Sunday, September 4, 2022 – First Day in Carpi, Italy.

Travel Blog 2 Minutes

Our flight was delayed out of Porto so we didn’t get to Bologna until 2:00 AM. Marco’s father and mother, Alfredo and Cosetta, picked us up at the airport and drove us 45 minutes to Marco’s apartment in Carpi. That was so nice of them to do that especially when you consider the late hour and the flight delay.

Heaven. A bed big enough so that my feet aren’t hanging over the footboard.

We got up at about 8:00 AM Sunday morning and walked down to the town square.

This is the Cathedral at one end of the town square in Carpi.
The inside of the Cathedral is spectacular.
Mark and Marco in the town square.
This is a photo of the town square take from the end of the square with the Cathedral in the background. This is third largest town square in Italy.
We stopped in a cafe on the town square for breakfast. I had this delicious chocolate croissant and a glass of orange juice.
This is the church where Marco was baptized, and confirmed, etc. It was damaged when an earthquake hit Carpi in 2012 and it is structurally unsafe for occupancy. However, the bells in the bell tower still toll on the quarter hour.
This church is just off the town square. It was built in 1200 A.D.
Marco said that this church is almost never open. We got lucky. They were setting up for a wedding so we got to see the inside. Very small and very time worn but beautiful in its simplicity.
Another interior photo of this church.

On our way back to Marco’s place we stopped at the grocery store and picked up all the fixings for a huge lunch.

First course was pasta carbonara.
We ate outside on Marco’s back deck. Marco’s good friend Frago came over and his father Alfredo and mother Cosetta joined us. Unfortunately, I was so focused on the food that I failed to take a group picture. The pasta carbonara was the best pasta I have ever had. Marco said that using good pasta is the key.
According to Marco, this is the Cadillac of pasta. He used it to make the carbonara and it is really good.
We had salad and then crostini. Crostini is bread topped with a cheese and sausage mixture that is cooked in the oven. It was way beyond delicious.
We then had crackers with cheese and anchovies that Marco carried with him in his pack all the way from Santander. The anchovies from the Cantabrian Sea around Santander are reputed to be the best anchovies in the world.
I had a shot of grappa to wash down the anchovies.
The dessert was a blueberry and cheese pastry made by Marco’s mother. It was very good and I would have asked for seconds but I was way beyond stuffed.
This is me taking a nap after that fabulous three hour lunch.

That’s it from Carpi, Italy. I hope you had a great day wherever you are. Good night.

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Published by abeandmarkonthecamino

I've been retired from the Union Pacific Railroad since 2017. I've been planning to walk the Camino for about 6 months and can't wait to get started.

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