A Setback, and Then a New City

Buon giorno from Bologna! We are now staying in a studio apartment on the outskirts of the city here for the next week. This was not the original plan.

We had been staying in the hills outside Florence. While this was a pretty location, and fun for a little while, it had its drawbacks. For one, it was not very easy to get to. We had to drive for 20 minutes up into the hills, including a long drive up a windy dirt driveway, just to get to our farmhouse lodging. Also, it had some problems that generally come with living in a farmhouse. The hot water was spotty at best (you had to run the hot water in the sink for a couple minutes before you could even try the hot water in the shower, and we didn't figure this trick out for a couple days so we had some cold showers...not fun). And then came the final straw...a scorpion in our bathroom! Not having ever encountered one before, we were both sufficiently freaked out to want to switch apartments. That's how we decided to come to Bologna.

Last night was our first night in this new city, and we decided to check out the nightlife, a first for us in Italy. We wandered around the center of the city until we found a bar that seemed to be near the university. The beer was cold, the fried mozzarella was excellent, and the people watching was fantastic. On our way out we noticed a waffle and crepe shop next door, and we just had to try that. Waffles are a favorite of mine, and adding a huge scoop of chocolate gelato did nothing but make the waffle even more delicious. All in all, a fun first night in Bologna!