Showing posts with label bologna. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bologna. Show all posts
Saturday, July 28
food pics from Bologna
One more entry for Bologna and then I will move onto Rome. The food in Bologna is definitely one of the highlights of this wonderful city. Here are a few pictures that I took during my afternoon there:
Friday, July 27
a few more photos of Bologna
When I first walked into Piazza Maggiore, I was a little disappointed that there were men setting up this huge stage with an area roped off and scaffolding placed right in front of the Basilica di San Petronio. There were two reasons for my disappointment. I was disappointed that it would be very difficult to get a good picture of this church and also that I would not be in Bologna for the free festivities about to take place over the next few days, a dance marathon of some sort.
Fortunately, a couple of hours later when returning for one more moment in this beautiful piazza before heading back to my hotel, I found that although the chairs and the stage was still there and the men were still working on some sort of electrical work, the roped off areas and the scaffolding were no longer there. I started to walk down one of the aisles to get to a good angle to photograph the church when a dog that was by his owner under a chair started growling and barking. I was pretty freaked out (barking dogs and thunder & lightening being my two fears). I jumped and let out a little scream. I was glad to see that he was on a leash, but still was not comfortable being near him and so I maneuvered my way through a few more rows and then was yelled at by the men working on the electrical wiring telling me I could not be there. I sort of acknowledged their message but continued on to get my photo.
The Basilica di San Petronio is the 5th largest church in the world. As you can see the top half was never finished. This makes it a rather unique church today.
In this picture, you can see the sculptures by Jacopo della Quercia on the top of the main doorway, the Porta Magna.
The next three pictures are of the Palazzo Communale, also found in Piazza Maggiore.
Right next to Piazza Maggiore, is Piazza del Nettuno. This piazza is slightly smaller and opens up into Piazza Maggiore. Here you will find the interesting statue of Neptune.
The following two pictures were also taken while in Piazza del Nettuno. I took the first picture earlier when all the scaffolding and workmen had the basilica roped off. The second picture is of the Palazzo di Re Enzo (Palace of King Enzo).
Fortunately, a couple of hours later when returning for one more moment in this beautiful piazza before heading back to my hotel, I found that although the chairs and the stage was still there and the men were still working on some sort of electrical work, the roped off areas and the scaffolding were no longer there. I started to walk down one of the aisles to get to a good angle to photograph the church when a dog that was by his owner under a chair started growling and barking. I was pretty freaked out (barking dogs and thunder & lightening being my two fears). I jumped and let out a little scream. I was glad to see that he was on a leash, but still was not comfortable being near him and so I maneuvered my way through a few more rows and then was yelled at by the men working on the electrical wiring telling me I could not be there. I sort of acknowledged their message but continued on to get my photo.
The Basilica di San Petronio is the 5th largest church in the world. As you can see the top half was never finished. This makes it a rather unique church today.
In this picture, you can see the sculptures by Jacopo della Quercia on the top of the main doorway, the Porta Magna.
The next three pictures are of the Palazzo Communale, also found in Piazza Maggiore.
Right next to Piazza Maggiore, is Piazza del Nettuno. This piazza is slightly smaller and opens up into Piazza Maggiore. Here you will find the interesting statue of Neptune.
The following two pictures were also taken while in Piazza del Nettuno. I took the first picture earlier when all the scaffolding and workmen had the basilica roped off. The second picture is of the Palazzo di Re Enzo (Palace of King Enzo).
Wednesday, July 25
more of beautiful Bologna
I can't believe it has been 8 days since my last post. Where has all the time gone? When I returned home from my trip, I started to download all of my pictures onto my computer and ran out of room! I also ran out of room on my external hard drive. After doing a little research, I found a new external hard drive that seemed to meet my needs. It was delivered last Friday. While everyone was enjoying their new Harry Potter books, I spent 3 full days re-organizing my computer. I also learned a BIG lesson. If you have a Mac, DO NOT touch any of the folders or information in your iPhoto program. I was able to retrieve them all using iPhoto Library Manager, but it was a long process. My eyes were pretty blurry after all that work and so I avoided the computer for a few days after that, but now I am back.
For this post, I wanted to share more of Bologna. The following pictures are of the porticoes and the beautiful buildings and colors of Bologna.
