Terramara di Montale, Italy

Terrama di Montale (tickets)

The Hub very probably had this scenario in mind when he woke up this Sunday morning :

10:30am - Play Golf

1pm - Come back home for lunch

2pm - Retire to the sofa with something sweet and watch The Singapore Grand Prix

He forgot that his wife could be quite perverse and what really happened was :

10:30am - Play Golf

1pm - "What are we having for lunch?"

"I have absolutely no idea."

"How about brunch with bacon, eggs etc?"

"One normally brunches at 11am...In any case, you can do whatever you want as long as you clean and tidy up after."

Remember the kids' school sending us this paper on how to discipline the kids? I thought it'd probably work better on the Hub, so I try to practise whenever I can. Men shouldn't behave like Pashas when they are not born one. And if you want to watch the Grand Prix at 2pm, you'd better come home and have lunch before Noon. Basic time management. And even maids get Sundays off nowadays.

And to hammer in the message, after I've picked up Baby Girl from a birthday party at Opla, I called home to announce that I would be dining out with her. I mean the guy decided to go jogging and take a bath just when it was time to go pick up the girl. Hello?

And in between, being the good mother that I am, I brought Baby Boy to visit Terramara di Montale. As he wasn't invited to Opla and was feeling really miserable about it, I had to comfort him with something else. Sunday was European Heritage Day and the Terramara opened its doors for free visits. (Just in case you wondered, Eldest Son had to stay at home and do his homework. Yes, on a Sunday.)

The Cheftain's (right) and Artisan's (left) Houses

The Terramara were villages in the Emilia region of the Po river plains in about 2BC. They were usually built on raised platforms in the marshy areas (you know why we're mosquito-infested here in Modena). They farmed, grew animals, produced ceramics, textiles and sophisticated bronze weapons and tools.

Inside the Cheftain's House

Tools from the Artisan's House

Weapon-making exhibition

The Terramara di Montale is an excavation site and open air museum displaying some of its finds. But the few reconstructed houses, furniture, tools etc are usually all reproductions based on drawings, sculptures or actual findings. Each time they open they would usually have a theme and conduct workshops and/or exhibitions based on it. During our visit, the theme was "Archery" so visitors got to see how bows and arrows were made and also get a chance to use them. Baby Boy is crazy about archery so you can be sure he queued up for a try.

The park is open on Sundays and also on public holidays during the warmer months. At other times, it is available for school or private group visits (minimum 20) at 5 Euros per head. Normal entry prices would otherwise be 6 Euros. Everything is in Italian though.

After the visit, we stopped by at the cemetary next door and paid our respects to Luciano Pavarotti. Time really flies, he has been dead a year now. Pavarotti grew up in Montale and was buried there.

Terramara di Montale

Via Vandelli

41050 Montale Rangone (MO)

Italy

Email : info@parcomontale.it

Tel : 059 203 3101