Bologna

Most of our roommates are in Viareggio for carnivale this weekend (yes, more perpetual carnivale...you know the saying, "just in case you need an excuse to party")...but Michelle and I didn't feel like going. So, yesterday we went to Bologna. First of all, I love the way the trains work here because you can go to the train station, look at the departures sign, and just arbitrarily pick a destination. It's great. We had planned on going to Bologna though. Bologna is the location of the first university in the world, as well as the birthplace of bologna (mortadella here in Italia), and bolognese sauce...so it had a lot going for it.
It was a cool city. Even though it was only an hour from Florence, it had a very different feel. In fact, the people were a lot more friendly and the men were a lot less harassing... which was refreshing. The streets are a lot longer- in Florence, you can look down a street and it either curves or ends in a block. In Bologna they have a few main streets that are much bigger than in Florence and you can look down them a mile or so. That was new also.
Since Michelle and I are obsessed with food (and it's showing in our waistlines...) we really went with the #1 intention of getting authentic Bolognese sauce. We found a cute ristorante and I have to say, it was one of the most delicious things I have ever tasted. I don't even like ground beef- but the ground beef here is soooo different. It's top quality and they soak it in creme to tenderize it... and it just melts in your mouth. So good. We also managed to go into a couple churches and museums before we left. All of the museums in Bologna are really nice, and free, which is nice also.
We were supposed to go to Siena today which was on the top of my list, but it's raining everywhere today and we're afraid it would be a waste. Kind of disappointing. But, after i'm done here in the internet place, we're going home to drink wine and bake banana bread. It's no Siena, but it'll have to do.