RAVENNA
At first sight it is hard to believe that this flat, somnolent inland city was once a bustling seaport and, (or a few dim centuries, the capital of the Western world. But a visit to its astounding, Mini-Oriental churches and its Roman tombs puts the proper perspective on Ravenna's role in history. Their incomparable mosaics present a tapestry of color and pageantry rivaled only in Palermo. Then too. the remains of the immortal Dante rest in a tomb in Ravenna.
Almost every traveler to Italy visits this city, and many come away with a vivid memory of the splendor of Byzantine mosaics, but a rather faint enthusiasm for the city itself. The Adriatic has deserted it during the centuries and moved its shores miles eastward, and the devastation wrought during the recent war hasn't aided matters.
We found the old time-tested sightseers' hotels in the heart of Ravenna a little noisy and crowded, and think that this might be a good place for you to become acquainted with a new chain of ultra-modern hotels which is spreading across Italy. They are called the Jolly hotels, a name which causes a little confusion among the populace, since neither “j” nor “y” is an active ingredient of the abbreviated Italian alphabet. But if you'll ask the nearest pedestrian for the “Albergo Ee-yoly,” your chances of success are good. There is one right across from the railway station in Ravenna.
These mark a new, if somewhat mechanistic, concept in Italian alberghi. Most noticeable is the carefully trained service, from bellboy to managers (often women, by the way), and the unfailing courtesy. The architecture is extremely simple, with rooms almost monastically small. But all the comforts are there, ensconced in miniature Italian tile. They have self-opera ring elevators, marble floors, good baths and showers, and many things which should please guests who are willing now and then to forgo Old World atmosphere for spotlessness. Everything is immaculate, and there is always an adjoining garage.
But the best thing about the Jolly hotels, as you will find in both Ravenna and Parma, is the food. It is genuinely good, simple, well served. Their specialty is a noodle dish served with a trio of sauces, and it is a joy to the traveler-even if one is tempted to draw a disrespectful comparison with a banana split. One of the best things about the Jolly hotels is that they spring up in places where no good hotels exist, rather than trying to compete with top-notch establishments. Thus a traveler in the more remote stretches of Italy (Calabria, for example) will find them to be absolute lifesavers.
FERRARA
This historic city is also off the beaten path, and it merits a visit from those who have a bit of leisure to spare. One senses the power of the Este family in wandering through the arcaded streets of this medieval stronghold, still dominated by their overpowering brick castle, built in 1385. Dark things have transpired behind these frowning walls and the moat that protects them. Perhaps the most macabre event occurred in 1425, when Parisina, the wife of Nicolò III, and her lover, who happened to be Nicoló's natural son, were beheaded to avenge the Duke's wounded honor. The dank dungeons where they were conlined can still be visited. A later lord of the castle was Alfonso I (1505-34), in Este par excellence and the reluctant fourth bridegroom of the somewhat shopworn Lucrezia Borgia. This dubious marriage, by the way, turned out happily. He adored her for the remaining eighteen years of their married life. Alfonso I lived to be twenty-nine, according to the history books, which makes him a bridegroom at the maximum age of eleven. Can you blame him for being reluctant!
There are other treasures in this animated city-art galleries, palaces and a notable Romanesque cathedral-surrounded by a hurly-burly market place. Ferrara warrants an overnight stop for unhurried travelers, and there is an entirely adequate hotel to offer them shelter and a good breakfast. This is the ALBERGO EUROPA, at Corso Giovecca 49. It is listed in the most antiquated Baedeker, but has recently been modernized after the bombardments of a decade ago. Now the elevator works as flawlessly as the sanitary fixtures. Some of the plumbing in Italian country hotels can only be referred to as of the ventriloquist type. When you pull the plug in the bathtub, the gurgle comes not from there but from the bidet far across the room. The Europa is not in this category.
There are several choices for lunch or dinner in Ferrari, but one stands out above the others, the RISTORANTE ITALIA. It occupies an unpretentious orange and ocher building facing the castello and its moat, its portcullises and its bloodthirsty legends of medieval mores and manners. The latter do not constitute the best aperitivo to an expensive repast at the Italia, but never mind. This is a thoroughly professional restaurant, with the proprietor, the venerable waiters and the plump lady at the cash desk all on their jobs. When we dined here the headwaiter was presiding over a shimmering, ambulant tub containing the boiled dinner of the day. From this bolito he fished forth for his Customers robust chunks of boiled beef, calf's head, zampons and tongue; and very aromatic it was. On another day his steaming chariot contained chicken and its fellow travelers. Few institutions in Italy can satisfy the appetite and the dramatic urge as well as the bolito. We prefaced our boiled fare with a cheese. crested fold of green lasagne, and followed it with fruit and coffee, and were very content.
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