texasbookworm

Bologna-Based Autumn Adventure

Over the last 15 years, M and I have done a good bit of international travel together in addition to his frequent solo business trips. When he retired in the fall of 2018, we determined that we’d continue to try to make at least one international trip per year; our first such post-retirement trip was a 9-night visit to Ireland in June 2019. In early 2019, we decided maybe we’d visit Europe twice this year, and he looked to see if he had enough FF miles and/or hotel points to take a relatively inexpensive trip in October, when the school where I teach has a Fall Break for 9 days. We tossed around destinations and decided we’d like to go someplace we’d not yet visited and to someplace with typically decent weather. M found that round trip tickets to Bologna, Italy, were a pretty good value for his American Airlines FF miles; then he also found that he had enough Marriott points to, with the additional purchase of some points, get a hotel room for less than half price. M definitely did not want to drive in Italy, so choosing a good railway hub like Bologna meant we could just stay in one hotel and take day trips via trains (for Florence, Milan, Venice, and some car museums). So we secured flights and the hotel then began some planning.

First, we decided this would be a lot less planned trip than any we’d ever taken. Usually I have each day scheduled fairly fully but would not do so for this trip. We made our short “must-see” lists; for me, a couple museums in Florence; for both of us, the Milan Duomo; for M, Venice. Beyond those, we’d not try to cram too much in; we knew there would be dozens and dozens of things we wouldn’t see that people would say we must. I hardly even did any research (except about train travel), which is very different for me. I said we’d just set our expectations low, not fret about all the things we didn’t get to see or do, and not rush much.

Second, I did investigate what places would need advance-purchase tickets. So after I got info about when museums/churches would be open, I purchased train tickets for 4 day trips; buying non-changeable tickets several months in advance had a significant savings, I think. We knew we ran the risk of having to buy tickets at walk-up prices if something came up to cause us to need a different train or time (which it did). After reading the advice on The Man in Seat 61 website (thank you!), I used the Trenitalia’s website (https://www.trenitalia.com/) without too much bother and printed our tickets out at home. Then I got tickets for the Milan Duomo and two museums in Florence. (On the day the tickets for The Last Supper went on sale in July, I got on the website a few hours after tickets went on sale, and there were already none left for the day we’d be in Milan.)

Third, M investigated some car museums near Bologna; after much research and changing of our minds, he got tickets for the Lamborghini Museum with a factory tour one day and tickets for a combination of Ferrari Museums in Modena and Maranello another day.

And we got travel insurance, made tentative daily itineraries, and did all the pre-travel arrangements we usually made.

Travel Days—Friday-Saturday, Oct. 4-5

Our tickets were for a 6:30 pm flight; I had an In-service Day from which I was able to leave before 2. At home, I packed the last few items, and we had a snack. We parked our car before 4:30 in the airport lot and were checked in and at the gate quickly. (We’ve learned to pack light, but we choose to check our two small bags rather than wrangle with them during airport waits or fight for overhead space. We carry essentials in our carried-on backpacks.) Our flight to DFW was on-time and event-less. In DFW, we had a 90-minute layover; M is still, per a one-year-gift from AA, a Platinum member, so we hung out in the Lounge for a while, eating a late “dinner” there. Our flight to LHR was also on-time and event-less. M went right to sleep; I didn’t eat the plane supper, either, and slept/dozed most of the way. Yogurt for breakfast. At LHR we had a 2ish hour layover, so we again headed to the AA lounge. The flight to Bologna left right on time, and we arrived before 7pm, got through passport control and retrieved our bags quickly, and found a taxi easily for the maybe 20-minute ride to the hotel, the AC Marriott northeast of the train station, which is about a mile walk away.

For all six legs of our Economy flights going and coming, M had chosen either bulkhead or exit row seats, so we had more leg room. But not much reclining allowed; width not much better; and food pretty lame.

The hotel is nice and clean, with A/C and helpful folks at the desk (but insufficient electrical plug access—glad we brought our power strip). The lady at reception offered to help us find a restaurant within walking distance; her first choice was already booked up; the ones she tried in the city center were booked until 9:30. We decided to walk to her second nearby suggestion and found Trattoria Papa Re about half a mile away. Small family-run place, less than 30 seats, good service. Tried Bolognese ragu tagliatelle—traditional pasta and meat sauce--and pignoletto—regional sparkling wine—yum. Shared a strawberry/mascarpone/pastry dessert. The neighborhood around the hotel is mostly residential; it’s rather unattractive (trashy and graffitied) but felt pretty safe, even in the dark. We had a good night’s sleep in the comfy king-sized bed.

