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Published: March 16th 2011
Bologna
view of the canal outside our room.Buongiorno! The flight from Cologne to Bologna was pretty painless, Aaron had me thinking it was going to be a tiny plane, but it was pretty average, got to fly over the Swiss Alps which was amazing to see! We arrived in Bologna on 3/11 and found our hotel to be directly over a canal, and we were lucky enough to have a room that had windows open right above it. I knew the sound of flowing water would help me sleep that night, but sadly, I was wrong… The pigeons that surround that canal and the sound of drunks yelling all night kept me up from about 4:30am on. No bueno! But nothing a few espressos couldn’t take care of! We only had about 24 hours in Bologna, so we had to take advantage. They call Bologna “La Grassa” meaning “the fat” because of the richness of the cuisine. It is the culinary capitol of Northern Italy. The city’s defining characteristic is their Porticos, which are giant archways which cover every sidewalk. After a quick breakfast we headed to Parco della Montagnola, whose tiered marble entrance caught our attention from the train station. Every Friday and Saturday there is an
Bologna
Le Due Torri outdoor market that begins (or ends) in the park. You can find pretty much anything there. I opted for a friendship bracelet. We walked around to see Basilica di San Dominico, Piazza Maggiore, Piazza del Nettuno, Piazza di Porta Ravegnana, which has Le Due Torri (the two towers), one which leans like the tower of Pisa. As far as food goes, we first had a cheese plate with tigelle & crestini, which are two types of bread (one which is fried) that are specific to the surrounding countryside. At the next place we had gnocchi with a gorgonzola sauce and rigatoni with a black truffle mushroom sauce, both were delicious! All in all, Bologna was a nice first impression of Italy.
We hopped on the trenitalia to Florence and once we arrived we found 2 girls with big travel packs like ours asking a local about which bus takes you to the city center. We followed their lead and got to talking about our travels. They had been traveling pretty much as long as us, but Florence was their final destination till they returned to Germany, where they were from. They definitely helped us get to where we had to
Bologna
Parco della Montagnola go and we were the first Americans they had met on their journey. Win-win! Our hotel in Florence was right past the Duomo, which was such an awesome sight to see. We really couldn’t get enough of it while we were there. Speaking of our hotel, it was pretty hard to find. There was a small sign to the right of these big dark brown doors, and we actually passed it and had to turn around. We couldn’t figure out how to get inside, so Aaron pushed the door open but it took all of his strength to get enough space to get us and our packs through. We later realized that you need a key to open it and that it is an automatic door. Whoopsie! Then once inside, it was more like a building with multiple businesses in it and a small courtyard in the middle. We walked up 3 flights of stairs and found a door that was made for a hobbit! After we ducked our heads to get through that door, we checked in, got freshened up and left to walk around. We went to a restaurant that was recommended to us by one of Aaron’s
Bologna
One of many of the city's Porticos co-workers who had recently visited Florence. It just so happened to be on the same street as our hotel, which was convenient. They told us we HAD to get this pasta that was filled with pears and had a gorgonzola sauce. It was one of the best things we have eaten in a while! It was topped with pinenuts and is something that I believe we will try and re-create for sure. The next day was Sunday and it was our day to explore everything we could in Florence. The weather was not ideal, we ended up having to buy an umbrella b/c there was a steady mist of rain throughout the day. But despite the weather, we got a lot accomplished! From the Academia to see David, then to the outdoor markets where I was almost pressured into buying a sweet brown leather jacket, but (a) didn’t have enough money and (b) didn’t really know what to compare it too price wise. The jacket was apparently 325 euro and he was going to give it to me for 190 euro b/c I was his “first customer” and he “liked me”. We moved along sans leather. I just couldn’t do
Florence
The Duomo! it. Walked through the piazzas, and went to see the Ponte de Vecchio. Then it was off to explore the Duomo, although you cannot climb to the top on Sunday, we just walked inside and around and took a ton of pictures. First thing after breakfast Monday morning we went back to the Duomo to climb to the top. Much like the Dom in Cologne that I climbed, it was pretty much a spiral staircase that seemed never ending, until you get to yet another set of stairs that leads you to another set of stairs that leads you to the inside of the dome at the highest point inside the church. Then you take some more steep tiny steps up to the top that is outside and you are able to walk completely around to see every angle of the city. Pretty scary but soooo amazing and soooo worth it! I think Aaron will agree with me that this is by far the architectural highlight of our trip thus far.
Sad to leave Florence, but it was time to catch the train to Cortona to see my friend Kim from high school. She has been living in Cortona for
Florence
Ponte de Vecchio 10 years now. She studied abroad there from UGA, and while doing so, met and fell in love with a local named Michele and has been with him and living there ever since graduating. It was a short but sweet trip, and so nice to have a break from the busy cities and see the countryside. Cortona is up on a big hill so the bus ride from the train station at the bottom of the hill up to the city center was definitely a sight to see and kinda scary, if you have ever driven Lombard St. in San Francisco, it’s kinda like that, but longer. Since we were in Tuscany which is wine country, naturally we wanted to do a wine tour, but since it isn’t quite the season, our hotel recommended we get in touch with the owner of the local wine shop, which was literally 3 doors down from our hotel. After check-in, we popped into Marco’s shop and he said we could come back in about an hour to do a tasting that he had already set up with a couple from NY. Perfecto! Cortona is known for Syrah, and that is what this couple
Florence
Our love padlock! wanted to taste, which was fine by us, but Marco also let us taste some Chianti b/c that is what we were interested in. It was so nice to taste these really good wines that you know you could never find in the states, since they only produce so many bottles. The couple from NY ended up purchasing 2500 euro worth of wine after the tasting. They were also in town closing on an apartment inside an old hospital that had been renovated. Must be nice! We left with 3 bottles that totaled 85 euro and Marco threw in one of the tasting bottles for us to drink that night! We met Kim and Michele and had a couple apertif’s at a local café/bar, then went to dinner, and another bar for our first taste of grappa! So much fun in so little time! The next morning we took the hike up to see the Chiesa (Church) of Santa Margherita. Santa Margherita founded Cortona and her mummy is on display just behind the altar of the church….creeeeeepy. Next we hiked even further to the Fortezza Medicea, which is at the very tip top of the hill, which of course means
Florence
view from the top of the Duomo. the very best view of the surrounding area! After coming down from some small steep stairs, I bit it hard and slid down 3 or 4 steps. Aaron came to my rescue and made my elbow and ass feel better. Haha. After that we had heard the sounds of a band practicing below us inside the Fortezza, so we hovered above some skylighted windows and jammed out for a few minutes before heading back down the hill. We came to find out it was a band called Lorenzo Live (?) by seeing a sign on a door. After lunch and some gelato, it was time to leave for Roma. The train took about 2 ½ hours and we spent that time drinking wine while enjoying the sights of the countryside, reading, and writing this blog post! So now we are in Roma and the next post will I’m sure will be as long as this one (or maybe longer) since there is sooo much to see here! So until then, Ciao!
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