"And I would walk 500 miles..."

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  Bologna, Italy
Thursday, July 12, 2007

We didn't get enough of Bologna the other day, so we ventured back today on a later, more reliable train. Even though some people (who shall remain nameless) were just a bit grumpy, it was still an enjoyable time. Our goal, which we achieved with only a modicum of trouble, was to locate and get to "the church on the hill." It is easily visible from the train and is one of those places in Bologna that is not a tourist destination, per se. It is actually a pilgrimage destination (perhaps THE pilgrimage destination) in this area, since the 1600's apparently. While we didn't climb up the 666 porticoes (unbelievably we took two separate buses with only a small, aimless walk up a hill that was fruitless and we were saved with my working knowledge of the language and a nice young man who gave great directions in a combination of English and Italian). The autobus driver, who saved us the 7 km walk up the hill, was interesting and spent most of our ride disparaging the English language to an elderly gentleman who was getting a lift home, thinking we didn't understand what he was saying

New friend!

. Whatever! The Sanctuary of San Luca was an incredible church which closed just before we arrived at the door. We were informed of this development by a 20-year old Minneapolis native named Mayme (Mamie) who is traveling alone through Italy. We adopted her, instantly, and took her to the local place for lunch. Her working knowledge of Italian was okay but she seemed glad to be taken care of! She is a beginning chef who is here to taste the food. We ate at the only place around which billed itself as a Pizzeria but, unfortunately, only serves pizza on Sundays. What is THAT? We settled for crostini, lasagna, and a salad for Larry named "Madame Butterfly" which had deep-fried prosciutto. Oh yea...and the bottle of local wine and a beer for Lauren. It was a leisurely lunch with Mayme and then we stumbled back to the church for a quick tour. We gave her my round trip ticket for the journey down the hill (she walked up the 666 porticoes) and we walked down. Of course, we were exhausted and needed some more gelato, so we stopped at Gianni Gelateria one last time. Our eyes were bigger than our stomaches and both Larry and I left the gelateria convinced we were never going to eat again. The girls...not so much. Finding the correct train to come home (envision a game of musical trains), after buying the tickets, was an adventure but we did eventually make it back. In my defense, the time and the train number did not print on the bottom of our tickets as it has in the past. Let's just say that Alison was nearly decapitated as Larry was bolting for the door when I gave him the high sign that we were on the wrong train. His backpack is heavy. We are out for some pizza and a late bedtime tonight. We are going to kick back in Parma tomorrow to get ready for Venice on Saturday. I already have the train tickets!

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Only three of us!

San Luca!

Yes, we did walk down these!

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