Next: First two days--Bologna and Lamborghini Museum

texasbookworm

Day 1—Sunday, Oct. 6—Bologna

We slept really late—almost 10—but must have needed to. We’d chosen to not buy the €15 breakfast in the hotel, so we headed toward Bologna, walking toward Bologna Centrale, in the cool, mostly sunny morning, and stopped at a little café, Pizzaria Bar Limone, for tea and pastry. It was good—but we improved on this as the week went on.

The “goals” for the day were to scope out the train station which we’d be using on five days, walk in some of the famous porticos, see the Piazza Maggiore and surrounding area, and go in some churches if the timing worked out. First, after pausing at the memorial on the corner honoring the victims of the 2004 bombing at the station, we found an entrance into the train station from the “back” and wiggled our way up to the main hall, just to familiarize ourselves. It was a pleasant late morning, and there was a surprising—to me—number of people out. Then we walked past the old city gate and on to Piazza Maggiore. The first porticos we encountered were already crowded wall to curb. About the porticos—they are wonderful. So diverse. Some so pretty. We didn’t make any effort to find any special ones; we just enjoyed the ones where we found ourselves. I did find the paving/flooring to be extremely uneven and often in need of repair or replacing. Still, they are maybe my favorite thing about Bologna (besides the food!)

We popped into Cattedrale Metropolitana di San Pietro, a pretty church, but as mass had just begun, we didn’t linger or take pictures. We quickly found our way to the Piazza Maggiore, which was quite crowded. A tortellini festival of some sort had just begun, so many were in line for that. We admired a glimpse of the two towers, Neptune’s fountain, and the palazzos surrounding the square.

Basilica di San Petronio had just opened doors for Sunday visitors, so we took a look around this huge, unfinished basilica. Our tiny brunch had worn off, so it was time to find some lunch. There are plenty of places to choose from in this area, except not everything is open on Sunday, and we wanted to sit outside. Down one of the streets radiating off the Piazza—Via Clavature—we found seats at Clavature. This was a great choice—I had lasagna—green noodles and oh so creamy filling; M had their ragu tagliatelle which was terrific. We were already very impressed with Bologna food.

We walked on down Via Santo Stefano to find that that church complex would not open til 2:30. So we went back for a closer look at the two towers and decided to go up, which required a ticket from the TI back at Piazza Maggiore, so we went there, where we had to wait about 15 minutes to see an agent, only to find the only time we could go up was at 6:30. This was a bit off-putting; the sign at the towers said open all day, and there was no line of people going up, but then, when we made the “trip” back to the TI, we couldn’t even get a reservation until 5 hours later. Anyway, we just took pics from ground level, then walked back to get our first of many gelatos, today’s from Cremeria Le Vecchia Stalla. Extra dark chocolate—yummy!

It was now after 2:30, and we were just a few minutes from Santo Stefano, so we went there and wandered around the maze of seven churches an hour or so. We didn’t have any sort of guide or map, but it was pretty and cool and interesting; busy but not packed with people.

We were now tired, so we headed toward the hotel, strolling through the university area with a tiny detour to view some of Bologna’s remaining canals. We were back at the hotel around 5ish and took a rest with the AC’s A/C cranked down. We needed some cash and weren’t sure what we’d do for dinner (most nearby places are not open on Sunday). The gentleman at the desk gave us directions to two nearby ATM’s, so we walked 5 minutes to one then decided, when we saw a Spar, to just get some supper from this grocery (plus, we like to wander in neighborhood grocery stores). We got salad and fruit and tiramisu; back at the hotel we enjoyed aperitivo in the hotel—snacks with a drink (more pignoletto!)—then ate our dinner in our room.

M had discovered that getting to the Lamborghini Museum was complicated, so he worked on making a final plan for that. Fell in bed by 9 (although I didn’t sleep much).

