Ferrara. Again. It's hard to let go of the city. It was raining on the first day and I've never seen so many people using umbrellas whilst cycling. Anywhere in the world, although Japan is a close second.
Loads in the Netherlands, sure, but Ferrara has them beat.
And not just any old umbrella - they are, as a rule, big, splendid umbrellas that you don't often see anymore elsewhere.
Umbrellas and bicycles. A match made in heaven. A century-long long love affair and they're still in love.
Meeting a friend. Having a chat.
It only really works in places that are not windy. When the rain comes in at 45 degrees it really doesn't work...
ReplyDeleteOK .. so I'm clueless . Why not just don some decent , albeit fashionable rain gear and leave your hands free to ride the bike ?
ReplyDeletePlus even without a breeze , anything over 10 KPH would suck the umbrella right out of your hands : or worse pull you over .
Maybe this trend takes the Fashion over Form thing a step too far ? I'm just asking .
adoro Ferrara, una delle poche (sigh!) città italiane, in cui si può e si sceglie di andare in bicicletta. Un insieme perfetto; la città antica e le due ruote!
ReplyDeleteI couldn't agree more with Kim. Who doesn't know Scottish or, in my case Irish weather shouldn't try holding an umbrella in gale force winds combined with horizontal rain. It would be fun though for the ones looking at you when you are being propelled backwards like a parachute. Great photographs, as usual!
ReplyDeleteNot getting it. These are not cheap crappy foldup umbrellas like we have most places these days. These are industrial umbrellas, the kind handed down from father to son. If the rain is coming at you, point the umbrella into the rain. It's not perfect, but it gets the job done. I've done this dozens of times, and it's not as hard or strange as it might look.
ReplyDeleteAnd if the winds get too frisky, there is always the Dutch Senz Storm Umbrella:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.abitare.it/it/design/senz-umbrella/
Just amazing...fantastic styles ! I should admit : I never thought an italian city could be apparently so bike friendly. Maybe because I tried riding in Roma : very bad experience within the car traffic...
ReplyDeleteVincent - see the posts on the elegant Ferrarans of a certain age on this blog - I made a point of visiting the city in the 1980s, when I was studying in Italy, to check out its cycle-friendliness. Indeed Rome is a disaster. But back then, few large French cities other than Strasbourg were cycle-friendly, and other Frenchpersons considered it a sign of your borderline "Germanity".
ReplyDeleteThey've caught on since! But little if any progress has been made in Rome and too many other Italian cities.
Bologna also has a fair contingent of cyclists, mainly university students and professors, as does the small walled Tuscan city of Lucca. I also noticed a fair number in Florence, but not much real infrastructure.
When I was studying in Perugia, a medieval town atop a small mountain or very steep hill, we pretty much walked everywere.
Well, guys, you made me so proud of my city!
ReplyDeleteI was born and I lived in Ferrara for all my life, and I love my town! It is normal at us cycling in every wheater condition, and using bikes to go everywhere, there's nothing strange, but some friends of mine, living in Milan or in Rome, were surprised at seeing how we cycle even if it is raining, and they also notices that we have keys to open our bike, like people usually do with their cars! :) Kisses from Ferrara, the city of cyclists!
Grazie Chiara!
ReplyDeleteUn bacio
Gianni
Brilliant theme and sequence, thank you.
ReplyDelete