Blah Blah Bologna

Sorry I didn’t update last week, which was rude of me especially since I actually had things to update about.

ALLORA, (so) last weekend we went on a great adventure to BOLOGNA (Bolonya). There were 8 of us, and we rented two FIAT PANDAS. That was fun. The night before we left we had the car and we drove places that we usually have to walk. We drove to the TERME, which are a bunch of free hot springs in an open field a little bit outside of Viterbo. They are very nice, but smell like poop and rotten eggs.

Anyways, it was really weird being in a car, but nice to get a break from walking. The next day we headed to Bologna in our little blue Pandas. The tolls for the roads are RIDICULOUS. It cost 20 euros just to drive on the road from Viterbo to Bologna, pretty CARO (expensive). We stopped in Florence on the way up and got gelato, and then walked literally 2 blocks and got a gelato shake, or a “frappe”. This is an example of why I am suddenly five pounds heavier. We went and stopped at Ponte Vecchio because Mary had never seen it before. I didn’t mind at all because Florence is definitely one of my favorite places in Italy.

Oh, side note. On this special weekend trip we had some special visitors from Hungary. Mary and Julia are sisters that were friends of our friend Jeff. They study in Hungary and made a nice trip to Italy that weekend and decided to grace us with their presence. They were really fun and I was glad to meet some more new friends.

After we made our gelato pit stop in Florence we headed up to Bologna. It took us quite a while to find our hostel, but eventually we found it. Good thing we had our cars because it was definitely out of the way. After we were settled we headed out to dinner. We went to a place recommended by the New York Times. We showed up and they were booked, but then the owner felt bad and set up a table outside. Welcome to the longest most expensive dinner I have ever had. Five hours later, I was full from a three- course meal plus dessert and a cookie. He kept bringing us food and kept us there for quite some time. He was a very interesting guy, he had served our good friend ARNOLD GOVERNATOR, before. I had lasagna, and boy was it delightful lasagna, and one of Bologna’s famous dishes. We also shared an AHUMAZING steak. I don’t know what was in the sauce but it made my stomach smile. So after the owner man kept us at his restaurant for a REAL Italian meal and stole 30 euro from all of us, we got roses and went back to our hostel exhausted.

The next day we went back into the city just to check it out for a little while. There was amazing band of instrument players in the main square. I liked them so much I gave them a EURO. So generous. We walked around, I liked what I saw, but we had other places to be so we got back into our Pandas and headed to San Marino.

San Marino is an independent country within Italy. So technically this could have been another stamp on my passport had they not charged 5 euro for it. So I will just remember it in my heart and not have anything to show for it. This place was absolutely beautiful. They have seven castles on a giant hill. The pictures sort of speak for themselves. We wandered all day around there, and then went to our hostel. It reminded me of the dorms except with 12 bunks in a room. We went to dinner back up on the hill; I had some good gnocchi, but nothing in comparison to the night before. After the hearty meal and a game of ninja in the streets, we went back to the our dorm hostel and played ping pong in the common room. We happened to notice an intense couple fight on the street below us and a few of my travel mates spent the rest of the night narrating the dramatic scene. And Kim and Cara went to comfort her when she was left on the side of the street. It was quite the relaxed day.

The driving was good; I wasn’t the intense backseat driver that I usually am. Ricardo was impressive. He even Tokyo drifted, and I made it home alive. I wanted to drive, since all the cars here are sticks. But I was too scared so I just drove in parking lots…which was fun enough.

We made it back to Viterbo by lunch time that day, (only because of Daylight Savings Time). We enjoyed a pizza. By pizza, I mean the Viterbese way by having one gigantic pizza to yourself; so huge that it is served on two plates. I had two of those this week. Did I mention I have gained some weight?

We went to a lovely Halloween party that night with some Italians. They don’t really celebrate Halloween here, but the Italian students that showed up did a great job dressing up. I met a guy dressed like Indiana Jones, Holy Grail and all. I went as a lion, because I figured that is the closest thing I resemble. Everyone just thought I was Jena with whiskers on my face. I guess I look like a lion everyday.