Ferrara and Bologna

November 21 after Ferrara (we will add more pictures later just wanted to get this posted.  thought we lost as we input it at the train station in Ferrara and lost the signal before we posted.  Dont have all our info now)

So…Sunday night trip home….was crazy funny.   I don’t think writing it will nearly give you the picture of what happened.  It was dark and rainy and rush hour for starters.  We had our route planned… the navigator..me was right on top of things.  The only problem was the route was not quite right.  We passed a familiar place and sign (ikea) where we should have exited and began to realize we were on the wrong road heading to Florence with very few exits nearby…so we drove on till we could turn around…missed another exit…went further…finally saw the airport sign so we went there knowing we could figure it out from there…sort of…then got out the original directions which we talked about them before …clear as mud…but things started to look familiar and we found the very curvy foggy road up the mountain to our “home”….only an hour and half later than we thought we would be…not to mention going around a curve to find a van across the road trying to pull a car out of the mud that was down in the field on the side of the road.  They finally gave up and let us pass and THEN we made it home.  What an adventure !!

November 22

We are sitting in a “community center” resting after hours of walking around the old town part of Bologna.  Its pretty amazing architecture.  Roger loves it even more than I realized.  The camera was clicking all day.

Just to back up a bit …we slept really well all night last night and feel we are acclimated to the time change.  We have settled into a routine of sorts…breakfast at about 8:30 to 9 and then head out for the day to explore.  Our breakfast has been assorted breads, yogurt, cheese, ham etc.  I was really glad to see whole wheat bread in the selection put out for the two of us…quite a spread really of sweet breads and rolls etc.   The place we are staying is a very old farm house that has been remodeled and updated by a young couple.  The husband is the manager of the opera costumes…not sure what that job would entail but he is gone long hours.  They have 2 young boys who are gone most of the day to kindergarten and school.  They have been so kind and helpful to us and our room is very nice. 

After spending the day out exploring the area we come back to our room and have a snacky dinner.  We have had a big lunch each day and are to tired to go out to eat late as they normally have dinner here about 8pm.  We bought some sausage and cheese and crackers, pears and clementines for our snacky dinner and have really enjoyed it.  We spend the evening playing card games.  We have quite a competitive tournament going on right now…mostly playing 5 crowns…the score is even for win and losses. 

Today was another drizzly day but not to cold.  We are so thankful for the rain jackets we brought.  It seemed like a big luxury when we were cramming our suitcases but worth it now after 3 rainy days in a row.  We hope tomorrow is sunny!!  We took the train this morning from near where we are staying into Bologna.  We could not for the life of us figure out how or where to pay for the train ride so when it came we just got on.  No one ever asked for our tickets or came to collect money so…that was kind of nice!!  It took us about 30 min.   So we have enjoyed a taste of the city…more cathedrals, statutes, museums and interesting shops. 

Tomorrow (Tuesday) we head to our next location….more to come.  We love the comments you leave.  It is a way of feeling connected with you…and we want to stay connected since 5 months is a long time…