Bologna impressions—More crowded and trashy and graffitied than I expected; food as great as hyped; people mostly efficient or pleasant; not a pretty city but has some handsome parts, like the porticos.

Day 2—Monday, Oct. 7—Lamborghini Museum

We woke early to cool and rainy weather. After much research, M had decided we’d ride a bus, so we left for the bus station about 7:30 in steady rain. At the station, a nice lady helped M get tickets for an 8:45 bus. Then we slogged down Viale Angelo Masini to a corner café, Superbar Snc, for tea and pastry. Good stuff. We decided we’d better go ahead and pick a return time and buy return tickets, so we slogged back by 8:20, the same nice lady waved M to the front of the line, and we got return tix, which could be used any time. We went to Cap 13 and waited for bus 576, which came at 8:40 and left at 8:44. It took about an hour through at first city traffic and then some countryside.

From the stop near the Lambo factory, it was a 5-minute walk to the Museum. There we stowed our stuff in a free locker and looked around the small museum which had maybe 20 cars on display.

We had reservations for an English-language factory tour at 10:45; about a dozen of us were told to meet (with no phones or cameras of any sort) at 10:30 at which time we were greeted promptly and outfitted with earbuds. The factory tour took about 45 minutes and was interesting and led by a very good guide. We had a close look at the hand-craft going on to build these custom cars. One of the most note-worthy things to me was the leather-selecting; large pieces of leather are hand-inspected with meticulous care, so that, on the pieces I saw, there were a lot more “rejected” parts of the piece than accepted sections. This factory runs two assembly lines to produce two models; for one, they make about 14 vehicles a day; for the pricier one, only 4.5 cars are finished each day.

Afterwards we walked across the street to a snack bar, but we decided at 11:45 to go wait on the 12:24 bus. At the bus stop, we had a nice talk with two couples from South Africa who had been on the bus and the tour with us. The rain had stopped; the bus was almost on time, and the ride back took about an hour.

We were sleepy and tired, back in Bologna, so decided to grab some lunch and just go rest. Across from the train station we got decent mozzarella and tomato sandwiches and ate outside watching the bustle. In another shop at the station we shared a good cannoli. On the way “home,” we stopped in Le Corte, the restaurant first recommended on arrival, and made reservations for 7:15. Back in the room we rested and backed up photos.

We had a 5-minute walk to Le Corte and had an excellent meal; this is another small place with great service and terrific choices. We started with prosciutto and cheese; M had steak (chicory side dish not so great—maybe it’s an acquired taste!); I had a perfect pasta with prawns. A chocolate cake with mascarpone sealed the deal! We were in bed before 10.

Next--Milan and Florence

TDudette

Looking good! And looking forward to Venice.

texasbookworm

Thanks, TDudette--TR writers usually appreciate feedback when people read

Day 3—Tuesday, Oct 8—Milan

We left at 8 to catch a 9:30 train, since we had to find some breakfast and weren’t positive of the navigation of the station. On the way we stopped at Bar Chichibo Di Hu Ketiao for good tea and scone/biscuit. We got to the station by 8:45 then had to go down to the fast train tracks at the bottom. The platform info wasn’t put up til after 9, so we sat near the escalator down to Platform 17 (one of the few times in any station we had seats to wait on) until 9:20, then boarded. It left like 5 minutes late and had several delays on the way, so we arrived about 30 minutes late in Milan, but this didn’t affect our plans.

At the station, which is a huge shopping mall on several levels, it was crazy crowded. It’s beautiful, though (the “old” parts, anyway). We had to go back down to find a Metro ticket machine; there were long lines at all the places—self-service or not—to buy tickets. The person in front of me couldn’t get the machine to accept her card despite trying 3 cards several times—geez, just move on! Finally got our tix.

The Metro was crowded but fast to the Duomo. We came up in the piazza to a beautiful day and a huge crowd. And a first view of the awe-inspiring Duomo. We wandered through the piazza to where I thought we’d enter the Duomo later with our FastTrack tix; hopped in the TI near there for a city map. I confirmed with a person at the Duomo about our entry later.

