Blogs from Bologna, Emilia-Romagna, Italy, Europe

Note: All events mentioned in this entry occurred back in late February 2007. For more updated trips and entries, please refer back to this entry at a later date. An updated trip or entry will NOT include a note like this. Thanks and enjoy! The next day, I check out of the hostel around 8 AM GMT and head to the train station, where I buy a train ticket from Florence to Bologna. My train finally arrives 30 minutes later, and is a fast train. About an hour and a half later I arrive in Bologna and take a taxi to my hotel, which is under heavy construction and renovation. By the time my room is ready and I put my luggage up it is 2 PM GMT, therefore all I have very limited amount of ... read more

Ciao! Being the very lazy blogger that I am I have neglected to write about my travels since I left Germany. I am very sorry to my no doubt hundreds of dedicated readers. I thought I should catch up before I come home in just 2 weeks! Since Germany I have seen 3 countries, 8 cities and many many people. Here is a condensed version for you all, 1. Barcelona: HOT! (the weather not the men...well maybe the men too) By the end of the first day my lovely milky white skin that I worked so hard to achieve in snowy Canada was gone (yes I do like being white) and no amount of sunscreen could fix that. I even went as far as purchasing a sarong of one of the many illegal sellers roaming the ... read more

From Bari to Bologna 10th June to 6th July Stranded on the Amalfi Coast Well stranded may be a bit overzealous, but we were definitely stuck longer than planned. The windy mountain roads and long downhill stints over the last month or so took their toll on the brakes meaning all four pads needed replacing. Not an easy task when on the tip of the outcrop of land that the Amalfi Coast sits on. So if the Mountain won’t come to Mohammed, then the mechanic must go to the campervan. He looked more like a farmer who’d spent his life chewing on unlit cigar stubs and drinking red wine, and his car looked like he’d drank red wine before getting in it but to be fair he managed to source the right parts and come and ... read more

Ten years ago we drove to Florence and have had nightmares ever since. Today, with the help of our on board navigator, leaving Florence in morning rush hour traffic was a breeze. We leave Florence knowing we have seen what we came to see. It was hot and beginning to get crowded but full of excitement and activity. We started our trip by heading for Forli on the eastern side of the mountain range that forms the backbone of Italy. The road zigzagged its way to the summit and down the other side. It was slow going but the scenery was great. Passing signs of “chains to be fitted” and “snow ploughs” gave a hint of what it must be like in the winter. Forli was not really our destination but just somewhere for the GPS ... read more

23rd - 25th April 2011: Bologna, Ferrara, Ravenna London can seem like the coldest and greyest city in the world in February. I had been dreaming about Italy for months; the food, the wine, the buildings, the language (I had been taking Italian classes in preparation and really enjoying them).... but most of all the sunshine. I told people confidently in the week running up that as long as I got to sit at a pavement cafe in the sunshine, with some nice wine and a book, I would need nothing else from my holiday. It was therefore a rather nasty shock when I got off the plane in Bologna to drizzle and a lowering dark grey sky! Bologna is probably not most people's first choice of city to visit in Italy, especially for their first ... read more

Bologna day 2, 31 st oct. Today for 1st time we r really worn out. The building exibition was so massive it really took it out of us & our legs feel like lead weights! So today we will Catch the open top tourist bus around & get overview of the city & then go to the medieval museum which sounds good & max is keen cause its free! 8 pm- bus around city was good eventhough driver tht he was at mt. Panaroma! This place is buzzing with constant activity, where we had our beers last nt the table and chairs were literally on the side of the road, with cars, scooters & pushbikes all jostling for a place on the road-then u have to add pedestrians to this mix! People just walk out in ... read more