Bologna

Most random unplanned part of the trip so far...

When we were staying at the hostel in Florence someone has told us that bologna was beautiful, a s since we didn't have any concrete plans we figured hey why not? We arrived a bit earlier then our check in time but we figured we would just go anyways to see if they would let us out our bags in the hostel at least. We got to the train station and had walking directions so we figured we would be all set and be able to find it no problem, because that is what we have done in the past. I pulled out my iPad and read the directions, yeah we couldn't find the street that we needed so we figured we would just take the bus because there were directions to do so. We hoped on the bus and actually managed to get off at the right stop! We showed up at the hostel which was another weird one that didn't have a sign outside to tell you it was there. It was located in an apartment so it was very non descript. We buzzed in and no one answered so we tired again, and again no one. Since we were super early we figured we would just wonder around for a bit and then go back. During our wondering we found a really nice church that we checked out. Gotta love finding things accidently, although its not that hard to do in Europe. We went back to the hostel about an hour later to try and buzz in again, again no luck. At this point were a little worried because we have no means of finding another place unless we walk around until we find one. Another person that was staying in the hostel showed up and asked us how come we couldn't get in, we told him that no one answered the buzzer. He tired and finally a guy answered but all he said was hello, the door didn't open so we tried again, again someone said hello but nothing happend. We waited for a bit thinking maybe they would come down and let us in but nope. So we were just standing there talking about what to do and someone opend the door and asked if we were staying at the hostel, we said yes and she let us in and took us upstairs. She was just another fellow hostel guest, but apperently the women who runs the place is never there because she also has two other bed and breakfasts she runs. We sat around in the common room for a while and waited to see if she would show up, an hour later she finally rolled in. Seeing us all sitting there she was like ohh your all here already, great! Might I add at this point we found out Alex the other hostel guest that arrived the same time we did told her his check in time was 5 she didn't show up until 7...as it turns out the owner was really nice, and she upgraded us to a private room with two beds because she didn't have any left in the shared rooms. One weird thing about the place was that there was another separate apartment where the private rooms were on a another floor.

During our waiting around we met most of the people staying in the hostel which wasn't very many,
but it instantly felt like a big group of people that would get along, that night we all went out to dinner, not many hostels have that vibe go them, you make a few friends but not everyone usually everyone goes out together. We went to a recommend pasta place and it was pretty good but nothing to die for. But it was nice going out and getting to know everyone in the hostel.

The next day Kristy and I ventured out by ourselves so see the sights, of course it was raining surprise, surprise. It's been raining since we got to Italy...blah! I found out the hard way in Pisa that my rain jacket is no longer water proof. We went to the big bell tower which was one of the only ones actually still standing. This whole town used to be filled with bell towers but only a few remain today. We climbed the bell tower which had 500 stairs, and they weren't big enough for people to go up and down even though people tried. It took us a bit to get too the top because of that, but that was ok. The view from the top was nice but it was a little caged in compared to the one we went up in, in Florence, but the view was still really nice. The city of bologna is interesting because there is a medieval part and a moderne part, when we were up in the bell tower you could see where it divided, it was weird. After we did this we decided to go to the seven churches, which is a complex with exectly what the name suggests...seven churches which are very old. However once we got there they were just about to close, so we left and wondered around for a bit. Once they were open again we went back and they were really neat. The main church is still used but the other ones are not, there is actually still a monastery there that's used. There was this monuement inside the church that has this little door that you could crawl in, so of course we did. It didn't  have any signs to say what it was so we got inside and it was very tiny, it only held two people at a time. As it turns out it was a crypt, the bodies were not in there anymore though, so they were just empty tombs. Once we were done exploring we got to hear organ practice, because of the monastery they were practicing on the organ, it was amazing to hear in a church of that size, so hauntingly beautiful. We ended up staying to listen to that for a good half hour.

Next stop...another church, this one was saposed to be bigger then saint peters in Vatican City, however there is a law that no church is allowed to be bigger then it, the construction of this church was shut down. It was really cool to see, we got to go up on the terrace and see another view of the city and then we went inside, it was beautiful even though it was never properly built. There were actually a few weird aspects of this particular church, there was a lot of skulls, and bones in jars on display, i can only assume they were from saints for previous people of that particular church, it was very strange and a little creepy to see random bones. There was also some scientific aspects to this church which is odd, there was a pendulum which rocks back and forth due to the rotation of the earth which was really neat to see, and there was also a huge sundial in the floor of the church. Although it wasn't sunny out the day we went so we couldn't see it in action, but it would have been really cool.

By this time we needed lunch, so we looked at our map because we had no idea where to eat, we found this little place that served appatizers and desserts, we thought how perfect! It was a little tricky to find because the street it was on, on th map didn't have a name. It was quite a walk from where we had just been but we ventured out anyway. It was down this street that had nothing on it execpt apartments. There was no sign for the resturant outside so we just happend to find it by accident, there is no way we would have found it if we didn't have a map. It was very busy when we got there so we waited for a table. We were seated and the waitress came but there were no menus, so she proceeded to tell us and we ordered pasta, which was one of the best pasta dishes I have had thus far. We got dessert afterwards, but again no menu...as it turns out they have a 10 course dessert thing they do. They literally bring you 10 things and you eat wha you want. This included; strawberries, marscapone, brownies, chocolate fondue, dark chocolate chucks, creme caramel, this other Italian chocolate thing I can't remember the name of, cream puffs, amaretto cake, and a rice cake thing...and all of this was all you could eat for 10€! It was amazing.

Our next day in bologna wasn't very long because we had to catch our train at 2, so we were told that there was European longest covered walkway that leads to a church and a very good view of the city because its all up hill. As it turns out its quite the hike, like I said all up hill with steps and ramps, we ended up going under 682 arches, this does not include how many steps there were. It took us about a half hour to get to the top. And it was raining and foggy at the top so we didn't have any view, but we still could go into the church...so we thought. We went in and as soon as we did this women walked up and said they were closing! Of course this sort of thing would happen to us...all that work and we couldn't even stay and admire the church. Oh well god excerise at least. We got back to the hostel with just enough time to go to the train station. It was our longest train ride so far, about 4 hours cause there is not train that goes direct to Genoa, we had to take the train to Milan and then switch trains and back track to genoa. It was a nice train ride because this time we opted do the cheaper train which is slower and doesn't go through tunnels the whole time like the fast train...hence why it's slow.