The next three photos were taken inside the Palazzo Communale, one of the buildings in Piazza Maggiore. I learned from Everything Bologna that "the Pope had the stairs built with wooden planks at set intervals so that a horse drawn carriage (presumably his) could ride up to the second floor."
This picture shows some of the colorful buildings you will see in Bologna.
And finally, here is my amazing "single" room at Hotel San Porta Mamolo in Bologna!! Check out the couch!! AND look at all that space! A great find!!
For this post, I wanted to share more of Bologna. The following pictures are of the porticoes and the beautiful buildings and colors of Bologna.
The next three photos were taken inside the Palazzo Communale, one of the buildings in Piazza Maggiore. I learned from Everything Bologna that "the Pope had the stairs built with wooden planks at set intervals so that a horse drawn carriage (presumably his) could ride up to the second floor."
This picture shows some of the colorful buildings you will see in Bologna.
And finally, here is my amazing "single" room at Hotel San Porta Mamolo in Bologna!! Check out the couch!! AND look at all that space! A great find!!
Tuesday, July 17
the Two Towers in Bologna
Bologna is known for its food, its porticoes and its towers. At one point in history, many have said that there were up to 180 towers in Bologna although more recent studies now suggest that the number is closer to 80 - 100 towers. Click here to see a panoramic picture of Bologna in the 11th century. Less than 20 towers remain today.
The two famous towers in Bologna are the Garisenda Tower and the Asinelli Tower. It is pretty difficult to get both towers from top to bottom in one picture. I took this picture on my walk over to the towers from the main piazza in Bologna
Both of the towers are leaning towers. The Garisenda Tower is shorter, leans more, and is not available for climbing. It is the tower pictured above on the left. The Asinelli Tower is the taller of the two towers, the tower I climbed, and the tower pictured on the right. I have read that there are 498 steps to the top. I lost count on my way up. It definitely was a challenging tower to climb.
More pictures of the Two Towers.
It certainly looks like a long way up!!
Will these stairs ever end??
A view partway up out a tiny window.
Stunning views from the top.
Looking down at the Garisenda Tower.
What goes up must go down.
A picture hung in the entrance way of the Asinelli Tower displaying many of the tallest towers in Italy. For a larger view of this picture, click on it.
Pisa, Pompona, Modena, and Verona are still left on my list of towers to climb. Where the heck is Pompona? AND, how did I miss climbing the tower in Verona or perhaps I have and just don't remember it? Another reason to return I guess. Perhaps my next trip should be a "tower climbing" trip? I could arrange my entire itinerary around towers to climb.
One of my most challenging towers I have climbed was the tower in Cremona, not only because of the height and the number of steps, but because it was thundering and lightening outside. I climbed this tower with Katia and Guido. Katia climbed about three fourths of the way up but would not go all the way to the top. This was a wonderful accomplishment for her as she is afraid of heights. Most years when I visit, I drag her along to climb something. As for me, my two big fears are barking mean dogs and thunder & lightening. I am proud to say that I made it to the top.
And back to this climb...
My reward after my climb!
Here is more information on the Two Towers in Bologna.
Bologna is a fabulous city! It is tops on my list of places to spend more time in during my next trip to Italy.
The two famous towers in Bologna are the Garisenda Tower and the Asinelli Tower. It is pretty difficult to get both towers from top to bottom in one picture. I took this picture on my walk over to the towers from the main piazza in Bologna
Both of the towers are leaning towers. The Garisenda Tower is shorter, leans more, and is not available for climbing. It is the tower pictured above on the left. The Asinelli Tower is the taller of the two towers, the tower I climbed, and the tower pictured on the right. I have read that there are 498 steps to the top. I lost count on my way up. It definitely was a challenging tower to climb.
More pictures of the Two Towers.
It certainly looks like a long way up!!
Will these stairs ever end??
A view partway up out a tiny window.
Stunning views from the top.
Looking down at the Garisenda Tower.
What goes up must go down.
A picture hung in the entrance way of the Asinelli Tower displaying many of the tallest towers in Italy. For a larger view of this picture, click on it.
Pisa, Pompona, Modena, and Verona are still left on my list of towers to climb. Where the heck is Pompona? AND, how did I miss climbing the tower in Verona or perhaps I have and just don't remember it? Another reason to return I guess. Perhaps my next trip should be a "tower climbing" trip? I could arrange my entire itinerary around towers to climb.
