Italy Visit (finally posted)

Better late than never! this is from February 10-14

Bologna trip 2010

I was put in a holding pattern for about 20 min because of snow in Bologna. When I landed and it was snowing/raining. Not a very pretty day. I didn’t have to go through customs so no stamp :( I took the bus from the airport to the train station and met Nic there. I was a few mins late and he was right on time, so we basically arrived at the same time! We went to lunch at a pizza place. I got what Nic recommended but I didn't like it very much. It was some sort of ham/prosciutto, arugula, and a little bit of cheese. Nic got potato and prosciutto. I made him switch because I liked his better!

Ferrara

We missed the 3:15 train to Ferrara so we went to his programs office to use the comp and check for the next train. Met some of the program people and saw the office. It was really cool. took 4:56 train to Ferrara (about 30min) We walked around in the rain, :-/ saw a huge castle, but unfortunately it was closed - We were too late - saw a big church, but it wasn't open either, went to a little cafe and had some mocchiatti which are little tiny cups of super strong coffee and cream, Did a litte souvenir shopping but didn't buy anything, and took the 7pm train to Venezia (about 1.5hr). We arrived around 9:30.

Venezia

Soooooooo beautiful! And so confusing! We got lost so many times! It’s nothing but tiny narrow streets that change their name randomly and signs that assume you can make 3 turns on your own! The guide book said to not even worry about a map! It's basically no good anyway! When we got to Venice it was still raining and also happened to be high tide... So San Marco’s square was flooded by both water and decorations for Carnevale. So needless to say there wasn't much to look at that night. We had to wade through a few inches of water to get to the hotel. It was a really cool place—lots of character. It was inexpensive, decently sized, and had an awesome location, about 3 min to San Marco! (if there wasn't a flood that you and to walk around...) We set our bags down in the room and left for dinner. So hungry! We asked for a recommendation from the guy working the front desk and he suggested a place about a 15 min walk away, without getting lost (which was very unlikely), or a place that had their card in the lobby. So we decided on the place with the card in the lobby. It was closer, but unfortunately really expensive (not for Venice we soon came to find out) and also a little too touristy (which we also came to find that that's all Venice is!). We finally found a place to eat. I had cheese ravioli in a cream sauce with prosciutto and spinach. Nic had pasta with mushrooms. A very good dinner!

The next morning we woke up for the hotel’s breakfast at 8:30 had bread, cheese, juice, coffee, tea and croissants—a typical European breakfast. Then, went to San Marco’s square, which was still flooded. Luckily we found a way into the square the same way we took the night before to avoid having to walk through more water with our already soaking wet shoes from the night before. This time there were people dressed completely in Carnavale attire—masks and elaborate dresses and ridiculously huge hair! It was kind of creepy because their “faces” were expressionless masks! We wanted to go up in the Bell Tower and Basilica, but both were closed due to the high water. So we went to the Doge's palace instead. It cost 12 euro! But turned out to be really cool! One of the coolest museums I've been to. When we left, it had warmed up a bit and a lot of the water had drained out of the square! So we went up the bell tower and got some pretty cool views of the city. It was really cold and windy. We went back to the hotel to warm up and dry off a bit. We got some Paninis for lunch and went to the basilica. I was kind of disappointed with the basilica. There wasn’t much to look at. Then took more pictures of people dressed up and walked around the city some more. The sun finally came out for a little but it was still a little chilly. Did more souvenir shopping then back to the hotel to get ready for dinner at the restaurant the host suggested the first time. Of course, we got lost so it took a little longer than expected... But not too long. It was a seafood place, which was good but overpriced (just like everything else). On the way home we got kebabs! We stopped at a random concert and San Marco’s square for a beer on the way home. Took some pictures and then back to the hotel. We went to early because we had to get up at 5:45 am for our 7:30 am train to Trento. Only kind of got lost once on the way to the train!

Trento

We decided to take the cheaper 4 hr train for 8 euro instead of the 2.5 hr high-speed one for 30 euro. It ended up that this train went through the Italian Alps (called the Dolomites). The train ride was very pretty! Then in Tretno the views are amazing as well! The whole city is surrounded in mountains. We climbed a smaller hill up to a medium sized war memorial. It had a good view of the city and mountains. Then we took a tram up to a Sardagna even higher in the mountains. We took more pictures there and searched for a place that sold water bottles, but apparently the Italians take an even longer siesta than the Spanish! We went back down to Trento to another piazza, then to a church, and then a bakery. We had some traditional Carnevale treats at the bakery. I had some fried dough covered in powdered sugar that promptly got over all of my clothes! Then, we took the train back to Bologna. The train was so packed! I fell asleep almost instantly and didn’t wake up until we got to Verona when a lot of people got off the train.

Bologna

When we got back to Bologna we went straight to the restaurant and had this amazing fried pillow bread with sliced meat and a cottage cheese type of sauce. I had gnocchi in a red sauce. It was also very good. Then we went home and set our stuff down and got ready to go out. We met up with some of Nic’s friends and went to a place called Irish Bar and had a beer. The place was really nicely done and very spacious. Then we went to a place called Bar Paris. We didn’t stay out too late because we were exhausted from a day of traveling and sightseeing.

The next day Nic and I slept in. Then walked around Bologna, went to a museum, and up this really tall tower in the center of the city. We visited this market-type place called Vito. They make really fresh Italian food. I was going to buy some tortellini but ended up not. We went to McDonalds to snack on a McItaly! It’s a sandwich with all 100% Italian produce and meats and endorsed by the Italian government. It’s a big deal. It was on the BBC. We were going to go to dinner at Osteria d’Orso with Nic’s roommates, but the line was way too long. Apparently it’s a good restaurant! So we went to another osteria a little ways away. As a first course, I had pasta with spicy sausage that wasn’t too spicy, and as a second I had a vegetarian option of cheese and grilled vegetables. Then we went to where one of Nic’s roommates works and had a few beers there and danced some. When we left, I smashed my head on the low ceiling of the entrance because its called Bucca di Campana (Bell’s Basement) and to make it authentic they built it not to code?! Haha I dunno. It hurt and kind of ruined my night. We went to go get crepes after partying and then made it back home and went to bed.

The next day we got up late… as usual and had lunch with nic and his roommates. Authentic Italian food! It was delicious! J But shortly there after I had to go home L I had a great time in Italy and hope I can go back! Some great memories and awesome sights there!