Italy 2018: Tuesday, April 17: Day 1: Bologna
The trip from home to Italy is long but not too onerous. After driving to Newark and dropping off the rental car, we check in quickly and have lunch at a dumpling shop in the new United terminal at the airport. We spend an hour or so in the crowded United lounge before boarding the plane. The plane takes off about a half hour late but arrives in Rome on time. It's far from full and we are able to change our seats so that we each have a middle row to ourselves. Luxury!
There is a long line at passport control and our bags are waiting for us on the carousel. We make the well traveled route from baggage claim through the terminal to the car rental office. The Europcar person upsells me to a fancy Mercedes with a built-in GPS which costs us about 20 minutes as we try to figure out how it works. (It turns out not to be a touch screen but is manipulated by a small control knob in the console between the front seats. Who knew???)
The nearly 4 hour drive to Bologna on the A1 is familiar but the scenery is beautiful as usual ... very green. It is sunny and warm in Rome but there are some rain showers on the way. We stop for coffee and cornetti (the cornetti at autostrada rest stops are always delicious) and later on for a very mediocre sandwich. By the time we get to Bologna the sun is shining again ...
Our GPS takes us very efficiently to the Nuovo Hotel in Bologna which is in the center, not far from the train station.
Our Swedish friends have already arrived and gone out so we get settled into the room. Diana needs a nap, not having slept on the plane, and I set out for an exploratory walk.
We have been here several times before so the city feels familiar ... very busy with the distinctive sidewalks covered with long porticos, some with decorated ceilings.
The most famous sights in town are Neptune's fountain in the main square,
the San Petronio Basilica with its unfinished front facade (lots of people in the piazza are enjoying the warm sunny weather)
and the Torre Asinelli.
On the way back to the hotel, I walk through the extensive market area near the main piazza and past one of the few remaining visible canals in the city.
I take a short nap before we go out for apertivi near the hotel with our Swedish friends, Ulf and Elinor. We have dinner together at the Trattoria del Rosso which was a short walk from the hotel. We had eaten there on a previous trip and have a very pleasant dinner sitting outside. We share a plate of crescentine (fried bread) with prosciutto, mortadella, salami and cheese which was excellent. Diana had a deliciously simple pasta -- tagliatelle with prosciutto and butter and I enjoyed my gramigna (short curly pasta) with a sausage sauce.
We stroll back to the hotel. It is great to be back in Italy ....
Jim and Diana
The trip from home to Italy is long but not too onerous. After driving to Newark and dropping off the rental car, we check in quickly and have lunch at a dumpling shop in the new United terminal at the airport. We spend an hour or so in the crowded United lounge before boarding the plane. The plane takes off about a half hour late but arrives in Rome on time. It's far from full and we are able to change our seats so that we each have a middle row to ourselves. Luxury!
There is a long line at passport control and our bags are waiting for us on the carousel. We make the well traveled route from baggage claim through the terminal to the car rental office. The Europcar person upsells me to a fancy Mercedes with a built-in GPS which costs us about 20 minutes as we try to figure out how it works. (It turns out not to be a touch screen but is manipulated by a small control knob in the console between the front seats. Who knew???)
The nearly 4 hour drive to Bologna on the A1 is familiar but the scenery is beautiful as usual ... very green. It is sunny and warm in Rome but there are some rain showers on the way. We stop for coffee and cornetti (the cornetti at autostrada rest stops are always delicious) and later on for a very mediocre sandwich. By the time we get to Bologna the sun is shining again ...
Our GPS takes us very efficiently to the Nuovo Hotel in Bologna which is in the center, not far from the train station.
Our Swedish friends have already arrived and gone out so we get settled into the room. Diana needs a nap, not having slept on the plane, and I set out for an exploratory walk.
We have been here several times before so the city feels familiar ... very busy with the distinctive sidewalks covered with long porticos, some with decorated ceilings.
The most famous sights in town are Neptune's fountain in the main square,
the San Petronio Basilica with its unfinished front facade (lots of people in the piazza are enjoying the warm sunny weather)
and the Torre Asinelli.
On the way back to the hotel, I walk through the extensive market area near the main piazza and past one of the few remaining visible canals in the city.
I take a short nap before we go out for apertivi near the hotel with our Swedish friends, Ulf and Elinor. We have dinner together at the Trattoria del Rosso which was a short walk from the hotel. We had eaten there on a previous trip and have a very pleasant dinner sitting outside. We share a plate of crescentine (fried bread) with prosciutto, mortadella, salami and cheese which was excellent. Diana had a deliciously simple pasta -- tagliatelle with prosciutto and butter and I enjoyed my gramigna (short curly pasta) with a sausage sauce.
We stroll back to the hotel. It is great to be back in Italy ....
Jim and Diana
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