One of my most challenging towers I have climbed was the tower in Cremona, not only because of the height and the number of steps, but because it was thundering and lightening outside. I climbed this tower with Katia and Guido. Katia climbed about three fourths of the way up but would not go all the way to the top. This was a wonderful accomplishment for her as she is afraid of heights. Most years when I visit, I drag her along to climb something. As for me, my two big fears are barking mean dogs and thunder & lightening. I am proud to say that I made it to the top.
And back to this climb...
My reward after my climb!
Here is more information on the Two Towers in Bologna.
Bologna is a fabulous city! It is tops on my list of places to spend more time in during my next trip to Italy.
Saturday, June 23
bustling Bologna
First a little more about my hotel. Hotel Porta San Mamolo is quite an interesting hotel. I had to pay close attention when shown to my room and later got lost a couple of times finding it. My room was on the second floor after walking through this maze of outdoor and indoor corridors. As I mentioned earlier, I thought there must have been a mistake as I asked for a single room, but this room was huge! There even was a couch in the room!! I was staying for one night but still there were tons of towels (the fluffy type) and soaps and shower caps, etc. The shower was wonderful and the bed was also huge! The breakfast in the morning was one of the usual buffet types. There was a man at the bar taking orders for coffee. He made me a delicious Caffè macchiato. The staff were very friendly and helpful. I would definitely stay there again if returning to Bologna.
I had been to Bologna a couple of times before; once on a day trip and once for an overnight stop. When making my itinerary this year, I thought about 4 days in Bologna but then decided on wanting one smaller place to stay instead of all cities (since my other stops would be Venice and Rome). I know that one night is definitely not “slow travel” but it would have been six hours and 3 train stops to Cortona and so I chose Bologna as my half way point. This year, I was much more organized with my packing and so I only had to take a few things out and really did not lose much time except the taxi each way to make this stop. And with the canceled train and last minute changes which ended up taking me four and a half hours instead of three hours to get to Bologna from Rovato, I don’t even want to think about what my day of traveling would have been like if I went straight to Cortona from Rovato.
After dropping off my bags, as I mentioned earlier, I ate at a little restaurant right down the street called Al Sangiovese which was recommended to me by the hotel. Because I was there on a Monday, unfortunately most of the “famous” Bologna restaurants were closed. One of the things I love about Bologna is the food. I had a very delicious lunch at Al Sangiovese The service was great and all the other customers appeared to be locals from Bologna. When leaving, I made a dinner reservation there that night so that I would not have to spend part of my day looking for another place to eat.
I went back to my hotel, was shown to my room, and then headed out for the afternoon. Bologna is a town full of energy. It is also a pretty easy town to navigate. Although you need to watch out for cars, motorcycles, and bikes, when you get close to the main piazza, the area becomes a pedestrian only area which is nice. One of the famous things about Bologna are all the porticoes. I took a lot of pictures along the way. I then headed into the main piazza, Piazza Maggiore. I love spending time in this piazza. The day that I was there, they were setting up a stage and putting out a bunch of chairs for a dance marathon that would be taking place the next few days and nights. Too bad I didn’t know about this when making my plans. It would have been fun to watch. There was also a Charlie Chaplin exhibition going on much of the week or possibly month. I took a bunch of pictures, wandered in a few shops, went into the Basilica di San Petronio, which is huge church, and then wandered into the big library. After spending some time in Piazza Maggiore, I wandered down one of the side streets where you will find lots of fruit and vegetable stands. I then headed over to the twin towers.
One of my passions when traveling in Italy is climbing towers. The last time I stayed in Bologna, I was still very jetlagged and passed on climbing the Torre degli Asinelli. It is one of the taller towers in Italy with nearly 500 steps. There are signs posted where the tops of other towers are on the way up. The Pisa tower sign was about three quarters of the way up. I had to stop a few times to rest on the way up to the top of this tower. But the climb was worth it as the views at the top were spectacular! I was glad that I walked around the town a little first as I could recognize much of what I saw earlier in the afternoon.
