Eurogarden Hotel Bologna

... there is a line up at the door. This culture is so different, and takes some getting used to I think.

Wednesday I woke up able to breathe a little better, and I had made some friends at Breakfast. Tessa, Raachel and Lissie who had all met in Florence doing a teaching course. We all sharted sharing out stories and decided to walk around together, it was nice to have company again. We chatted about Twilight ...

Ferrara is a Medieval town that dates back around 1300 years when Ferrara was a Byzantine military fortified city. In 1115 Ferrara became a free commune and in 1135 the Cathederal was built.

The driving was flat and the highways were fast with lots of speeding passers. The parking was limited at Ferrara and the complexity for the parking signs left us concerned while we were touring. The parking spaces were tiny and many of the vehicles were dented and ...

Short train ride from Florence after a hair raising trip trying to return the rental car in confusing, congested and traffic restrictied Florence (don't rent a car downtown go to the airport). Bologna is an university town (even Johns Hopkin has a campus). Very historical town with a great plaza area like most towns and a great antique market.

The book, the cursed book known as Lonely Planet advised as follows: cycling has become a popular tourist activity in Bologna. Rent a bike from this or that place, and ride Ferrara, following these road signs. Okay, Mandi and I thought. We're fit, we're active, we can do this. We rented bikes and with fantasies of idyllic rolling hillsides, endless vineyards, and fields full of wildflowers set off on ...

... is actually the same bus we just got off of, the guy just had to turn around and I guess he didn't think we were going to get back on. So anyway, it took us about an hour to get to our hotel after we got off the train (which was delayed by two hours) but we made it. As we check in i notice that there are six slots with room keys behind the front desk that are not numbered but have names of famous artists. We give the ...

... to present itself was to meet up with Pawel and Gosia from my capoeira class in Spain. At this point thinking IŽd be spending the middle part of August in Northern Italy and maybe Slovenia, I opted to fly out of Milan. In hindsight it may have been wiser to book Rome, but at the time I had to book something, so here we are on the great ...

... though I would have killed for some sharks (a tape cutting knife/ scissor for taking of ankle tape) and he didn't put any pads over my Achilles, so I have a couple mean tape cuts there. We won the toss and took the football. The Warriors ran this goofy defensive scheme that had a corner deep over Marco and Mario then linebackers buzzing hard to the flat but no safety's in the middle of the field. Basically an inverted cover two. The second pass play of the ...

... I've already seen to tell the truth! Then we went and had another espresso coffee and had a look at the Torri degli Asinelli e Garisenda (two of the few remaining colossal towers that were begun in the 12th century). We were going to climb up inside the taller one but it had closed for the day. Like the leaning tower of Pisa both of these towers also lean at an angle which is quite disconcerting! There was an antique market on that day so we walked through that ...

... of vinegar production. What a process! The production and cultivation of this product is complex and extremely technical, without the use of modern equipment. The people of Modena have cornered the market on this process with a great understanding of nature and how to guide it so that a superior product is the result! We ended the night with a great dinner in Modena, interesting conversation and some new acquaintances. (see pics) Other great things that are ...

... figures on the top is Mary. Then, on the lower part of the piece is the professor teaching, with his students on either side of him. Students were so nice to their professors at that time. We then went to another room, with this huge statue. It was originally in Piazza Maggiore but Napolean had it moved when he came because he didn't like it. I don't remember the name of the Pope it represents, but he was mentioned in Dante's ...