Beautiful Bologna

It was farewell to Florence this morning, and interestingly although the biggest of our hotels to date, in a wonderfully central location, we all agreed it was missing the attention to detail and level of service we had received in both Roma and Radda in Chianti. 

We all commented on the hard pillows, lack of room for luggage (it’s fine as long as you don’t want to open your suitcase!), leaky showers and non supply of tissues in the rooms. But the one thing that has become a quest for Sheryl and I, is the lack of milk to accompany the tea bags and coffee sachets supplied. 

In Rome, the rooms had no tea and coffee making facilities. In Saturnia, although there was tea and coffee and a kettle, there was no milk supplied. After a call to housekeeping and a great deal of confusion, a staff member arrived at the door with a tray bearing two jugs of milk with cups and saucers at a charge of 10 Euro each. 

In Radda, although there were 2 little uht capsules in the fridge when we arrived, these were never replaced. We tried phoning reception and negotiating a supply of milk, but  this it seemed was impossible. The following morning at breakfast Sheryl asked if we could take a small jug of milk back to our room so we could make cups of tea. This caused a great deal of consternation and consultation, but was eventually allowed. 

Now we are in Bologna. We tried to buy milk in the mini-mart this afternoon and couldn’t find any, as once again there is none in the room with the tea and coffee supplies. Sheryl asked at reception on our return and was presented with a china teapot of milk, which then didn’t fit in our bar fridge, without a great deal of rearranging!  Stay tuned for more Italian milk adventures. 

We had two vans again today, so were able to spread out and enjoy the trip through the steep ranges out of Florence with the first stop in the Northern Appenines, 70 km from Bologna at a very unusual castle called Rocchetta Mattei. 

Built in the mid 19th century for Count Cesare Mattei, the castle has a very unique and eclectic style, reflecting moorish architectural elements combined with medieval structures and art nouveau staircases. It also boasts a very unique collection of music machines, including an early jukebox prototype. It was fascinating to see and although the guided tour was conducted in Italian, the guide tried to supplement the information with some English explanation for the 8 Australians in the group. 

After an hour-long tour it was time to move on to Bologna, a city of arched colonnades, medieval and renaissance architecture, high end shopping, the longest continually operating university in Italy, the Basilica of San Petronio and a  sprawling piazza. We discovered all this within an hour of our arrival, as our hotel, the most central in Bologna, sits in a laneway beside the Basilica, a stones throw from Piazza Maggiore. On our arrival there was some sort of re-enactment and festivities  taking place in the piazza and we soon realised it involved university students. We watched for a while, trying to understand what it was all about, and narrowly avoiding being caught up in an activity.  

We wandered at our leisure, ate, wandered some more in the sunshine, and then after a rest in our hotel, we went out and ate some more. Meandering back from a delicious - you guessed it - pasta dinner, we lingered in Piazza Maggiore enjoying the evocative sounds of a cello-playing busker, as the sun set over the buildings and the city lights came on. A drink in the bar at the end of our street rounded off the night as we continued to soak up the sounds and movement of a vibrant and ancient city.