Hotel Astoria Bologna

... scattered precrisely at the edge of the lawn.
I realize I am humming, and I look about hoping I am not caught.
An Older woman stops her bike at the mouth of a path facing the fountain, she pulls ******* her ciggerate before continuing on her journey.
This is my last week of really being a toursit. Jumping around from place to place, town to town. Not really staying anywhere long enough to experience ...

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 morning started with a steady rain. We decided to head north and see a lake so we headed to the Autostrada but took a wrong exit so we decided to go south instead to Bologna. We maneuvered in the city relatively easily once we got our bearings. We found a parking spot and started off in search of great architecture. One of the hardest parts of getting out and about is remembering where you park the car. The city streets signs are rather confusing and I ...

March 19th I thought we were over the hump here in the frozen Bozen. I had even started calling it the thawing Bozen as spring sun shined upon us the last 10 days. But today was a cold day and a frigid night. I rode my bike to practice, peddling into a strong headwind that made progress difficult and kicked up dust and debris into my face and eyes. I got a short leg lift in before practice, and whatever warmth and pliability I had from the gym was gone ten ...

... cost 23EU (probably 3-4 times more that I'd normally pay). However even paying for reservation didn't get me a seat, so I spent the 1-hour ride hanging out in the restaurant car :) So after getting to Bologna, I went straingt to hotel and got too lazy to ga anywhere else. Maybe tomorrow, or later tonight. Hotel is pretty nice though, it's 3-star, but located in some ghetto constraction area on the end of a bus route.

... because while JM admires the fast engines and mechanical assembly lines of his lifetime favorites, I distract myself by watching the strong, well-built Italian men working there. Now THAT's beatiful Italian design. Life is not as easy as it was in Barcelona with JM's mom-- we have to do grocery shopping and carry our bundles of clothes to the laundromat two blocks away. Nobody explains to us the best way to get somewhere, we have to open a map and figure it ...

Quick stop today in the red or fat city... it was basically a stopover on our way to Florence so we could taste where lasagna, tortollini and spaghetti bolognese comes from. We splurged on a real dinner with table clothes and wine and it was absolutely delicious! This city would make Dr Atkins eat pasta again! Next stop is Florence for 3 days and then Roma!

... in Moscow’s Red Square in anticipation of a public anti-government demonstration and coming face-to-face with Hitler’s last surviving bodyguard at the site of his Berlin bunker, to name but three. But never, ever would I have imagined that I’d get to tour the manufacturing plant for Ferrari.

After leaving the factory we went to the nearby Galleria Ferrari, the museum open to members of the public. Name any generation of Formula One ...

... for dinner. It’s a beautiful spa town and smells good! I took a long walk through the park and had a Gran Marnier on the patio. Peggy had Amaretto which pleased the bartender/host. He didn’t like my ordering a French liqueur! The hotel was one of the nicest on our tour.

We left our window open and it was actually cold when we got up!