bologna

It's been quite a while since I updated last... mostly because I have been super busy. I have actually had some homework to do for my classes (shocking... I know) including two presentations and a paper. I have also been very busy on the weekends. Three weekends ago, I went to Bologna and Cinque Terre...AMAZING... I will talk about Bologna in this post. The next weekend, I went to Vinci for my daVinci class on Friday and on Saturday I went to Pisa and Lucca with my program... then Jen came to visit me and we went to Rome! Anyway, I will break up the trips in a few posts so it is not overwhelming for me to write or for you to read. 

So, to start with Bologna. First of all, our number one reason for going was the food. I had heard this before and we also learned it in our food and wine class that ragu/bolognese sauce, tortellini, ravioli, lasagne, and basically all the best pastas originated in Bologna. We were definitely eager to try these delicious dishes. Plus, it is only an hour away by train from Firenze, so it was a place that was easy for us to check out. 

We got there around 10:30am and basically walked around for a while until we were very very hungry for lunch. Once again (like in Munich), we did not bring a map because we are hard core travelers and we just know how to get places... haha.  I really liked the architecture and all the streets were lined with covered walkways, or portici, which were great because there was a chance of rain so we would have been saved by them. I wish that Firenze had the portici because once it starts raining, it's going to suck to have to walk everywhere! We went into the church of San Petronio, which I thought was soo beautiful inside! It was much larger than I was expecting, but I liked how it was decorated a bit simpler than some of the churches I went to in Roma. After walking around for a bit more, we found a restaurant that looked good. I decided to get the traditional ragu and it was soooo amazing. I also tried my friends' dishes and they had tortelloni and ravioli and they were very good too, but I liked mine the best! We also were so excited to have salted bread because we've been so used to Tuscan bread. We were lucky that we arrived when we did because they had just taken out a pan of the most delicious bread I have had in a while. It had a sort of biscuit quality where it was crunchy on the outside (with salt granules!) but warm and soft on the inside. We were in food heaven...

After lunch we walked around a bit more and then found the gelato place that my brother's girlfriend Yelena suggested because she used to study in Bologna. They had a lot of flavors and the gelato was truly amazing! They gave us much more generous portions there than they do in Firenze for the same price. So delicious!

We then did a bit of shopping (they had H&M!) and headed back to the train station. We wanted to get in early because all of us were exhausted and/or a bit sick from the previous week at Oktoberfest... and we had a big day ahead of us the next day because we are going to Cinque Terre.

More later! Again, the stupid picture uploader thing isn't working very well, so I can't post anymore photos... LAME!

ciao