Bologna, Italy to Calgary – August 13

As long as skys as clear for flying, I don’t care about the weather. Was quite glorious when we left the hotel around 9. Yesterday when we left around 7 it was glorious too…amazing how just a few hours changes all that.

We are homeward bound. 6 countries, 12 cities, 11 tours, 7 modes of transportation, 23 blog entries, and 4 beds – I think.

Today I feel the very same way I feel every last day of vacation. It was awesome, but I’m be glad to be in my own house, in my own bed. Maybe being away from home is only to remind me how much I love to be at home.

Thanks to everyone who came along with us through this blog!! Mark your calendars…January…check back!

Bologna / Modena, Italy – August 12

Ricardo

Overcast – not much sun at all, but still freaking hot…34 degrees, 2 drops of rain. Luckily we were inside a lot of the day, but were still outside enough that I did not escape undrenched.

When Chris suggested this food tour in the Emilia-Romagna region, a couple of days ago, I was thrilled - Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, Modena balsamic vinegar, prosciutto, wine…what’s not to be thrilled about??

steaming milk

The 7AM pick up time is the one thing to not be thrilled about, but really the excitement of the day ahead almost made getting up just as the Sun was, manageable.

I’ve seen numerous times on TV the rows upon rows of wheels of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, always thinking how cool it would be to visit…today’s the day.

Just after 7, the 6-person van drove up to our hotel. We were the second couple to be picked up. We drove about 45 minutes to the

how the wheels are stamped and IDed

small town of Modena for the highlight of the day…Parmigiano-Reggiano factory. Before we got started, we met our guide Ricardo…an extremely awesome guide…I don’t think we could have hoped for a better one – I don’t even think his awesomeness had to with the fact that he was hilarious and dropped more than one f-bomb.

can we take this much home?

Ricardo had everyone introduce themselves (16 people in total), got everyone cappuccinos or espressos and then began the tour. Apparently, Parmigiano-Reggiano is only made once per day (early in the morning) so we had to arrive early.

We saw how fresh milk was transformed each day into the delicious, salty king of cheese. The whole process was fascinating – we witnessed the cheese makers heat the milk, coagulate it, cut the curds, heat it again, scoop and form it into wheel shapes – these guys are nonchalantly dipping their hands in to very hot curds and whey I don’t remember the temperature, but it was steaming!

awaiting its post-inspection stamp

Then we moved into the salty-bath room, the forming room and then finally the room filled, wall to wall floor to ceiling with wheels of CHEESE! ‘Good things come to those who wait’ needs to be the motto at this point – no samples…yet, soon I’ll be wishing the food would just stop.

left is B-grade, slightly flawed

Back onto the van for a short ride to a family home of a Modena balsamic vinegar producer. We are schooled on the intricacies of the making, aging and tasting of this dark product. The barrels of vinegar are kept right along side where the family lives – in another room, but in the same building. Apparently, when a baby is born to a family in Modena they start a vinegar for the year that baby was born – aging it and tending to it for decades. This vinegar will last for decades and possibly until after the adult dies.

salty-bath

One very interesting thing was that the barrels the balsamic is aged in basically get eaten from the inside out by the vinegar…they don’t decant into another barrel, but build another barrel around the old one.

Not only did we learn about and sample Modena balsamic vinegar, we had a ‘breakfast of the champions’. This breakfast included a 12-month and 36-month Parmigiano-Reggiano, mortadella (still not loving it) salame (only 1, 2 would be salami – Italian lesson), bread, balsamic and Lambrusco (regional sparkling red wine). All the while Ricardo is telling us how to taste, history and basically all kinds of info with his hilarious twist.

big ball, was just milk an hour ago

At this point it is only 10:30, but we are drinking plenty of wine…then there was the Caffè corretto (espresso with grappa) – good grief! The dessert for the breakfast was ricotta cheese from the parmesan cheese factory topped with balsamic – wow! At the end, of course, we were able to buy some cheese or balsamic…we did both - we decided against the 100 year old, 550€ bottle and just went with the

My stomach wasn’t at all empty and my head was a tad foggy, but off we were to lunch at an agritourism vineyard. I’m pretty sure I’ve NEVER eaten so much in my entire life! There were 3 types of pasta each served in succession, then chicken Cacciatori, veal scaloppini, a few leaves of lettuce, and meatballs!

