Bologna, Italy

We spent our last day of our Italian vacation traveling to Bologna. It's just 30 minutes speed train from Florence. Brigette drove us to the train station which was nice because we had all of our luggage.  It gave us an opportunity to say bye. I was really sad leaving her. I take for granted that she's a car ride away in the states.

The train was really busy and crowded. A nice young man helped me when he saw me struggling with my large suitcase.  When we got off the train, we had a hard time finding the exit.  Not speaking or reading Italian made it very challenging. I could somewhat sympathize with how Brigette must have felt when she first came to Italy. Thank goodness the taxi driver spoke broken English!

We got to the Air BnB apartment. It was a pretty typical European apartment with one bedroom, a living/kitchen area and a bathroom.  The bed was comfortable and we felt pretty safe with the gated, locked access to the outside. 

The manager of the apartment was very nice. I guess we broke a few security rules since we let him drive us to his favorite place to eat. But what a find though!! It was a small family restaurant and we ended up sitting in the basement. It was crowded with locals (there was a long line outside), the food was delicious and pretty cheap!

He told us the traditional dish in Bologna is tagliatelle (thin, flat noodles) pasta with bolognese sauce. It was cooked perfectly al dente and delicious with some parmesan cheese. We ate for around 15 euros. 

I have to admit that we didn't feel as safe walking around Bologna as we did in Florence or Rome. There is a ton of graffiti everywhere.  I think it killed the ambience of the city and made it look dirty, old and run down. Plus we were both tired so that probably didn't help.  We got to City Center with the Leaning Tower and it was a pretty small area.  The restaurants and stores were similar to Florence, but not as clean.

But we did find a great place to grab pizza off the beaten path called Scalinatella. It was on a side road a few blocks away from city center. Curtis ordered a pizza with local ham and mushrooms. I ordered a salad with tuna.  The pizza was delicious! The homemade crust was thin, but chewy..perfect for dipping in olive oil and salt!

On our way back, we stopped for gelato in a tiny shop called Gelateria di Corte. The young ladies who worked there were very friendly and recommended their favorite combinations.  We have really enjoyed the food in Italy, especially the gelato!