Wonderful setting as I love this piazza in all of Italy! I first came here in 2004 with my brother Skip aka Prof. Henry Howey of Sam Houston State University & specialist on the band compositions of Almicare Ponchielle, formerly of Cremona (19th century).
Skip & I climbed the Torrazzo on 2004. Now I just admire it. (Though I did climb the 413 steps of the Campanile & the 463 steps of the Dupmo roof in Florence).
Skip has made wonderful friends here who he shares with me: Licia and Stefano and their son and daughter Michele & Veronica. The pic below is Michi, Licia, and moi.
Licia is a music librarian who works at the Conservatory in Milan and has published studies on Ponchielle and other subjects. We are going to a Ponchielle concert she has helped organize tonight.
Back in Florence Wednesday night I didn't have an exterior view like in Siena, Cortona, & Assisi but instead of the 37 euro single (no bath) room with breakfast, I was upgraded to this:
And on the wall my favorite painting in Italy: Fran Angelico's Annunciation found in San Marcos Museum (now - formerly a Dominican monastery). All the cells of the monastery have one of these incredible frescos depicting mostly the life of Christ. Better than TV for the monks to ponder in the lonely evenings!
Then I returned to Cremona where I stay in a Catholic hospitality house, thanks to Licia's connections. Usually I get a very basic room here but this time I got a suite for a queen!
I am so lucky to have such influential friends. Also, my brother stays here and has become a good friend of the priest who runs it.
Whoa, what was that?
About 50 scooter enthusiasts just came into the square and left! Big impression but also kind of smelly - all that exhaust!
Back to synchronicity: to save money and time I booked a Ryanair flight from "Milan" to "Frankfurt". Well, I found out quite a while ago that the airport for "Milan" was actually in Bergamo - an hour east of Milan. But then so is Cremona so my friends will take me to an airport hotel in Bergamo tomorrow for my early Monday flight. Then yesterday I was reading about the Frankfurt airport in Rick Steves when he warned that the Frankfort Hanh airport has nothing to do with Frankfurt - it is 2 hours west of Frankfurt and used by companies such as Ryanair! I checked and sure 'nuff, my flight goes to Frankfort Hanh. That was the bad news; the good news is that it is the closest airport to my hotel for the Hildegard pilgrimage, only 40 km away, with bus & train connections. I mailed another package home today and carefully weighed my checked suitcase and my carry-on. I have been nervous about Ryanair because they are so strict with weight and love to find ways to make you pay extra. I have my fingers crossed!
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