The Restaurant Tour of Italy and the Beginning of Bologna

The last two weeks have been crazy hectic. It all started with a canceled flight out of O'Hare, fortunately Morganna and I were able to get into Boston and spent a few hours in Ipswich before our next flight. In London, we were able to make the transfer to Venice, but, our luggage did not. Or rather, Mo's suitcase and one of my three bags were the only ones, however that bag contained everything BUT clothes. British Airways gave us 4 bags full of toiletries and sent us on our way, with the promise that they would arrive at our hotel the next days.

The beginning of Venice was a blur. I had not slept on any plane, and did not sleep until almost midnight local time. I calculated that I had been awake for about 30 hours. The main things I remember about Venice are this: very expensive, though unimpressive food, the Ducal Palace and the Duomo, the tourists, and the canals. While the food looked attractive in the canal-side restaurants, we all expected something more in quality. Tourists were everywhere; the only way to avoid them was to walk in the tiny, winding alleyways which were so enjoyable to get lost in. The great thing about Venice was that everything went by boat. We didn't see a single car until we went to the Piazzale Roma the last day to get our rental car. What we did see was boats: gondolas, UPS, garbage, police, ambulance, and fireboats, water taxis, and public transportation, or vaporettos. Venice was really another world, and definitely something to see, though we all agreed three days was enough to see everything and be sick of the constant crowds.

We then drove to the Dolomites to a town called Castelrotto/Kastelruth near Bolzano/Bozen. Everything there had two names: one Italian, the other German. Everything and everyone there spoke two languages, their first was German, and they learned Italian in school. Do kept calling it Switzerland (even though it was closer to Austria), and Morganna kept rolling her eyes. It really did look like small german villages, with everything white-washed and carved wooden decorations. Instead of a local wine there was a local beer, the man at the toll booth had a heavy, terminator-esque accent, and hiking on the trails all the markers were in German, and everyone greeted you with a "Grüß Gott," a greeting used mainly in Austria meaning "Greet God." This was also the beginning of Morganna and Mo's fear of the roads here, as they were very curvy and snaked up the edges of mountains. The local drivers sped around these curves, used to the roads, but it was all Morganna and Mo could do to keep from jumping out of the car and walking up the mountainside. We went to visit a castel and there was a road sign warning that this 1.5 lane road would be ascending ay 28 degrees. Unfortunately, I was sick for the majority of time I was there, and only felt better by our last day there.

Then it was on to Antella, a town which Do constantly called Nutella, just south of Florence. We stayed in this ancient Tuscan villa, probably my favorite hotel we stayed in. They had the sweetest cat, Tiger, who would just sit next to you during breakfast and ask for a bellyrub. We spent one day in Florence, saw three art museums with lots of famous art, and decided that Florence was not as attractive as everyone said it was. We ate a a restaurant in another small town, and were gifted about a 1/3 of a liter of wine by the next table who had finished dinner and were ordering limoncello. The next day Morganna about died in the car as we drove on skinny roads through the Tuscan countryside. We saw many adorable, old towns and ended up in Siena that evening. Once we started walking around the historical center, or "centro storico," we all agreed that a full day in Siena would have been ideal, though we were able to walk around the very well-lit streets and enjoy delicious food.

After our stay in Tuscany, it was time for our drive to Cinque Terre. Finding the hotel proved difficult, as there was more freaking out on skinny, mountainous roads and the town of Montorosso al Mare did not allow traffic on its streets, except for certain taxis and, of course, police vehicles. It was also a climb to the hotel, which was perched on a cliff overlooking the Mediterranean. The hiking and swimming was all great the first day. The water was cold, making it a wonderful escape from the hot, humid air. We also walked the trail between the five towns and took the train back to our own. The second day we kayaked to Vernazza, giving us great views of the shore. In Vernazza we were swimming , and Morganna and I were stung by jellyfish. Unlike previous stings I've had in the US, this sting was like ten wasps attacked my wrist. I got a sting about 4 inched long on the underside of my right wrist. That entire part of my wrist swelled and turned bright red, and even now, almost a week later, it looks like I have a scar there, though the swelling and pain rapidly decreased by the second day.

Our last morning there we hiked to Vernazza again, and ate lunch and swam, though I stayed near the shore and other people, so I'd hear a scream if someone got stung. Then, Morganna and Mo took a train to La Spezia, the nearby city, so they would not have to go on anymore mountain roads, while Do and I went back to get our car and picked them up, then drove to Bologna.

Initial impressions of Bologna: lots of graffitti and hot. I have yet to meet the captain of the women's frisbee team I've been emailing with, but hopefully I'll do that soon. Last night, I went with the program director, his wife, and three other students, a Brazilian woman, an Israeli man, and an Australian man, to the Medieval fair an hour outside of Bologna. Unlike American Renaissance fairs, this took place in a real medieval village, with a clock tower and a castle overlooking the town below. The most entertaining part was a couple of fire-jugglers, who were making constant jokes and, just before doing a trick with volunteers, proceeded to drop their flaming sticks as they were explaining how safe it was.

Classes start at 9 am tomorrow, and hopefully all will go well in the diagnostic exam!