The Harmer Hotel: Novara

January 4, 2014

Happy New Year! Buon Anno!

This was an easy week. I am afraid that the slower pace and will catch up to me next week. Tuesday was New Years Eve. We picked up the Burgers after their trip to southern Italy so she could see her mother in a nursing home. Peg made some wonderful soup for everyone and then we played games with the office elders. It was very fun. About 9 pm the fire crackers and bombs began to go off. Our neighbors above the office were having a party and had an endless supply of fire works. Most of them were what I would call cherry bombs and M-80s They were dropping them down in from of the office windows and it was as if we were under attack. About 11 pm I decided to go upstairs and go to bed. Ha! what a joke. About 11:30 they really turned fireworks and they were non stop for at least another hour. It was impossible to go to sleep! I am certain that many of these were much more than just M-80s. Wednesday morning I slept in until about 6:30. I got up had a wonderful breakfast of eggs with Smoked scarmotsa cheese on a tortilla along with fresh Italian bread, butter and raspberry jam washed down with Arancia Rossa (blood orange) juice. I then went on a very long walk around town. I was the only one out and about. The only place on my long walk I found the tell tale signs of exploded fire works was in font of the mission office and the mission home. We are at ground zero of the party. WOW!

Saturday was raining and we decided to go to Novara. A city about 40 miles west. It was great!

Here is a Christmas tree decorated with sun flowers!

Here is the Duomo!

We walked around the block. Lots of arcades (covered walkways) along the streets.

We came to this glassed in monument that about 300 AD was a tower

We came around and found the front door to the duomo. This door is about 20 feet high.

Here is closeup of one of the panels

On the other side of the courtyard was a very nice nativity set up.

Inside the Duomo was very impressive. Here is painting of the last supper in one of the side chapels.

A very nice pipe organ. There were lots of paintings and tapestries, but the clock had just struck noon and the priests come out and let us out to lock up for lunch.

Here is the building across the street from the Duomo

And the one facing the front of the Duomo

We began to wander around and found this well in a hidden piazza

Through the clouds we saw another large church.

We wandered around several blocks to find the front of the church

Inside was very dark. my pictures did not turn out. It quite nice, dark and we were the only ones we saw.

Here are the main front doors that are swung in to reveil the next set of doors. These were well over 20 feet tall.

Front of the church

The side street with the Church bell tower and the immense dome

Bell tower

Back side of the church dome and bell tower.

Next we came to the museum of Natural history and a little stegosaurus

Here is newer church that was very interesting

Front door

Italians talk about the Bufana (the Christmas witch) that comes to visit bad girls and boys. Many of the store windows had bufanas. Here is a very large on in a gift shop.