From Parma to Bologna

I stayed up late last night getting caught up on my blogs and did not wake up until 10:30 this morning. Lucky for us, checkout wasn't until 11:00. On our way to catch a bus to the train station, we grabbed a quick espresso and croissant at a pasticceria and then found a salumeria to get some Prosciutto for our ride to Bologna. We found a bus stop and were trying to figure out which bus to take when I asked a woman waiting for a bus for help. She very politely pointed to the train station down the street! We are off to a great start today....I wonder what will happen when i finally wake up! Oh, and the woman in this picture is apparently famous since people kept asking for her autograph. I wonder who she is.

I also forgot to mention in my first blog that Scott seems to have an issue with his bags and doors. When we took the subway in Milan to find a hotel, his backpack got stuck in the subway car door. Then he didn't think the stop I told him we needed was right and so he paused at the door. I urged him to "get off now" and he finally did, but the doors closed on his bag...he was out and his bag was in! Lucky for me his bag caused the doors to reopen and the door alarms to go off. I was able to follow his bag out. Later, on the train from Parma to Bologna, we had to walk through several cars, while the train was moving, to get to our car. Scott got his roller bag stuck in a door again as he was passing between two cars. His bag later crushed my foot as he tipped it off of a curb as we were walking down the street. Maybe he should go without luggage!

Back to our day...we are now in Bologna and we found a hotel using a better method than choosing B&Bs from TripAdvisor outside the central area. We took a bus to the main piazza, found a bar, ordered wine and Googled hotels near our current location. I found one that was a block away, walked over and learned they had no rooms available. I asked them for another recommendation and they directed me to a hotel across the street. I went in (the back door) to see if they had any rooms and luckily they did. I walked out the front door to go back to the bar and it was right by the bar we were sitting at! I asked Scott if that one was "close enough".....and before we'd finished our wine, our room search was over.

The sun was shining and we spent the rest of the afternoon and evening wandering around the area. Piazza Maggiore (the area we are staying in) has all the sites we hope to visit within minutes of walking. There are two towers nearby that we walked to. One has quite a lean to it so the leaning tower of Pisa has competition in Bologna! They stopped building it when it began to lean, so the neighboring one is much, much taller and the only one you can climb. We'll do that tomorrow as it is too late today. Wandered around the tiny back streets and came across the area to buy food. There are little shops for everything and me without a kitchen! This salumeria was particularly inviting. We even found some mortadella for Tree. I wonder if it is big enough to satisfy her love for it.












Since we were exhausted from walking around we decided to relax before dinner with a glass of Prosecco in the sun. It was so nice to soak up some rays after the rain. Dinner at a small little trattoria hidden away down this tiny little alley. The waiter was extremely grumpy at first. He warmed up after he discovered that I was a definite foodie! We tried to order dishes that are traditionally Bolognese and we ordered a ton...per my style! :-) Everything was absolutely delicious! The tagliatelle with ragu' was particularly good. I ordered a marscapone cream with macerated strawberries and was disappointed when it was gone....I thought I had died and gone to heaven. Even my cappuccino was fabulous. We decided that Kailin should study abroad here so that I can come and visit often to eat (oh, and to see her too!).

After so much food, we needed to take a long walk before going back to the room. There is plenty of high-end window shopping....another reason Kailin would like it here. We found some interesting fashions that Kailin and Lauren might like.