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| 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
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| 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
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| 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
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| 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
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| 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…
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| 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
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| 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.
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| cool building decoration |
2 comments:
Envisioning all and salivating over my fav food!
Relived our summer of 2018 through your interesting blog. Thanks for evoking these special memories.
my pleasure Rose...I can't imagine that Italians eat this way day in and day out...don't see anyone whose body reflects nothing but pasta and wine!!
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