By now I was thinking GELATO. I saw some people eating gelato and followed their trail. Gelateria Gianni! I hit the jackpot! I stood in line and saw when I got closer to the front that this was one of the places where you pay first and then you choose your flavors. I ordered what many would think of as a strange combo of pistachio and peach. The peach gelato in Italy is wonderful and I have not had one yet. For some reason, pistachio has been my thing this summer to I ordered the combo. In the past, some sort of chocolate has always been in the mix but since I have found out that chocolate (one of my all time favorite foods) is a definite migraine trigger for me, chocolate has been out. YUMMY, both flavors were heavenly. I did however have to concentrate on first eating the peach and then the pistachio as they did not mix well together.
I wandered into a few more shops and took a different route where I became just a little lost back to my hotel. I had another delicious meal at Al Sangiovese and then went to bed. I was exhausted from a long day of travel and then the walk to the top of the tower. I will definitely return to Bologna again!
I had been to Bologna a couple of times before; once on a day trip and once for an overnight stop. When making my itinerary this year, I thought about 4 days in Bologna but then decided on wanting one smaller place to stay instead of all cities (since my other stops would be Venice and Rome). I know that one night is definitely not “slow travel” but it would have been six hours and 3 train stops to Cortona and so I chose Bologna as my half way point. This year, I was much more organized with my packing and so I only had to take a few things out and really did not lose much time except the taxi each way to make this stop. And with the canceled train and last minute changes which ended up taking me four and a half hours instead of three hours to get to Bologna from Rovato, I don’t even want to think about what my day of traveling would have been like if I went straight to Cortona from Rovato.
After dropping off my bags, as I mentioned earlier, I ate at a little restaurant right down the street called Al Sangiovese which was recommended to me by the hotel. Because I was there on a Monday, unfortunately most of the “famous” Bologna restaurants were closed. One of the things I love about Bologna is the food. I had a very delicious lunch at Al Sangiovese The service was great and all the other customers appeared to be locals from Bologna. When leaving, I made a dinner reservation there that night so that I would not have to spend part of my day looking for another place to eat.
I went back to my hotel, was shown to my room, and then headed out for the afternoon. Bologna is a town full of energy. It is also a pretty easy town to navigate. Although you need to watch out for cars, motorcycles, and bikes, when you get close to the main piazza, the area becomes a pedestrian only area which is nice. One of the famous things about Bologna are all the porticoes. I took a lot of pictures along the way. I then headed into the main piazza, Piazza Maggiore. I love spending time in this piazza. The day that I was there, they were setting up a stage and putting out a bunch of chairs for a dance marathon that would be taking place the next few days and nights. Too bad I didn’t know about this when making my plans. It would have been fun to watch. There was also a Charlie Chaplin exhibition going on much of the week or possibly month. I took a bunch of pictures, wandered in a few shops, went into the Basilica di San Petronio, which is huge church, and then wandered into the big library. After spending some time in Piazza Maggiore, I wandered down one of the side streets where you will find lots of fruit and vegetable stands. I then headed over to the twin towers.
One of my passions when traveling in Italy is climbing towers. The last time I stayed in Bologna, I was still very jetlagged and passed on climbing the Torre degli Asinelli. It is one of the taller towers in Italy with nearly 500 steps. There are signs posted where the tops of other towers are on the way up. The Pisa tower sign was about three quarters of the way up. I had to stop a few times to rest on the way up to the top of this tower. But the climb was worth it as the views at the top were spectacular! I was glad that I walked around the town a little first as I could recognize much of what I saw earlier in the afternoon.
By now I was thinking GELATO. I saw some people eating gelato and followed their trail. Gelateria Gianni! I hit the jackpot! I stood in line and saw when I got closer to the front that this was one of the places where you pay first and then you choose your flavors. I ordered what many would think of as a strange combo of pistachio and peach. The peach gelato in Italy is wonderful and I have not had one yet. For some reason, pistachio has been my thing this summer to I ordered the combo. In the past, some sort of chocolate has always been in the mix but since I have found out that chocolate (one of my all time favorite foods) is a definite migraine trigger for me, chocolate has been out. YUMMY, both flavors were heavenly. I did however have to concentrate on first eating the peach and then the pistachio as they did not mix well together.
I wandered into a few more shops and took a different route where I became just a little lost back to my hotel. I had another delicious meal at Al Sangiovese and then went to bed. I was exhausted from a long day of travel and then the walk to the top of the tower. I will definitely return to Bologna again!