Ricardo chunking more

After the pasta, the dishes were served together. Let’s not forget dessert (even though I’m certain my stomach wanted to) of a type of custard, then Caffè corretto (again) and a cherry liquor! All of course accompanied by WINE! OMG…so much food and so much wine! I was smart enough to mostly stop drinking. This meal was really something else! Oh, yeah…I forgot about the bread – there was bread!

The last stop was a prosciutto factory. This again was in a small building that looked like a person’s house from the outside. It was more of a factory than the balsamic place was, but the absolute opposite of flashy, or commercial. Here we didn’t see as much of the process as we did at the cheese factory…no pig slaughtering for us thankfully. We did however, see just about as many prosciuttos as we did wheels of cheese.

balsamic 'battery'

Every where we looked, in every room we entered, in every fridge we stepped into…row upon row of legs of prosciutto! As expected, we ended with a tasting washed down with more wine. This prosciutto was awesome…tasted like prosciutto I’ve previously tasted, but the texture was better…kind of melt in the mouth rather than stringy. After hugs and kisses all around with Ricardo, we were finally back on the road to Bologna.

correcting the coffee - good grief!

I really shouldn’t say ‘finally’ because it was an absolutely bellissimo day – but oh the belly…so full!

Once back at the hotel…we couldn’t really move and took it easy for the rest of the night – no need for dinner…Chris did obviously hit the next door piggly-wiggly for a couple of beers…no need to start the regime just yet! We spent the rest of the night between the glorious balcony of our room and inside our room. The balcony is huge and it’s wonderful to be outside, but every so often the mugginess becomes a bit overwhelming that we have to retreat to the climate-controlled refuge of our room.

more to drink??

Oh, and by the way…it seems that I neglected to mention that my parents headed back to Calgary once the cruise was over – I hope they are luxuriating in the coolness of a Calgary summer.

prosciutto everywhere

Chris and I will join them back in Calgary tomorrow and can kiss this heat and humidity good bye! Vacation is ALWAYS fantastic, but seriously…the heat…the humidity!

looking down from balcony

If only I could convince Chris to vacation in the Artic!

applying lard mixture to seal

Bologna / Ferrara, Italy – August 11

this beautiful stuff is everywhere!

Another day where there is no need for a weather report. Let’s just say…hot, wet, oppressive. Although the heat definitely puts a damper (get it??) on the speed at which we do things we are still having a great time…every so often having a good chuckle (maybe sometimes becoming a bit hysterical) at the heat. Rome 2 years ago…heat wave…Seville…frying pan of Europe, Bologna…HOT…shall I go on…I think it’s us! It is worth mentioning that we broke the 20 000 step count (only 14 floors) mark at oppressive temperatures...woot, us!

Farrara, a smaller town about a 30

ruins by the Bologna train station

minute train ride outside Bologna was where we were headed today. The train was easy and not at all busy going, coming was a bit busier – both going and coming we weren’t asked for tickets. This ticket was 4€ each, each way…not too bad.

Farrara was pretty deadsville…I’m not really sure what we expected, but during the 30 walk from the train station to the medieval part of the town we saw about 10 other humans…maybe. Once we made it to the old part of town, it wasn’t much busier…this place is NO Venice – haha! There are about 130 000 people who live here, but we saw few of them. It must

Acquedotto di Ferrara - 1930

have part to do with the fact that many Italians are on vacation and maybe that’s it’s a Sunday. It wasn’t very touristy, so it was hard to find a place still serving food by the time we were looking…3PM. That was a bit of a happy accident because what we did find for food, wouldn’t have been my first choice – paidine. Paidine are typical foods in this region…thin flatbreads filled with cheese, meat or vegetables and folded – kind of like a quesadilla, but the bread is much thicker. It was good, and totally hit the spot…we ordered one to split with prosciutto and cheese…next time I would get some

Ferrara cathedral...under restoration

pomodoro (tomato) for some moisture. Beer accompanied this ‘feast’.

menu board we ordered from

Rejuvenated by a bit of food and drink, we hit the one site to visit…the Castello Estense - medieval castle in the center of Ferrara surrounded by a moat. It was cool but didn’t take more than 15 minutes. There really were more sites, but considering the heat we weren't at all up for any more.