The two main goals this day were just to walk around the square a bit, getting food, and then to go into the Duomo later. So we did that—the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II is lovely. We picked Gino’s for a early-for-Italy lunch about noon; it was a good spot from which to people-watch and enjoy the nice day, but the food (a pizza and a salad—we only wanted to share a pizza, but they won’t let two share one order) was good but not spectacular, especially for the price, and the service was a bit sloppy and then pushy (“The tip is not included in the bill.” “The tip cannot be put on a credit card.”—We didn’t tip). We were paying for location, most likely.

Using Googlemaps on our phones (which we did a lot), we then walked around just a little more; headed back to the Piazza for pics and then some gelato. About 1:40 we got in line for the Duomo for our 2:00 reservation; they didn’t even look at the time on our pre-printed tickets and let us right in the elevator, after security screening at which M had a lot of pockets to empty!

The rooftop access is terrific and worth every cent—not for the skyline of Milan but for being close to the Duomo’s gothic spires and statues. We spent over an hour and took tons of pics and then took many steps down into the cathedral. (Yes, we had to walk down the stairs to end up in the cathedral; I had some Fodor’s info that said to ride the elevator or we’d end up outside, but thankfully M listened to the guide there and not to me, or we would have exited outside without having seen the cathedral. I don’t know if this is configured differently now or if my “informant” just got it backwards—ha! In any case, in October 2019, we went from rooftop into the cathedral via the steps, NOT the elevator.) M’s knee began to bother him in a serious way, so we didn’t spend that long inside.

We got Metro tickets much more easily this time. While waiting, a man began a major rant of some sort, walking around the platform. Mostly people just ignored him, avoiding eye contact. One tall man did address him, and from then on it was even weirder. The ranter just kept on non-stop, even when that other man refused to engage him any more. Then they got on the same car as us, and the ranter ranted on! But we arrived safely and found a McD’s to sit in for about 45 minutes until our 5:30 train, although they didn’t post platform info until 5:10. (At this station, you had to go through a gate showing your ticket to access the platform. I thought it a little odd that this wasn’t the case everywhere, especially in Bologna after its tragedy only 15 years ago. Which I know was in a luggage room, but still…) We left and arrived on time. Our train experience had been quite smooth and pleasant.

M had picked Hamerica’s in the university area for dinner (wanted French fries). We walked about 1½ miles from the train station and found it; well, we found one; it wasn’t the one he’d pictured but has the same menu, so we stayed. We had good burger (me) and pulled pork (him) with great fries cut into sort of scoops/celery-shaped pieces. After our walk back, we stopped in the hotel bar for some ice for his knee—it had become quite painful after another 9+ miles of walking this day.

Milan impressions—What we saw was pretty, and I enjoyed people watching; for us, these few hours were plenty (since we didn’t get The Last Supper tickets).

Day 4—Wednesday, Oct. 9—Florence First Day

Since Florence looked like it needed at least two days just for a cursory look, and as we didn’t want to change hotels, I’d booked trains for two day-trips. This Wednesday we were promised a pretty day, but M’s knee was, to put it mildly, bothersome. He had some different pain meds stronger than acetaminophen, but they didn’t have much effect on the knee pain this trip.

Our morning routine was about the same, heading to the train station for a 9ish train, but along the way we stopped at Pasticceria Cuppi Bologna, and it became our breakfast spot the rest of the week. Nice folks, we always found a seat even though it was crowded, our breakfast tea was good, and we liked the lovely croissant-like buns with ham.

The train to Florence was on time; from the station we walked toward the Duomo for a first glimpse of the buildings there—wow. And wow, what crowds. Very, very packed; I was honestly surprised it was so crowded. Like not-any-fun crowded because tour groups just kept running over us when they weren’t blocking the way or the view, and people were jostling and shoving. Not a great first impression. We then found our way to the Galleria dell'Accademia about 10:15 for our 10:30 reserved admission. LINES, lines, lines. And they were letting people in from the non-reservation line some, too, so I don’t know what good, exactly, my reservation did. Got in line to get our tickets (and agent also gave me the ones I’d reserved for the Uffizi tomorrow) before going back to the entrance line. Anyway, we were inside about 10:45. Packed. But it was great anyway. I was prepared for it to be a small museum with David being just about the only thing of interest, for us. Which it was, although the “emerging” pieces by Michelangelo are almost as fascinating; they show something of his raw power and the artistic effort and talent that somehow a finished, almost perfect David doesn’t. We spent about an hour.

