Blogs from Bologna, Emilia-Romagna, Italy, Europe - page 2

I am excited today, as we have booked a factory tour of the Ducati plant and Museum. Sorry there will be no photos of this, as we had to lock the camera in a locker and the phones were provided with "No Camera" stickers to cover both lenses so we could not take photos of the factory. You will have to take my word when I say that this tour is well worth the effort to see. I have been quite taken by the Scrambler range of bikes they have. These are a cross over bike with semi road tyres that would be great in a forest dirt track. The Museum on the other hand was a bit average compared with Porsche or Michelin, but a great chronology of Ducati's history. After the Museum we planned ... read more

Up a little earlier than most days as Christina and I had to go get the laundry. Yesterday, I was commenting on how quiet San Marco is before the crowds, well at 8:30, it is empty, just the deliveries being made on the canal the musicians of the larger restaurants lining the square setting up for the day, full of activity but empty of tourists. Picking up the laundry was fairly simple, grandma was working so the language barrier was an issued but we figured it all out. When we got back to the hotel, we finished packing and headed to the vaporetto stop to take our last trip up the grand canal to the train station. Traveling with our new luggage has been quite nice, the 360 wheels make it so much easier to get ... read more

Bologna is known as a foody paradise. The first thing we learned is that bolognese sauce is definitely NOT used with spaghetti rather parpadelle or tagliatelle which enables the sauce to stick to the pasta so now the grandchildren will have to adjust as we move into our “authentic Italian” phase!! Mortadella and parmigiana reggiano are also local specialities and we sampled them all after an excellent pasta making demonstration at lunch. The most interesting aspect of the Bolognese architecture are the porticos to extend a house to create rooms for students as the University of Bologna has about 50,000 students. The porticos stretch from between 37 and 45 miles so no need for a hat or umbrella!! Highlight - was an unexpected one - a quick visit to the university to see the Museum of ... read more

Buon giorno! On va commencer avec quelques observations en vrac : 1- Le café italien est le meilleur café au monde (parole de Jérôme). Moi qui ne bois pas de café, je ne peux pas juger, mais Jérôme est fou comme de la marde. Hier soir, au souper, il disait qu'il avait hâte a ce matin pour boire du café! Et il l'a répété plus d'une fois. Le moins bon des cafés qu'il a bu jusqu'a maintenant, c'était a notre hotel de Bologne ce matin, et Jérôme dit que c'est quand même l'équivalent d'un bon latté chez nous. Tsé veux dire! En plus, il est pas cher (1,30 euros pour un cappucino). 2- Le jus d'orange est pas buvable!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WTF!!!??? Il goûte le fanta (sorte d'orangeade bizarre dégazée qui goûte pas bon pis qui est très ... read more

Heute bin ich nach Bologna gefahren. Fahrtzeit etwa 2 Stunden. Dort angekommen hatte ich aber das Problem einen Parkplatz zu finden. Das war nicht so einfach. Ich bin eine Weile orientierungslos herumgeirrt bevor ich endlich einen gefunden habe. Leider wusste ich nicht genau, wo mein Standort auf der Karte war. Oder gewesen wäre, wenn die Karte im Reiseführer etwas größer gewesen wäre. Ich bin also in einen Laden und habe um Hilfe gefragt. Die habe ich auch bekommen und zwei nette Italienerinnen haben mich zu einer Busstation begleitet und gesagt, wohin ich fahren müsste. Leider habe ich mir vorher nicht genau gemerkt wo ich war, weswegen ich während meines ganzen Aufenthaltes Angst hatte, mein Auto nicht mehr zu finden. Um das Ende vorweg zu nehmen: ich habe es doch noch gefunden, aber es war meines Erachtens ... read more