Making coffee in Ferrara trying to look Italian
Barcelona"The stranger passes by and the people sitting in the café look and smile maliciously," wrote Giorgio Bassani about the streets of his hometown, Ferrara. In Italy, people-watching is still a national sport, despite the distraction of screens. In Italy, you should always try to find a good, century-old café, one with professional waiters who love their work and who prepare the drink the Italian way. No giant tubs of coffee in the Americano, no. You order a cappuccino. or one latte in the morning. And then, a solo coffee. And you play at trying to be Italian, looking at the strangers passing by.
For decades, many people have approached Ferrara thanks to BassaniFew authors have managed to make their work so closely identified with their city. Almost all of his work takes place within the walls of the old and beautiful Ferrara, one of those cities that now seems somewhat remote on the map, but which was the center of the world for its people for centuries. In Italy, almost every city was a duchy, a republic, or truly independent for several centuries. In Ferrara, the Este family had their capital, always in fragile balance with the Venetians, Florentines, and Papal States. Nothing is lacking here. The food is good, the city is beautiful, and there is culture in every corner. And the stories are everywhere, as Bassani explained.
You can walk around Ferrara looking for the settings of books like The Finzi-Contini Garden, surely his most famous work. Bassani gracefully tells you the names of the streets where his characters fall in love, allowing the story to flow even if you haven't been to Ferrara. But once you go, the books flourish. The tourist office offers pamphlets with routes following in the footsteps of the author, the son of a wealthy Jewish family who saw their world change completely, first with Mussolini and then with the Nazis. In fact, you should head for Via Mazzini, where you'll find the plaques on the old synagogue building that Bassani dedicated to the local Jews who didn't return from the extermination camps.
Then find a coffee on Corso Martiri della libertà, facing the sprawling castle, if you can. And watch the people go by, asking them if they know that when Bassani was young, this street was called Corso Roma. It was renamed in honor of the anti-fascist protesters killed here decades ago. Where you now enjoy yourself, someone died. That fragile life that Bassani perfectly described with scenes like the day the Jews were expelled from the elegant local tennis club. At the time, it was a great offense to people who couldn't imagine the worst was yet to come: if it weren't for Bassani, someone might now think they never existed.
Recommendation for traveling to Ferrara.
Book: The Finzi-Contini Garden
Author: Giorgio Bassani
Editorial: Bow.
