♪ Sunday mornin' rain is fallin'...

Last Sunday was one of the best day trips I've had so far!

On Saturday night, Meghann and I decided to go to Cremona. Sunday morning, tickets were quickly purchased at the train station and we were on our way.

The main activity I wanted to do was to visit the Museo del Violino (no pictures were allowed inside museum). This museum houses some of the Amati, Stradivari, and Guarneri violins and cellos. Perfect for an easy and reflective day. I will say that this trip was inspired by my lovely 2nd mom and cello teacher, Eleonora Lopez. My cello had a very unfortunate accident and was backed over by a car. Details aside, it's in critical condition and I'm awaiting the report from the 'doctor' (a good luthier friend in Amarillo) as to the likelihood of its recovery. Needless to say, it has been emotional. Therefore, a trip to see some of the best instruments / best violin makers was in order.

Piazza Stradivari!

Sculpture outside the Museum

Aside from the fact that I love string instruments, the museum was absolutely fantastic. We had audio guides which automatically detected which exhibit we were in front of and begin playing accordingly. If it was a video of the history of string instruments, the audio guide would pick up exactly where the video was. Said videos were perfectly timed to be informative but not boring, detailed but not extraneous. There were also quite a few interactive screens which you could dissect the parts of a violin, search different makers' history, and see specifics on choice instruments. When walking through a hall of old instruments, the timing was such that it was possible to keep a fairly leisurely pace, see everything, touch interactive displays, smell a luthier's shop (they have one in residence and you can watch him make an instrument), hear all the audio guide information, and by end your feet were still not hurting. This, to me, is a good museum. It combined all the senses to create a fabulous museum. You looked forward to every next room but yet were perfectly satisfied that you have seen the perfect amount by the end.

One of my favorite rooms was an upside down bowl in a large room. In this bowl, which at least 30 people could enter and sit in a circle, you could view a video projected on the ceiling of a man playing some of the famous violins you had just seen. I sat mesmerized. Such beauty. To keep from being too emotional, we left that dome after a couple of pieces (we came back at the end and sat through another 20 min) and continued to a hall of maker competition instruments. You could insert the number of the specific instrument into the audio guide and it would play a piece performed on that specific instrument. I found my favorite cello. We'll see how much that one actually costs. ha!

After that museum, we looked in a church, saw the inside of a baptistry, had some gelato, watched an old car parade, and headed back to Milan.

There were at least 200 cars parading in front of the duomo

me and my beautiful friend Meghann in front of the Duomo

It was a Sunday morning, and rain was fallin'.


~Elizabeth




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