A hand-walk in the hand, a candle-lit dinner, a fabulous night in an authentic medieval castle: this year, to celebrate Valentine's Day, how about choosing the frame of a charming city of art? The historical centers of the Po Valley, with their atmospheres of past times, the art treasures, the typical trattorias where to taste traditional dishes, are the ideal destination for a weekend of high gradation of emotions. Here are some useful tips to organize a romantic getaway outside the door.
A Monza, the city of Lombardy with the largest number of historical shops, the day begins walking through the ancient streets, admiring the works of art in the open sky and looking at the windows. There are many shops open for at least 50 years, with the elegance of today and the artisanal estro of the past. Among these we must remember the workshop of frames and mirrors Pini Geremia, which is 150 years old, but also the bar Ambrosini in Piazza Carducci, active since 1922, or the Boutique of Flavors of Via Carlo Alberto, active since 1930.
A PaviaNext to the solemnity of the Basilica of San Michele and the majesty of the Visconteo Castle you can discover the style of boutiques and craft shops between Corso Cavour, Strada Nuova and Garibaldi. For a sweeter moment there is the Vigoni pastry shop, where you can taste delicious in authentic atmospheres of the past. Opened in 1878, it is a splendid example of Liberty, with all the original furnishings from the beginning of the twentieth century. In this sweet workshop the famous Paradise Cake was born.
A Cremona walking through the streets of the center means walking in history. You can take a coffee break or enjoy a dessert in a Art Nouveau pastry, enjoy a traditional dish in a typical cremonese tavern or enter an authentic pharmacy of the eighteenth century. There are many artisan workshops where the luthiers create splendid arched instruments, helping to keep alive that liutaria tradition that UNESCO has recognized as a heritage of humanity.
Also to Modena It is a pleasure to walk through the streets of the center. You can miss out on the many colorful art and antique markets, contemplate the elegance of the Duomo and stop in front of the impressive Ghirlandina Tower.
You change scenery and appreciate a suggestive panorama from the top of history. We're in Bergamo and precisely to "high city". On foot or with the funicular, you can trace its ancient walls discovering intact the charm of a stronghold that was once subjected to the dominion of Venice. Still today it is a gomit of squares, streets and palaces of refined elegance as well as of trattorias and restaurants collected. You can choose to eat in one of the tiny streets close to Piazza Vecchia, tasting cheeses, wines, polenta, mushrooms and typical Cansoséi Bergamo. To enjoy instead "the low city" can not miss a reading break in one of the elegant Café del Sentierone just before a evening show in the historical Donizetti theatre.
A weekend of sacred art and the history of music can be lived in Parma. Here the past has left signs of great interest that you can discover walking in the medieval and suggestive Piazza del Duomo, admiring the Romanesque church and contemplating the Baptistery of Antelami. The Doge's Palace, once the residence of the Farnese, is now home to important museums and the wonderful Farnese Theatre, entirely built in wood. A journey through time and emotions of the notes that depart from the Christmas House and Arturo Toscanini Museum, continues with the House of Music and culminates with the Teatro Regio, still today the most important temple of opera.
For a more lively and intoxicating evening you can reach instead Reggio Emilia, city of art to be sipped to the bottom, to be appreciated with a good Lambrusco and with the hospitality of his people.
For those who love authentic flavors and the simplicity of the past it is surprising to discover the canteens of the Benedictine convents, or the inns open on the landscapes at the foot of the Alps or along the rice fields, just outside Vercelli. Authentic corners of history and unchanged tradition also in the kitchen.
Just outside the door, not far from the historic centers, you can discover the charm of ancient medieval castles. In some of these you can spend the night sleeping in really particular and evocative atmospheres. Among the many there is the castle Vigoleno, imposing fortified complex of the province of Piacenza on the border with that of Parma, in the municipality of Vernasca.
Piacenza offers suggestive corners from the Public Promenade (Faxhall) lined with rows of hundred-year-old trees to the cloisters of the Church of St. Francis in the middle of the city; in the winter season monuments and historic buildings are surrounded by the proverbial fog that creates the soft and ovate atmosphere typical of the Paduan cities. Along the streets of the old town you can find yourself in a place dear to the pleasures: the "Muntä di Ratt", a characteristic stairway that exceeds the unusual difference in altitude that divides in two parts the Via Mazzini.
In this area it is almost obliged to stop in one of the typical trattorias to taste the delicacies of the renowned Piacenza cuisine. Unique for charm and suggestion the night vision of Palazzo Farnese that deserves a visit to the magnificent courtyard. From here it is easy to reach the pedestrian area of the Great River, the Po, which envelops the city of Piacenza in a symbolic embrace.
Among the oldest buildings is the Locanda del Falco, opened at the end of the fifteenth century and restored in the sixties, today a typical restaurant of the Piacenza cuisine with a traditional food shop. Another tasty jump in the past gives it the Restaurant La Rocchetta, built in the late 1960s in the old rural stables close to the walls of the XI century. Very pleasant its garden overlooking the river.
For a candlelit dinner and a dream night not to be missed The Castle of San Gaudenzio a few steps away Pavia. The building tells, in the forms of the rectangular plant with the four cornered towers, the solemnity of the fifteenth-century Lombard castles. It is possible to appreciate today environments wisely returned to the original splendor giving all the original charm of its history; from the inner courtyard, square and modest size to the large gallery of weapons with a vault, to the halls of the swans, flowers, ladies up to the library.
