Some Advice For Future Travelers

Now that we've been in Bologna for all of four days, I feel I can share what I've learned with all the people who might decide to travel here. Actually, some of this advice is for all visitors to Italy.

First, if it doesn't work, let it rest. Italian appliances are tricky. The washing machine is especially difficult since the knobs have Italian words on them, and when you set the dial to where you think it should be, it tells you the washer will run for 3 hours. The one in this apartment is unique in that the same machine does both washing and drying. I'm still not sure it actually dries the clothes; it might just tumble them around until some of the moisture goes away. Anyway, we washed some clothes the other day and put it through the drying cycle. When it was done, the machine was off, but we couldn't open the door! So we started it up again thinking that the next time it finished, surely we could open the door. Nope, it wasn't budging. After a few frantic text messages with the owner, she said that once the dryer is done and off, you need to wait a few minutes and then the door opens. Because we are impatient Americans, we immediately tried to open it to check our clothes. So lesson learned. Let it rest a bit first. This also might work with shoes. If your feet are sore after wearing a pair of walking shoes for several days, put the shoes away and let them rest for a day. Punish them. Use your hiking shoes and see if those walking shoes don't feel better after a day in the closet. This was my thought process early this morning, and I'll let you know if it works.

Second, if you are over 30, do not come to Bologna and think that you can eat all the wonderful rich food the city has to offer for several days and still feel great. Last night we had a wonderful dinner at Trattoria de Me which is just around the corner from our apartment. We thought we were ordering well and decided to share an antipasti, a pasta, and then have a secondo. The antipasti was fabulous - a warm pumpkin something-or-other with a Parmesan and balsamic sauce. (Apologies to CM for more food photos.)

All the food we had was wonderful, but by the end of the meal, we could hardly waddle back to our apartment. Our after dinner drink was an Alka Seltzer. So today we had strawberries for breakfast, a panini for lunch, and basically had vegetables for dinner that we bought at a wonderful deli in town. Perfect!

The onion was roasted with the skin on. I didn't know you could do that! Someone try it and tell me how!

Third, stay on alert when traveling by train. After our second day of traveling to nearby towns, we have learned that you must constantly check the departure boards in the station. Yesterday, we arrived early because we are anal and didn't know our way around the Bologna station. We asked a woman who works for the train company, and she directed us to Binara 10. So like obedient people, we stood at Binara 10 and waited for our train. A train came along and we hopped right on. Fortunately, a kind Italian gentleman saw us and somehow guessed that we wanted the train to Ravenna and informed us that a last minute change had occurred. Our train was now leaving from Binara 11! Today this happened to us twice again with a last minute change. In one case, the platform changed two times. No telling where we would have ended up tonight!

Fourth, always travel with a buddy in Bologna. You need to be with someone who will shout LOOK OUT right before you are hit by a bus, a scooter, or a bike. I can't tell you how many times we have saved each other.

And finally, if you  have the opportunity, visit a balsamic vinegar producer. Today we went to Modena and visited Acetaia di Giorgio. We didn't meet Giorgio today, but his son-in-law, Marcello, gave us a thorough session on how balsamic is made and showed us where they age the barrels. I had no idea what went into this process. Their balsamics are aged for either 12 years or 25 years, so the barrels they are opening now were started when he was a baby! And we also had the chance to taste different ages of balsamic and ones that are aged in different types of wood barrels. Such an interesting morning.

I'll close with just a few more shots from the Modena historic Mercato Albinelli, a busy market area that had the most colorful produce.