Woke up early, to the dismay of our roommates. We were at breakfast as they opened. Ate and made a 7:33 bus to the station.
Headed to Bologna first. The train was about an hour, since it was a regional train. But that means it was less expensive, so we weren't in a hurry. We spent the train trip catching up in our journals, as we so often do. My journal for this trip is a 70 sheet composition notebook. I write front & back, so 140 pages....but I'll be lucky to make it to the end of the trip!! I think I only have about 30 pages left!
We got to Bologna and it was raining. Of course. I didn't even think to grab my poncho this morning, so I had to improvise. I put my back pack on under my jacket and zipped it up so I looked like a hunchback. It wasn't comfortable, but it kept everything dry.
Our book didn't have too much to say about Bologna. We followed the walking directions to the fountain of Neptune...but it really wasn't that great. The fountain of Neptune in Vienna or Florence are both much better. However, this fountain had mermaids who shot water from their nipples. It was a peculiar sight!! But I guess if there are peeing boy fountains...a lactating mermaid isn't too far off.
We were going to go to another square that is supposed to be cool, but we didn't have time. So essentially we walked 30 minutes in one direction, just to turn around and walk 30 back to the station.
Our train to Verona was fairly quick. It took another hour. We got off in Verona and realized we had no information about the city! Its not in our book and we didn't look up directions to anything. We bought a tourist map from the station, which had all of the essentials marked on it.
Once again, it was raining. It wasn't nearly as bad as Bologna though. We walked to the center of town and were shocked to find a massive Roman arena! Who knew!?
We stopped for lunch at a self-service resteraunt. It was really nerve racking because each item cost a different amount and all of the signs were in Italian. I was so worried I was going to end up spending €20, that I only got a small bowl of noodles and tomoato sauce. Heather had the same, plus a mushroom tort. Then we got to the cashier and my card didn't work! We forgot to stop by an ATM and were out of cash. Luckily they ran it a second time and it worked fine. I stressed over nothing, all in all our lunch was €11. Cha-ching!
After lunch Heather navigated our way to Juliet's house!! Its just on side street with a beautiful portico entry with a stone placard that says "The house of Capulet, whence came Juliet" (or something like that, its in Italian) Through the portico you find thousands of names written on the brick walls with whatever color or medium people had at the time. Names and dates of lovers, fans, or simply visitors.
The portico opens into a small square atrium with Juliet's balcony on the right and a bronze statue of Juliet in the middle. Supposedly, if you touch her breast it will bring you good luck. So obviously I did just that.
After we enjoyed the atrium we went up stairs to the Juliet Club. Its a group of women who write back to all the people who send letters to Juliet. They operate out of a small room that overlooks Juliet's atrium. It was set up just like the movie "Letters to Juliet". I sat at Juliet's desk and wrote her a letter myself. :) There are binders and binders filled with some of the letters that have been written over the years. The oldest ones were from 15 years ago! It was a very cool place to visit.
We then decided it was only fair to go see Romeo's house. Unlike Juliet's his is down a narrow ally and has no decoration or tourist hoards around it. It is a simple stone walled house with a balcony. The door on the balcony was overgrown with ivy and some of the wall showed where doors had been plastered over. Poor Romeo, no one visits his home.
We wanted to visit Juliet's tomb but half way there we realized it cost money to go in, and you wouldn't see anything outside. So instead we bought some post cards and sent them out.
We took a leisurely stroll back to the station, since the sun had finally come out. We found a part of what seemed to be a medieval wall on the outskirts of the main city center.
Heather had an authentic Italian canoli while we waited for our train. She says its unlike any canoli she has ever had before. She thouroughly enjoyed it.
Our train back to Bologna was a commuter train so it took 2 hours. Luckily it wasn't busy at all though. We played dots, tic-tac-toe and hangman to pass the time.
Back in Bologna we walked around and found a resteraunt for dinner. We split a pork chop (since Bologna is famous for their meats) and I had tortellini (which was hand made) in a bolganase sauce. Heather had cheese filled pasta in a butter & sage sauce. All of it was delicious!! I had never had hand made pasta...it certainly makes a difference.
We took our final train back to Florence and now we are heading back to the hostel for our last night. We leave in the morning for our tour of southern Italy, starting in Rome!
We have covered a ridiculous amout of ground since we arrived a month ago!! We only have 11 days left in Europe, but still have a lot to see. Can't wait to see the wonders of Rome!
Safe Travels,
- Kit & Heather
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