Monday, June 18
train travel to Bologna
Ciao! I am now in Bologna. I still need to catch up with my days in Venice and also my stay with my friends in Coccaglio. I am only here for one day and have a dinner reservation in an hour but I wanted to at least check in.
I arrived at the train station in Rovato about 15 minutes early. I validated my ticket and I was set to say goodbye to Katia when we saw that my train was 50 minutes delayed! That made my connection in Verona impossible. Rovato is a very small train station with one ticket booth with a man that is not very friendly. After buying a ticket from him a few years ago, I always buy my ticket in advance when taking a train from this station so that I can avoid him. I was not very hopeful that he would be able to help but surprisingly, he was able to suggest an alternate train that should still get me to Verona in time. He told me that I would not have to pay anything more since the train I bought the ticket for was now canceled.
Katia had to leave to go to work and so I sat and waited. This train ended up being 5 minutes late also. I arrived in Brescia and saw that the Eurostar City train was going to Verona and would get me there on time. I told my story about my cancelled train to the conductor but he would not let me on the train. He said I had to wait for the IC train which would get me to Verona in time for my connection.
Right after the Eurostar City train left, there was an announcement that the train I was waiting for would be 10 minutes late. This meant that I would probably miss my nice Eurostar train from Verona to Bologna. I looked at the schedule and with the time delay, I would arrive with 1 minute to spare to make my connection. I went into this little office to ask one of the train people to find out my options. I did not know the time of the other trains and thought that maybe it would be better to go to Milan instead as I seemed to remember that there were many trains that go to Bologna from Milan. The man told me that next train was an IC Plus train and that I could use my ticket for that train. It would arrive 70 minutes later than my original train. At least now I had a backup plan.
When the train arrived, it was packed! I was not able to get past the tiny area by the door where the bathroom is and so I stood with 2 other men and 2 other woman for the journey. The 2 women sent SMS messages, the 2 men read books, and I listened to my iPod.
When we arrived in Desenzano Del Garda we had to all shuffle a little to make room for people to get off the train and board the train. Once the train left, we all resumed our positions. The next stop was Peschiera Del Garda. Again we shuffled to make room but this time a man and his son got on. The man left his BIG suitcase right in front of the door and went inside one of the cars. His son sat on the floor and proceeded to play his gameboy. The rest of us were now squashed like sardines! As people came through to use the bathroom, it became a game of twister as we all tried to move this way and that for each person to get buy. The son did not move an inch and the man looked at us all through the door of the car.
We arrived in Verona at 10:45. My Eurostar train left at 10:41. Of course that train was on time!! I now had some time to kill. I bought my tickets for my next train trip (Bologna to Cortona) and then headed to the bathroom. I have to say that the bathroom at the Verona train station was extremely nice as train bathrooms go. It is a pay bathroom and you need coins. The machine will take .50, .10, and .05 coins and it does not give change.
I headed to the binario and read on the board that my train would be 10 minutes late! What a surprise! At least this was my last train of the day! I was concerned that I would have to stand the entire way but was happy to find a wonderful seat with room for my bags. I took out my sudoku puzzles and turned my iPod on and was finally ready for a nice train ride. When the train ticket person came by, I handed her my ticket. She made a funny face as she looked at my Eurostar ticket. I started to tell her my story of my cancelled train and all the late and missed connections. She continued to make the funny face and so I continued to tell her my story in Italian. Either she did not want to hear my tell my story anymore or she decided that it was ok as she said as long as I was getting off in Bologna my ticket would be fine. Now why wouldn't I be getting off in Bologna??
We arrived in Bologna 15 minutes late and in all I arrived an hour and 25 minutes after I was supposed to arrive. I headed to the taxi area, waited about 10 minutes in line and then hopped in a taxi. A very nice man at my hotel (Hotel Porta San Momolo) met me at the door. Everyone was SO friendly. I was told that my room was almost ready but another room was ready which I could have right now. She showed me the room but I told her that I prefered the other room as I requested a no-smoking room. I asked if any restaurants were still open as I was starving. It was now almost 2 pm. I left my luggage, had a wonderful dinner and then returned to find an amazing room. I reserved a single and thought for sure that they must have made a mistake as my room seems like a suite! It is the biggest single I have ever stayed in.
