Here’s the excerpt from my trip report last June. You are in for a real treat! I really liked my hotel and slept well. It’s just a half block to the main piazza so very handy. I used a taxi to/from the train station. The gelato I recommend is Gioelia Cremeria. There’s some others I looked at and kept walking. I ate at the hotel restaurant my second night; reserve ahead of time. For lunch both days, I just ate at La Creperia which is very close to the hotel; walk the opposite direction away from the duomo. Their savory options were wonderful, and they will add additional veggies. And they were fine with my elementary Italian. ; )
Cremona: I wanted to come to Cremona to attend a violin concert at the museum devoted to Antonio Stradivari. Since the concerts are on weekends, the order of my itinerary in this area had a bit of back & forth on the trains.
After checking into Hotel Duomo Cremona, I walked the half block to the piazza. Whoa, the emotions hit me! The scene before me of the historic duomo, high clock tower, portico buildings – I was finally here! I have a friend who loves classical music like me and is unable to travel, so when I heard a beautiful violinist in the piazza playing the beautiful evocative “The Prayer”, I decided to make a short video of the site & sound for her. At that point, I couldn’t stop the tears. The poignant melody & my feeling for months that I wasn’t sure I would ever get back to Italy combined with the historic view in front of me…. I had no idea how special that video would be afterwards to watch again several times!
Cremona was such an amazing surprise! I absolutely love non-touristy, authentic cities, and this was a special one for sure! The Duomo interior was a treasure of Italian art frescoes of the Bible! The charming architecture in the historical center, music in the piazza, excellent gelato, and a wonderful conversation with a violin maker! I looked up violin maker studios to see who might be open on a Saturday afternoon. I politely requested a conversation with Katharina Abbuhl in her tiny violin workshop, and she was very cordial, liking that I appreciate music. She said tourists don’t usually come to Cremona - just people interested in violins. She was glad I had reserved a ticket for the concert Sunday where they rotate playing some of the Stradavarius. (Some of Katherina’s violins are in San Francisco.)
The next morning I started the day with a big breakfast at the hotel instead of a small breakfast & espresso because….well, sometimes your “Nonna” tells you what you need to eat! It’s Italy; I just embraced it! ; )
The Cremona violin museum amply told the story of Stradivari and his violins, and the concert was fantastic! The acoustics of the hall were the best I’ve experienced (interesting modern design!) and the Stradivarius sound - wow! If warm caramel butter was a musical sound, that would be it. The trio were superb!
Now this clock tower, the highest in Italy, had been looking at me, heckling me, for two days. I absolutely hate open heights! The steps to climb this tower rotate around an interior solid center core, so there’s not a death drop look as a person climbs up the tower. So…here was my chance if I was ever going to try it! I asked the lady at the tower ticket counter if she spoke English. Then I jokingly said, “I’m afraid of heights; talk me into this!” She went to the top of the drawing as it changes shape and said, “Don’t go above here!” It was comical that an Italian couple walked in while I was there and said the same thing to her! I didn’t go to that “scary top part” and survived to tell you. When I came back down, she called me over and handed me a brochure she found in English to keep as my momento. : ) The tower contains an interesting “vertical museum” as you climb, showing parts of the clock. Except for the pendulum, it still uses the original primitive mechanism from 1582, and the diameter of the dial is longer than 26’!
