Tuesday in Bologna and Parma

Walking down "Verdi Street" in Parma


A gorgeous meat store in Bologna...look at those hams!


Window shopping in Bologna....who wants me to bring pasta back home?


The statue of Neptune in Bologna


Bruce Willis has arrived in Bologna

Tuesday was a day off of schoo.l...the feast day of St John the Baptist, patron saint of Florence, so Mom, Aunt Clare and I took a day trip. We hit the train station at 8:00 am so that we could take the Eurostar to Bologna. What a beautiful city! We did a little shopping and a little sightseeing, and had lunch in a small restaurant near the towers. There are two medieval leaning towers in Bologna, and the plan was to climb up to the top, until we saw what they looked like - fortified, defense towers...very narrow with very few windows. We decided that that was perhaps not the best plan. But we did see the building where the Council of Trent met for a couple of years, as well as a cafe that Umberto Eco frequented.

In the afternoon, we took another train to Parma. We walked through the center of town and found a little flea market - we are looking for a pair of silver or gold sandals for me so that I can be in fashion here in Italy! But we didn't find anything that worked. We saw some very very beautiful churches, including the baptistry of the Duomo, which was made out of pink marble. It's amazing how decorative everything is - every inch is carved or painted in exquisite style. We had a gelato in Parma, and then back on the train to return to Florence, where I sat next to a woman who had lived in Florence for 62 years. She proceeded to tell me how much better everything was 30 years ago...but I'm not going to let her negativity bother me!

Back in Florence...found ANOTHER wonderful restaurant, very close to our apartment. Another course of prosciutto and cantaloupe...I've had that numerous times now, and I can't get enough. It's perfect for this 90 degree weather. I had planned to go see the fireworks over the Arno river last night (in celebration of the feast day), but I was just too tired, so I went to bed...