Day 23: Bologna

Today was our first full day in Bologna and it was not exactly action-packed. We enjoyed the hotel’s free all-you-can-eat breakfast… stuffing ourselves in the morning helps save money later! On our way out of our hotel we met three kids from Australia who were just leaving Bologna, but they had a few tips for us. They’ll be in Venice the same days as us so hopefully we can meet up. Andrew bonded with the guys over Vibram five-finger shoes… typical.

We took the bus into the city center and stopped at a phone store to buy a SIM card for Allyson’s phone. After about an hour of waiting in different lines we were finally able to talk to someone and figure out what we needed. At the last minute he revealed that he could not sell us a SIM without Allyson’s original passport… the passport photocopy and three other forms of ID just didn’t cut it. Bummer.

Determined to not let the phone debacle ruin our day, we walked around the city center looking for something to do. We bombarded the lady in the tourist office with questions, of which she was able to answer very few. We decided to get lunch and then find a way to get to the Basilica di San Luca. A bus took us to the base of a large hill, and we walked the rest of the way to the Basilica under 666 arches that make up the largest portico in the world! The view from the top was pretty cool, but overall a bit anticlimactic.

We found a place for an early dinner and then came back to the hotel. This is the first time on our trip that we’ve run out of things to do! Off to Modena tomorrow… hoping for a more exciting day.

Travel Blunder: We have been planning on taking a day trip from Bologna to a little city called Panzano since the beginning of our trip. Some Tight family friends, the Fosters, gave us a little incentive to go to this town to pick up a few jars of their favorite spice rub. Allyson googled Panzano and saw that it was just outside of Modena, an easy day trip from Bologna. Minutes before buying a train ticket today, we realized that there is another Panzano in Chianti, near Florence. After further research we discovered that the butcher and the spice rub are in Chianti. We would have been very confused if we showed up in the wrong Panazo looking for a butcher that doesn’t exist!

Culture Shock: Museums are closed on Mondays. We tried to go to three different museums today, only to find that Italians don’t like to work on Mondays.

Gourmet Moment: Andrew and the hotel coffee maker do not get along. Andrew wanted a latte, so he pressed the “latte” button. The machine gave him a mug of steamed milk. He decided to add a mochaccino to his milk, but pressed the “cappuccino” button on accident. This left him with an overflowing mug of steamed milk, lots of foam, and a dash of espresso. Not too bad after all!