Then we wandered the streets of Florence, again using Googlemaps, toward the Hard Rock Café at the Piazza della Repubblica. Along the way we passed Dante’s house and neighborhood and just enjoyed the back-street (sorta) scenery. At some point it had already became obvious we weren’t going to get into the Duomo; the line wrapped around it, and we were not going to spend our time standing in line (even if M’s knee had been fine). Anyway, we had huge good meal at Hard Rock and rested. Then back to the Duomo area again for pics of the outside of those incredible buildings—church, bell tower, baptistry.

We headed to the train station about 4. Along the way we passed the Basilica of San Lorenzo; M found a place to sit while I took a brief look. I’m glad I did; Donatello’s pulpits and doors and Brunelleschi’s sacristy were unexpected delights. We then continued on to a McD’s across from the train station where M rested his knee for about an hour. Our 6:30ish train was the only un-smooth ride we had via any transport the whole trip—it was very rattly and bumpy!

As we made our way toward the hotel from the train station, we arrived at Le Corte about 7:12; since they opened at 7:15, we decided to wait to see if they could accommodate us; they could, and we had another excellent meal.

More ice for M’s knee, and we discussed his skipping Florence Day 2, but he decided he’d go, even if he didn’t see much.

Day 5—Thursday, Oct. 10—Florence Second Day

This day’s plan had been to visit the Uffizi for as long as it took and then to wander Florence more. The wandering was probably going to be curtailed. We took the same morning train with a pleasant short ride (after our Cuppi breakfast). The weather was also lovely again—highs in the low 70’s and clear.

We arrived with plenty of time to get to the Uffizi Museum for our 11:00 entrance, so we got M a coke and pastry at a McD’s. We took our time walking to the river for a few pics, then we turned left to find the entrance. We were in line by 10:40; we entered about 10:50. Immediately, we went through security and then were at the ticket-taking person; I thought I’d get an audio guide, but the line for that was in another place and very long. There were no maps/brochures/info of any sort offered. I was not impressed. I had a Rick Steves map/audio guide on my phone so located the café, where M went and sat while I did a quick run-through of one floor of the museum. And a quick one was all I needed. First, it was extremely crowded. I’ve been in the Louvre, in the Prado, in the British Museum on busy days—it was worse here, as there were lots of people in smallish areas. Second, the pictures are lovely and important, but Madonna after Madonna/holy family after holy family—I lost interest in struggling to get good looks. I did take time to see the two pieces I’d looked forward to—Botticelli’s Spring and Venus. They made the trip worth-while, but I didn’t linger anywhere else. Third, there were some empty rooms, so as far as I could tell, the Raphael and some Michelangelo pieces were not on display. And in an almost empty room, I happened to look up and there was Dante, with no signage. Anyway, I was disappointed as a whole in this museum; I’m glad I had a short time there, but it doesn’t rank near the top of my personal list of favorite museums. I went to check on M, and we ordered sandwiches—the worst food I’ve ever had in any museum anywhere and certainly the worst of this trip. My panini was actually still cold in its pre-cooked frozen chicken center. But the coke was cold, and it was a pretty place to sit. We decided he’d sit there and meet me outside when I texted I was done. I finished my look around; went to the shops but nothing enticed me.

We met outside, and I went back to the Porte Vecche for some pics while M waited. Boy, it was crowded. If this was mid-week in mid-October, what is high season like!? We decided we needed to forego anything else and go get an earlier train than scheduled. I’d located a Grom gelato (our fave in Rome), so he soldiered on there and was rewarded with best gelato ever! Their Cioccolato Extranoir is extra dark with little nibs—to us, unbeatable! We got to the station before 3:00 and for €59 got tickets for a 3:30 (2 hours earlier than planned) train. (I’m still glad we made reservations ahead of time. We saved much more than the cost of these extra tickets.) We were back in the room by 4:30 and just ate in the hotel that night. It wasn’t up to Le Corte’s level, but it was fine and convenient.

Florence impressions—Crowds. Crowds. Crowds. Our time there was overshadowed by M’s knee pain, but even if he’d been feeling jaunty, there were just too many people.