I grabbed what I needed for the afternoon and headed out to enjoy an afternoon in Bologna.
More to come later as I am off to dinner pretty soon.
ciao!!
I arrived at the train station in Rovato about 15 minutes early. I validated my ticket and I was set to say goodbye to Katia when we saw that my train was 50 minutes delayed! That made my connection in Verona impossible. Rovato is a very small train station with one ticket booth with a man that is not very friendly. After buying a ticket from him a few years ago, I always buy my ticket in advance when taking a train from this station so that I can avoid him. I was not very hopeful that he would be able to help but surprisingly, he was able to suggest an alternate train that should still get me to Verona in time. He told me that I would not have to pay anything more since the train I bought the ticket for was now canceled.
Katia had to leave to go to work and so I sat and waited. This train ended up being 5 minutes late also. I arrived in Brescia and saw that the Eurostar City train was going to Verona and would get me there on time. I told my story about my cancelled train to the conductor but he would not let me on the train. He said I had to wait for the IC train which would get me to Verona in time for my connection.
Right after the Eurostar City train left, there was an announcement that the train I was waiting for would be 10 minutes late. This meant that I would probably miss my nice Eurostar train from Verona to Bologna. I looked at the schedule and with the time delay, I would arrive with 1 minute to spare to make my connection. I went into this little office to ask one of the train people to find out my options. I did not know the time of the other trains and thought that maybe it would be better to go to Milan instead as I seemed to remember that there were many trains that go to Bologna from Milan. The man told me that next train was an IC Plus train and that I could use my ticket for that train. It would arrive 70 minutes later than my original train. At least now I had a backup plan.
When the train arrived, it was packed! I was not able to get past the tiny area by the door where the bathroom is and so I stood with 2 other men and 2 other woman for the journey. The 2 women sent SMS messages, the 2 men read books, and I listened to my iPod.
When we arrived in Desenzano Del Garda we had to all shuffle a little to make room for people to get off the train and board the train. Once the train left, we all resumed our positions. The next stop was Peschiera Del Garda. Again we shuffled to make room but this time a man and his son got on. The man left his BIG suitcase right in front of the door and went inside one of the cars. His son sat on the floor and proceeded to play his gameboy. The rest of us were now squashed like sardines! As people came through to use the bathroom, it became a game of twister as we all tried to move this way and that for each person to get buy. The son did not move an inch and the man looked at us all through the door of the car.
We arrived in Verona at 10:45. My Eurostar train left at 10:41. Of course that train was on time!! I now had some time to kill. I bought my tickets for my next train trip (Bologna to Cortona) and then headed to the bathroom. I have to say that the bathroom at the Verona train station was extremely nice as train bathrooms go. It is a pay bathroom and you need coins. The machine will take .50, .10, and .05 coins and it does not give change.
I headed to the binario and read on the board that my train would be 10 minutes late! What a surprise! At least this was my last train of the day! I was concerned that I would have to stand the entire way but was happy to find a wonderful seat with room for my bags. I took out my sudoku puzzles and turned my iPod on and was finally ready for a nice train ride. When the train ticket person came by, I handed her my ticket. She made a funny face as she looked at my Eurostar ticket. I started to tell her my story of my cancelled train and all the late and missed connections. She continued to make the funny face and so I continued to tell her my story in Italian. Either she did not want to hear my tell my story anymore or she decided that it was ok as she said as long as I was getting off in Bologna my ticket would be fine. Now why wouldn't I be getting off in Bologna??
We arrived in Bologna 15 minutes late and in all I arrived an hour and 25 minutes after I was supposed to arrive. I headed to the taxi area, waited about 10 minutes in line and then hopped in a taxi. A very nice man at my hotel (Hotel Porta San Momolo) met me at the door. Everyone was SO friendly. I was told that my room was almost ready but another room was ready which I could have right now. She showed me the room but I told her that I prefered the other room as I requested a no-smoking room. I asked if any restaurants were still open as I was starving. It was now almost 2 pm. I left my luggage, had a wonderful dinner and then returned to find an amazing room. I reserved a single and thought for sure that they must have made a mistake as my room seems like a suite! It is the biggest single I have ever stayed in.
I grabbed what I needed for the afternoon and headed out to enjoy an afternoon in Bologna.
More to come later as I am off to dinner pretty soon.
ciao!!
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