battle with those of Sardinia, considered the Caribbean of the Mediterranean: calm and transparent. We head to S.Maria di Leuca, the most Eastern point of the Italian peninsula, lovely holiday destination, with crystal clear waters and nice historical buildings.. It was here, in a seafront restaurant looking over the calm waters and lights of the far away fishermen boats in the night, eating a spectacular “fritto misto” (pan fried seafood and fish) and sipping a local “Bianco of Locorotondo”, a dry, fruity white wine, that I have realized the majesty of my country’s beauties.

The Trulli in a Itria's Valley's Sunset