We slowly made it back to the train station. Knowing we had loads of time we hoped there would be a chance for a beer along the way…nope. There was very little going on. We made

random cool sculpture

it to the station with 45 minutes to spare and had a coke and a water. Shockingly, I NEVER seem to need to find a loo…I use the facilities when the opportunity presents, but it is rarely because of need.

Castello Estense

30 minutes back to Bologna and we both comment on how familiar it is here only after a few days…we know where the pub is we want to go to, the grocery store we want to go to etc.

The Celtic Druid is a pub we have come

this pic suggests how we feel!

across numerous time as we’ve walked the old town and today was the day. It was fine…great loo, delicious Strongbow, could have been better AC – I think I was the only woman in there beside the bartender. it is always a bit weird being in a British pub when the workers speak the local language...of course they do...just familiar context, unfamiliar language. After a quick drink and a grocery stop for

Pignoletto - my new fav wine!

water we were back for a much needed shower.

tortellini all around

Dinner was back to a spot we had for lunch on the day we arrived. This is a busy spot...we took the last table – another good meal of tortellini.

more Pignoletto

Bologna, Italy – August 10

Lamentation of Christ

Should I even bother with a weather report? Hot, humid, moist, dripping, soggy, glisteny, damp, clammy, soaking, wet…does this paint a picture? I’ve checked back on a few things in past year’s blogs and guess what? Unless we are in the UK…all of those adjectives apply, and even then they actually apply...for a different reason. Thank God for great hotel AC and showers!

random frescos

Well, finally I can say I slept soundly and solidly last night…for the first time since leaving Calgary I think I got a solid sleep. Not having something to wake up for and hotel room black-out curtains didn’t hurt. Our goal for the day was to make it to hotel included breakfast before 11! Mission accomplished…by about 10:30. Included breakfast is really the way to go. Chris isn’t the biggest breakfast eater, so if not included, I get some fruit, nuts and maybe yogurt for the room, but this is so much more civilized. The fare is

prayer garden

typically the same in many countries we've visited in Europe with a cultural twist…sausages in Germany, croissants in France, mortadella in Italy…and a nice little Italian lady bringing me a cappuccino!

So, speaking of mortadella, I tried it…and I’m not sold. I don’t want to say it’s pretty much baloney, but…

Today was the day of churches. We decided to visit a bunch of them. I had to make sure to have knees and shoulders covered – it’s not really knees, but it really is shoulders – no

altar

sleeveless, and not too much leg can be exposed. I played it safe with a below the knees dress with short sleeves - light and billowy enough so I wasn't any hotter if that is even possible. They don’t come out and say it of course, but this is pretty much only a rule for women, or is it for men not to look at too much flesh?? There is a picture of a man on their signs prohibiting too much flesh, but really only pertains to women – shocker!

We ended up visiting about 5 churches, all of them beautiful, quiet and not crowded. One had a sculpture of the Lamentation of Christ. This 15^th century sculpture is made up of 7 life-sized terra-cotta figures. This was the only thing we had to pay to see today, there were donation boxes of course, but no requirement.

Bologna's towers, one leans

One of the churches had old, half destroye

bruschetta

d frescos seemingly everywhere ...very cool.

taglitelle

Lunch was the next event. This was more typical Bologna food. I had tagliatelle ragù and Chris had lasagne. Both were delicious, the lasange was very similar to yesterday’s. We also shared a bruschetta – it was just OK. Our guide yesterday told us that bread in Bologna is famously bad…they don’t use salt. Maybe he was right…the bread used for bruschetta wasn’t great. We washed this all down with a bottle of Pignoletto, this time the frizzante version. Yesterday we tried the still Pignoletto, today the bubbly. Both were good…Chris preferred the still, I liked both. It’s dry and slightly less bubbly than prosecco.

We were about to head to for groceries and a nap when an after lunch beer struck us as a

bubbly!

good idea. 2 beers and the typically accompanying bowl of chips for 10€ - and no sitting

contemplating life

fee. This sitting fee called ‘coperto’ is basically a fee to sit or a cover charge. We have been typically paying 2€ each.

