Holy Cannoli
First, it has been a while since we added pictures to the website. Over the next couple of days you should be seeing lots more pictures added to the website, so make sure to check today and tomorrow for new pictures. So far we have uploaded pictures from the second half of our trip to Sicily. We will soon be uploading pictures from Verona, Bologna, Siena, and Rome. In the meantime, here is a summary of what we have been up to over the last few days.
Verona
After Venice we spent one day in the elegant city of Verona. We arrived in the morning and made our way to the local youth hostel. It is in an old monestary, though inside it is pretty much your basic hostel. We spent the day wandering the city. The Roman theater, which is in excellent condition, was a particular highlight, and is still used today for concerts and exhibits. There was also a really great sculpture of a large metal star that connected by an arch into the theater, as if it were shooting out of the theater. We saw the arch from the distance and it reminded us of St. Louis.
That night we had dinner at a local trattoria where Benny dined on donkey meat pasta. Yes, he says it tastes like beef. There were a myraid of horse dish options on the menu, including horse tartar. We thought nobody really ordered that, but we were wrong. The guy at the table next to us ordered it, and it must have been a full pound of premium equine flesh with a side of capers and a piece of lemon. The guy devoured it. As we got up to leave, a woman behind us was also scarfing down some horse meat. They didn't even have beef on that menu -- it was equine or bust.
That night we were separated since the hostel only had dorms and they separate the men and women. Benny got stuck with a loud snorer, and Alison lucked out and had a peaceful, albeit, boring dorm experience.
Bologna
We took the train to Bologna in the morning, and once again gave our legs a workout, walking for miles through the cobblestone streets of this city. Bologna is a very lively town, and it houses the oldest university in the world, founded in 1088. We hiked up the 498 steps of the bell tower to look out on the city. Unfortunately our view was clouded by the thick fog, but we could still make out the red rooftops and the large beautiful piazza in the center of town. The bell tower we hiked is one of two towers, and the second is actually a leaning tower, which is much less touristy than that in Pisa.
The next afternoon we had our best meal in Italy so far Trattoria da Danio. Bologna is known for its delicious homeade pasta and the restaurant did not dissapoint. Benny got the traditional bolognase pasta and Alison got homeade tortelli, which is basically tortellini, but bigger. That night we went to see a movie that was part of the Future Film Festival. We saw the only option with English subtitles--all other movies in Italy seem to be dubbed in Italian, so we couldn't see Rocky Balboa like we were hoping. Anyway, the movie turned out to be a cheesy Taiwanese sci-fi/horror movie called Silk. Something to do with anti-gravity and ghosts. Alison, who is usually scared by anything a notch above Scooby Doo, wasn't even that scared since it took too much energy figuring out the convoluted plot to actually get engrossed by the film.
Siena
Our next stop was Siena, which is a gorgeous city. It has narrow, cobblestone streets and stark gothic architecture. It was an adventure finding our hotel. We had to stay a bit outside of center and took the bus too far. After hiking uphill we finally found it, and then made our way into the town center. The weather (after days and days of gray skies) was sunny and warm. We grabbed kabobs and ate outside on the steps of a large statue. At the center of town is a huge campo, and we spent quite a while laying in the sun and playing backgammon. That night we went to several local shops to gather things for dinner--salami and cheese at one shop, bread at another, and some oranges at the local market. We fell asleep early, tired from all the walking we had been doing, and got up early the next day to head to Rome.
Rome
We took the bus to Rome and made our way to our last hotel in Italy, the Pop Inn Hostel. We then headed out and walked through the city, visiting numerous sites, including the Colloseum, the Pantheon, and many beautiful piazzas. Our biggest adventure of the day came when we tried to get an afternoon coffee. We have learned in our travels that one of teh best ways to save money is to drink your coffee at the bar rather than sit down. The cost can double or triple if you sit. So knowing how much coffees had cost everywhere previously, about 2 euro for 2 coffees, we placed our typical order. We heard the barista charge the Italians next to us 2 euro for their two coffees. Then we asked to pay and he told us 5 euro. We told him no way, that the price was crazy crazy. He showed us the menu, which actually indicated we should be paying 7 euro, but that is if we had sat down. We told him that he had charged the people before us 2 euro, and he got very angry, grabbed the barely sipped coffee out of Alison's hand and told us to leave. It almost came to fisticuffs, but we made it out unscathed. We know to ask the price in advance before ordering coffee!
Today we found the Jewish quarter and the part of Rome where locals hang out, the west side of the Tiber river. We ate carchuffo Ramono which is an amazing artichoke dish. We also got pine nut gelato and rice gelato, which sound odd, but were excellent. We went to a market, supposedly the largest in Europe, though we are skeptical. It was mostly people selling clothing and pirated DVDs, nothing too exciting. Tomorrow we will visit the vatican and the Sistine Chapel. Then the day after we will be heading to India.
Sheshbesh (a.k.a. backgammon)
The current score of Benny and Alison's ongoing competition as of 5:30 Sunday the 21st of January is:
Alison: 14
Benny: 13