Next--Venice, Ferrarri Museums, and travel home

Michael

I would not leave out Ravenna for its mosaics:

https://flic.kr/p/7phhW1

Adelaidean

Falcio

The Bologna Bombing happened in 1980, not in 2004. The bomb exploded in the waiting room, not in the luggage deposit. You can still see the cracked wall and where the heat melted the porcelain on the floor.
The checks in Milan's station are an effort to keep pickpockets and beggars out of the tracks area.

Dukey1

Interesting report and perspective. Thanks for taking the time to post it.

texasbookworm

Falcio---Thanks for correction; I really don't know what happened in my head in between my reading of those facts and then writing about them incorrectly in the TR!

texasbookworm

Day 6—Friday, Oct. 11—Venice

As this was the destination most on M’s list, he willed himself to go. After our Cuppi stop, we caught a 9:08 train for a smooth 90-minute ride. On exit from the station, we were met with a blue sky and a grand view of the Grand Canal sparkling in the bright day. The area was bustling with tourists and porters pulling bags, but it wasn’t as bad as I expected. We took a few pics, then I got in line for water bus tickets; we were soon on our way on the slower one to Piazza San Marco. (There was, to me, a dearth of helpful signage, but we blundered along into the correct places.)

And so, maybe my favorite “thing” of the trip—our ride along the Grand Canal. The boat was crowded, but we were able to be along the rail up front, so M was able to take pics. The 45-minute ride is a great way to be introduced to the city with all its different watercrafts, the light playing on the water and the stucco homes, the tourists and the bridges and of course the gondolas. (We’d already decided we weren’t going to take a gondola ride, since we would be pressed for time, and, after seeing them rocking along amidst the heavy canal traffic, we were sure of our decision—for us!)

At San Marco we got out and, needing some quick nourishment, found a snack shop near the Duomo—with pretty awful sandwich things, and no seats, but we ate and enjoyed some fluids. I didn’t have a firm plan for the rest of the day; it was always going to be decided on the spot, and with M’s knee, we would be even more flexible. We just needed to be back at the station for train back (our tickets being for 5:25).

There was a line of folks going into the Duomo, but it was moving along, so we decided to try that and were inside in about 15 minutes. No pics allowed, so we just followed the “trail” along. Then we paid a few euros to climb the steep steps to a museum and access to the loggia for a spectacular view of St. Mark’s Square. Very cool. We waited until the bell-ringing figures bonged 2 pm.

Back on the ground, we went the little way to see the Bridge of Sighs for pics of it and the waterfront there. M’s knee was complaining, and I offered two itineraries: take faster water bus back to station (and maybe purchase earlier train tickets) OR walk slowly back—which had been my Plan A—and find one of the Grom’s. When M heard we could eat more Grom gelato, he opted to walk—slowly. So we did, wiggling back using Googlemaps, taking lots of pictures, crossing several bridges, and finding Grom! Not far away we found a Burger King where we rested and people-watched. Somewhere around here I also bought some Murano glass pieces (ornament and little dish) that were my only souvenirs all week. We were back at the station about 4:50 for our 5:25 train; no place to sit, which was pretty common in the stations we were in.

Back in Bologna we considered going back to Papa Re, as we’d said we would, but we just ate in the hotel again.

Venice impressions—I liked it soooo much more than I expected. I expected crowds—but they weren’t that bad at all; and I expected it to be dirty—it wasn’t. I’m so glad M “talked me into” spending a day there.

Day 7—Saturday, Oct. 12—Modena/Maranello

This was to be Ferrari Museums day; we had entrance tickets but not transport, so we went to the station about 9 and bought tickets for 9:33 train. This was a regional train but also a fine ride; it was a 10-minute walk to the museum. They let us in at 10:30 with our 10:45 tickets. There wasn’t much to see here, just a few cars and in another building a few engines. We confirmed (took several inquiries) that an 11:10 shuttle would leave from the front to take us to Maranello. We got there about 12 and looked around til about 12:45. They market their “stuff” well—Have a pic taken with car—for a price; Drive a simulator—for a price; Buy a souvenir—for a price. We got a decent lunch and rested in the café. A shuttle came at 1:45 (a different vehicle, so we almost didn’t get on it) and were at the train station by 2:15; got tickets for 2:35; got back to Bologna, bought some chocolates for son and daughter and ourselves at the Venchi store at the station, and were in our room before 3:30.

