Bologna

Last Saturday, Brad, Allie, and I decided to take an impromptu trip to Bologna, which is about 3 hours by train and is home to one of Europe's oldest universities in addition to Medieval ruins. Since we were tired, we didn't leave Venice until about 10am, so we got into Bologna around lunchtime, which was perfect, since the city is also known for its food. We walked from the train station to the main road and then wandered off that road far enough to find a restaurant that wasn't just for tourists. We ended up finding a place that was frequented nearly entirely by locals and where very little English was spoken, which was nice. Allie, Brad, and I all got pasta and Brad also got pizza and the food definitely lived up to the expectations--tortellini alla bolognese will probably always be my favorite dish.

After lunch we kept walking in the direction of the center of town in order to find a few main churches and 2 towers. When we reached the main square we found a tournament of sorts set up in which people could play Foosball, chess, or race toy cars. Brad and I immediately headed for the Foosball tables, each declaring ourselves superior. Let's just say I'm a little out of practice and the days where I could beat someone hands down have passed. Brad beat me both games, but, we never got to have our rematch later that day on account of a real tournament having started. We then poked through the church in the main square and headed for the two towers, one of which is leaning, the other of which is 500 steps tall. We climbed those 500 steps, with me saying "Brad, I hate you" more times than I can count (he was photo documenting my combined fear of unenclosed stairs and heights) and Allie photo documenting the views (worth the fear, I'll admit). With some close calls with people going up and down the narrow stairs, we finally made it to the top and could see the entire city all around, which was only emphasized by the perfect weather. We eventually made it safely back down (although I believe there's actually video of the decent) and found a cafe where we could have snacks and caffeine (this time we didn't do such a bang up job of avoiding a tourist trap and got charged a good deal more than we probably should've, but it was worth it).

We then found a church that was both massive and well known (for relics, architecture, etc). It was beautiful and seemed to be never ending, but when we finally found our way to the gift shop, Brad realized it was the church he'd heard of for the excellent honey made and sold by the monks. I don't do honey, so I bought some of their dark chocolate instead and it was so good that I polished it off before we even left the confines of the gift shop (apparently climbing 500 stairs makes you hungry). We walked back towards the main square to settle Brad's and my Foosball bet, but that's when we realized the tournament was going on, so we headed for the train station to catch a train back to Venice so we'd be back for dinner. It was a quick, whirlwind day, but we got to see a good bit and experience the laid back, mostly tourist-free atmosphere, which made it pretty much perfect!