Next we actually did get some supplies and back for a cool off session. I found some chips (again these were meh), and 2 small cans of frizzante wine – both good. Our room has a fridge, but seems to turn off when we are not in the room. We have now realized that there is a main power switch for the entire room – live and learn!

lunch view

In the evening we decided to take on the MONUMENTAL task of climbing to the top of the San Luca church. There are 666 porticos leading up to a church at the top of a hill. Along the way there are frescos of the Stations of the Cross and other religious sculptures. It is a task. By the time we got to the top we were drenched – I know I say this a lot (mostly

beer and people watching

because it’s true) but tonight it was really true…even Chris was drenched and that rarely happens. The climb consisted of inclines and steps. In the end the fit bit said

snacks

we climbed 68 floors and walked 27 000 steps – some of those steps were from during the day, but only a handful of the floors were. At the top was a restaurant where we had cheep house wine 2.5€ a glass (usually we’ve seen 4 for a

it's only beginning

glass), a pizza and a salad – not the best food we’ve eaten, but OK.

Once we were sufficiently rested we headed

Chris and the porticos

back down, and to bed. Today was by far the furthest we’ve ever walked on vacation and certainly hands-down the most

heading down

we’ve climbed – a great but EXHAUSTING day.

WOW!!

Venice / Bologna, Italy – August 9

map of Bologna's regional foods

No clouds, 34 degrees and the internet says the humidity is only in the 40s, but I don’t believe it…we were DRENCHED

The morning started with us vacating the familiarity and luxness of the boat and taking the train about 90 minutes to Bologna. Getting from the boat to the train involved us using Venice’s ‘People Mover’ – a

lunch

train/shuttle to get people from the cruise terminal and the train station. This cost 1.5€ each and took about 2 minutes. Once at the train station we bought tickets and waited about half an hour for the train to depart. Another 90 minutes and we were in Bologna. The train cost 28€ each. We arrived at the hotel at about 11 (well before check in time), but our room was ready! This was a treat.

After unpacking a bit we headed out for lunch followed by a free-walking tour of Bologna. We

we ate the pasta right out of the display!

quickly found a charming place for lunch - of course we ate outside (this place didn’t really have inside eating space.) It always seems a bit crazy to sit outside when it is so hot out, but it really is more fun to watch the goings on of the street. I had lasagne (spinach noodles, meat sauce and bechamel) and Chris had Tortellini in Brodo (tortellini in broth) – 2 typical Bolognese foods – both were delicious. Washed down with a bottle of

140 hours, 53,460 pieces

local wine.

We were early for the walking tour, so we wandered the streets a bit heading in to shops here and there, mostly for the AC! We strolled through a food market, jaws hitting the floor at the sight of their cheese (sooooo much parmesan) and meats (mortadella is typical here – might actually try) among other items. We also hit the LEGO store…AC was great – I had no idea you could buy a LEGO kit for over 1000.00!

We tried McDonald’s as we always do, looking for something new and interesting or ever a Mc-beer…nope…beer, but just in bottles, not

street beer

super charming. We did manage to find a beer at a small food stall.

Then it was on to the tour…this tour was something. The guide was from New York, had been here for 25 years and was a ‘character’. He asked us (about 15) if we wanted to go slow, medium or fast, we all agreed on medium. I don’t know what his fast would be, because we MOVED! At one point he talked about North American bologna and Italian bologna…then he broke into the Oscar Meyer jingle. When the tour began, he guessed where we were from (he pretty much got it 100%), so knowing we were from NA, he encouraged us to join him singing the jingle…

main church - San Petronio

Chris and I wowed the crowd with our impressive singing skills! It was pretty funny.

The rest of the tour was spent as most walking tours do…walking around the old town, stopping every so often at a significant spot to hear a bit. A highlight was stopping outside a pasta shop where the woman from inside the shop same out, opened the display case facing the road and handed us all a piece

tour meeting place

of tortellini – no sauce, no cooking…pretty delicious.

2.5 hours later and we were done the tour. At this point I was beat, so we picked up a beer from a small shop right next tour hotel and headed in for a rest. That was it for the rest of the day. We’ve had some pretty full days which coupled with the heat has taken the life out of me. The hotel is pretty great on day 1…AC is great, WIFI is great and we have a pretty great balcony – and it’s chic looking.

cool building decoration