Tuesday, April 7, 1998
We arrive at our hotel in Bologna about 11:30 and spend a little
time reading the map and waiting for our room to be ready, then
we set out for lunch. Frommer's didn't list many dining options
or a map with locations, so we decided to pick for ourselves.
After walking though Piazza Maggiore (the main square in Bologna),
we find a charming market area with cheese / salami and produce
vendors.
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Vegetable and fruit stands in the market section of town.
We find a suitable, although slightly upscale place for lunch
- Trattoria Teresina. We share Crostini Misto, a good collection
of crostinis - pomodoro (tomato), salsa verde (herb) and one mystery
topping. Jill had Tagliateli Bolognese (a Bologna specialty) and
baked eggplant, and Keith had Tortoloni with tomato sauce and
Veal Scaloppini Teresine. Good food, but took a while to translate
the menu with our Italian book. Half a carafe of red wine rounded
out the meal.
We then conquered the Terre degli Asinelli (the Asinelli Towers).
The one we climbed leaned 7 1/2 feet off the vertical and required
a climb of 500 stairs (320 feet tall). It had a great view but
the all wooden steps were quite worn and freaky!
Jill on the tower stairs. That's not a smile.
Seems like a scene from an Alfred Hitchcock movie.
The view from the tower. Piazza Maggiore is just left and below
center. Basilica San Petronio is to the left of the square.
With jelly for legs, we continued exploring to the Chiese di San
Domenico that included some work by "Mike" and the Basilica San
Petronio that was to be a church larger than St. Peters at the
Vatican until the pope heard and put a stop to construction. Impressive,
but all these churches seem a bit excessive. We then rested at
our hotel since by now we both have colds and sore throats.
We did dinner at Trattoria Anna Maria with an early walk through
the university area (Bologna has one of the oldest universities
in Europe.) We went a little light on the vino at dinner - Jill
had ensalada misto (mixed salad), tortellini en brodo (in broth
- another Bologna specialty) and fruit salad for desert. Keith
had no intentions of being so healthy on vacation - gnocchi in
gorgonzola sauce, a roast pork chop and creme caramel. All was
good. We decided to skip the Osterias (wine bars) that are famous
in Bologna and headed back to the hotel for reading and an early
night.
Careful, kids! The Neptune fountain in Piazza Maggiore is flanked
with sirens that spray water in interesting ways.
Wednesday, April 8, 1998
Today Keith's cold is better and Jill's is worse. Lazed around
for awhile waiting for the water to come on for our showers -
construction in the street caused a few problems. Finally got
moving and had creme filled pastries and a couple cappuccinos
for a satisfying breakfast.
We window shopped and visited il Teatro Anatomia (Anatomy Theater)
which was a weird all wood paneled room with a marble slab in
the middle, probably for a cadaver during anatomy lessons. We
also visited Basilica di Santo Stefano (another church). Then
to the market for salami, cheese and crackers for a snack on the
train.
The salameria where we got some Salami Nostra and Provolone cheese.
Lunch at Pizzeria la Mela of proscuitto and mozzarella calzone
and a quattro formaggio (four cheese) pizza then back to the hotel
to collect bags and a take a taxi to the train. At the train station,
we miss the Eurostar line and ended up with regular regional tickets,
then waited in line for information to figure out how to fix it
then in line again at Eurostar to pay for the upgrade (no money
lost and this was our biggest hassle in all of Europe - not a
big deal at all). Jill was glad to settle on the train and get
out of Bologna and get Venice bound!
We didn't eat here, just stopped for a bathroom break. It was
intersting to see Espresso on a McDonald's menu. With our limited
Italian, I'm guessing it says something like : two layers, twice
the stuff. |