We packed up; I backed up pics; M arranged for a taxi for early departure to the airport; we ate in the hotel and got in bed early, needing to be ready to take a taxi at 5:30 am.

Day 8—Sunday, Oct. 13—Flight Home

We awoke early (Yay—no overnight flight change alerts!) and checked out easily. Our taxi was right on time at 5:30 and took us on a 15-minute ride to the airport. We found the British Airways desk and had an easy check-in for our on-time flight (whew—our other BA experiences had not been this smooth). Our 8:10 flight was almost on time; we landed in LHR about as scheduled. We went looking for two food items—Harrod’s #14 Loose Leaf tea and Walkers shortbread with orange flavor and chocolate coating. Didn’t find either. But we did find good breakfasts at Spuntino—M got a full English (he’d missed eggs this week), and I had a yummy veggies-on-toast thing. Then we did find a substitute for M’s Walkers at a Gourmet kiosk, and we had time to rest in a Lounge.

The flight to DFW was on time and pretty event-less. The arm to hold up M’s video screen (since we were in bulkhead seats) was loose, so his screen often swung down, but the audio and video worked. We watched movies and didn’t sleep; ate some of the provided food.

We arrived in DFW on time and had a few minutes relaxing in AA Lounge; our flight home was delayed for about 30 minutes which, after we’d been awake almost 24 hours, wasn’t fun, but it did arrive safely a little after 10. Our bags arrived, we drove home, and our dog greeted us happily before we collapsed into bed.

Overall impressions—We loved the food, most of the Italians we met and/or were served by, Bologna’s porticos, the Milan Duomo rooftop, seeing David, Florence’s Piazza del Duomo, and our Grand Canal ride in Venice. And gelato! For us this trip, staying at the AC Marriott worked; we had to walk a bit further than if we’d been near the center, but we saved significantly, and, since we were using trains so often, it wasn’t a bad walk to the station. Our train travels were quite smooth, and even the bus ride wasn’t bad at all. The car museums were pricey and not that big, but they were a special treat. We did not like the crowds, especially in Florence; and the Uffizi disappointed. But all in all, we loved what we did, saw, and ate! Of course there are hundreds or thousands of places big and small we didn't get to, but for the days we had, we are pleased with how we allocated our time.

TDudette

Super TR! Sighing for Italy. 💕
DH and I often traveled in March and traded the tourist crowds for Italian class trips! I agree about the Uffizi...something about the layout.
Ahh, Venice showed us that same beautiful sky for our first glimpse of the grand canal. We made it a base and buildings seemingly rising out of the water in the morning mist was just magical.
Bum knee sympathy. More trips soon, please.

texasbookworm

Thanks, TD! As my students remind me, a little positive feedback goes a long way!
Next big trip not til next June, but it's a biggy--3 week loop with a car from Frankfurt, Germany, to Stuttgart then Strasbourg and Bastogne, The Netherlands, and back into Germany; lots of car museums for hubby and art for me. Got it mostly planned except for figuring out when to get museum tickets and what sort of passes might help.

Dayle

Texasbookworm,

Grazie for the TR. I will be in Bologna for four days in April and my day trip will be different from yours, but your train and station info is helpful.

Agree about the Uffizi. How many Madonna and Holy Families can a person appreciate? I gave my attention to about 100, then skipped on. The Botticellis were the highlight for me too! I was thrilled.

Re the Netherlands: I visited a years ago. Spent 2 days upon arrival in Delft, 2 days prior to departure in Haarlem. 4 days in Amstsrdam primarily to check off #1 bucket list item the Van Gogh museum. I spent over four hours there just soaking it in. Heaven! I found that I absolutely loved Delft and Haarlem and highly recommend both. Amsterdam was good, but not great. JMO. One thing I got a kick out of was the Purse Museum! Small, excellent and fas cinating. Even the men in there were enjoying. Try to go.

Leely2

Thanks for the report--sounds like a very good trip. After two visits I like, but don't love, Bologna. It is an interesting city with plenty to do and good day trip options, but like you, I don't find it beautiful. Just doesn't appeal to me visually.

Thanks again for sharing your experiences!