We had a wonderful last breakfast!
Then we loaded the car, and said our sad good-byes to Diana, Mimi and Max. It has been such a wonderful week in Piemonte.
We left around 9:30 for our 3-hour drive to Bologna. A great place to stop for a break on the way is the Fidenze Outlet Mall, which is about two hours away, on the A-1 a few kilometers before Parma.
We spent about 30 minutes shopping, where I picked up a dozen gelato spoons at the kitchen shop. They we had coffee and a nice restroom before getting back in the car.
In an hour, we left the autostrada, and entered the Bologna ring road, taking the shortest route to the central area. Then we did our “Palma jumps in a taxi” trick, and Brad followed him to the Hotel Roma, just steps from Piazza Maggiore.
It was great to be back in Bologna! We felt right at home as soon as we checked in and walked to the piazza. Fiona and Steve took a bus tour of the city, and Brad and I had a quick piadini in the piazza, then walked around the familiar area in the shopping district.
We met at 7 in the hotel bar for a glass of wine, then walked to dinner at our old favorite, Al Sangiovese.
The owner, Gianni, greeted us warmly like old friends. Brad had a salad to start, and I had garganelli pasta with salsiccia and we both had a wonderful vitello with formaggio and asparagus.
Fiona and Steve loved the place as well. We felt SO at home, and happy to be in this wonderful city! This was the first of many great meals in Bologna!
After dinner, we walked to Gianni’s for a pistachio and crema gelato, then found a bar near our hotel for a coffee and grappa.
Comments (2)
Ah! It all sounds fabulous! Can't wait to go back to Bologna in May!
Posted by Chiocciola | January 15, 2009 5:06 PM
Posted on January 15, 2009 17:06
Palma-I LOVE tour idea of getting into a cab and having your car follow! If we'd only thought of that we could have saved ourselves a lot of anxiety getting into a city!
Posted by janie | January 17, 2009 9:14 AM
Posted on January 17, 2009 09:14