Two whole days off in a row! Unreal. I took off Sunday for Bologna, roughly a 2.5 hour train ride, so not too bad. Checked into my hotel and rested a bit. The Suite Elite Hotel, although the claim to be a 10 minute walk to the center of town, it was more like a 10 minute bus ride. No problem though, the bus picked up right across the street. I headed into the town just as Siesta had ended and when I pulled in to the Piazza Maggiore, it was full of people and street performers and life. I walked to the two towers that stand at the end of the main street. The taller one is the Arsenelli Tower (Donkey Tower). Both have a lean, however the smaller tower leans by 3.2 meters, so it is closed for tourists. I headed into the nearby Basilica and of course, as you could have guessed, lit a candle for Papa Olst. Quite large and beautiful inside. I walked around for a bit and watched some of the street performers as well.
I found all the great shopping districts that my guidebook talked about, I was scouting for boots of course!!! Tyler, my roommate was heading into Bologna later in the evening as a stopping point before heading to Verona for 2 days. So I had hoped to meet him in the center of town, but his train was delayed and he got a bit lost, so as I wandered the streets peeking in stores, I decided that I needed to grub down on something. I found a gelateria, yes, I had Gelato for my first course, caramel with sea salt. Rather tasty!!!
I will confess the following to you, fully expecting ridicule and disapproval. On this late Sunday evening, I had McDonalds for dinner. I know, I know!!! It has been over a year since ingesting this devil food, but I was a very hungry lady, and many places were closed. This was due to my poor planning, so I apologize to the food God and my fellow foodies! The burger, fries, shake, and coke really was ok, but my tummy was a grumbly grump later that evening, so I guess I paid for it in the long run.
After the atrocious dinner I had, off to the closest bar to drink (t beer) my sorrows away. The Celtic Druid, the local Irish pub was on happy hour, so it was perfect. Matty, there was even a Bushmills dispenser on the wall, how perfect is this bar? Awesome.
Headed back to my hotel and working out on FaceBook, how to get Tyler there too, the directionally challenged Tyler made it to the hotel. It was late, so we flipped on the only station showing the SuperBowl, it was all announced in German. No commercials, but we did get to watch the game ‘live’, man that halftime show was gross, and not in a good way. Asleep just after 3 am, missed the end, but bummed the Steelers couldn’t pull it out. Either way, a full day in Bologna tomorrow, wish me shopping luck!
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