Bologna

Our first European Holiday!  Well not exactly, but let's just not count Berlin ;)  We took the 3 hour train ride to Bologna on Wednesday to meet up with a previous assistant of Jeff's.  He has been living and going to the University in Bologna for the past year so we figured he'd know all of the good places to go.

We stayed at the hostel in Bologna, per Ben's recommendation.  It was fine but with hostels there is always something.  At least we had sheets and we could pay for wireless internet.  The internet at the house we are staying is a 56K dial-up so we were really hoping to be able to use something a little faster on this trip.  The first night we ate out at a restaurant dated from the 14th century.  So, we know we are in Europe--tons of old stuff!!

Thursday Jeff and I toured around the city, doing all of the touristy stuff while Ben took his last exam.  It was amazing!  We saw a fountain of Neptune in Piazza Nettuno and the 5th largest basilica in the world at St. Petronius' Basilica.  Inside the basilica the chapels were gorgeous.  Tons of frescoes, the most famous one being Giotto's I'Inferno, which was quite stunning.  Then, we climbed one of the towers from the 10th century that is still standing.  Climbing up those 500 steps on the original wood was quite an experience.  And the view of the city was phenomenal.

The thing they don't tell you about Italy is that it is freaking hot!  It is basically a desert, the scenery is not particular beautiful by any means.  It's mostly shrubs and farmland (of course grape vines).  And every day it is 90 degrees or higher.  We take a shower just about every afternoon because we are so sweaty.  Yuck!

On our way back from Bologna, we stopped for a few hours in Padova (Padua).  We wanted to see some frescoes done by Giotto in a small church there.  OMG!  I have never seen paintings so incredibly detailed.  The color just jumped off the walls at you.  It was beautiful.  We weren't allowed to take pictures so you just have to imagine the Last Judgment splayed out over the entrance of the church with demons and angles and god towering over all for yourself.  Definitely recommend stopping to see it if you are in Italy with a couple of hours to spare!

More pics are on Facebook and to spare my family, I won't tell the story of the Gypsy here.