Thursday 12th May

It was 31 degrees today in Bologna and surroundings - not a good day for walking, so we drove. I'm now very confident navigating the garage and one way, narrow Bolognese streets, so today, in the air conditioned comfort of the Citroen C4, we headed "bush". You can't really do that here in Emilia Romagna as there is no bush unless you go really feral.
We headed north/west into unknown territory and picked the route by the romantic and intriguing names of the towns along it. We set course for Modena and Parma just for direction purposes and turned off before them as we did not want to go through big cities. We punched places like Sta Vittoria, Gualtieri, Mantova, Ostiglia, Mirandola and Bastiglia into the GPS and let our left and right hand direction deprived friend take us.
Gualtieri was a surprise. Of all the many towns we have visited,  Gualtieri has one of the largest Piazzas, Piazza Bentivoglio, we have seen and some have been big. Gualtieri is on the  right bank of the Po River and historically it has suffered numerous floods. Not too sure what else happens here, but it sure is a pretty place. We had lunch here in the empty Piazza.
The countryside is unlike any we have seen. It is as flat as a SCH (or as a tack) and covered in crops of all types. The surprising thing, given the cheese and ham production in this area, is that you do not see any animals in the fields. They are all closeted away in their large barns and are hand fed from the feed harvested in the fields. The type of feed being provided to the animals is important in the regulation requirements for parmegiana reggiano "cheese" and prosciuto. Therefore they are kept inside so they don't eat any common old grass.

 View in Piazza of tiny town of Gualtieri

Teatro ( Theater ) Gualtieri

Another view of the empty Piazza

Wednesday 11th May

The area around Bologna, is popular as the "capital of motors" with its famous car factories of Ferrari, Maserati, Lamborghini, but right here in Bologna itself, for the motor bike enthusiasts, is the home of Ducati. An easy 25 minute ride in the #13 local bus virtually from right outside our front door to their front door.
The Ducati Museum is a visit that must be included in a trip to Bologna, not only for those with motor bike blood flowing in their veins but for anybody interested in the development and evolution of an engineering icon.
The entrance fee comes with the expert commentary from a real live and passionate guide through the evolution by Ducati  of the Cucciolo - " little puppy" - engine strapped to a push bike in 1946 right through to Casey Stoner's , Troy Corser's and Troy Baylis's bikes. And all of the champions and records and developments in between. Here are some trivia Ducati questions for you.

• Have you heard of  the 1956 "Siluro" which set 46 world records in Monza? - it's in the museum.
• Did you know that Ducati used to carry the prancing horse of Ferrari on its livery?
• Did you know that Ducati developed a Harley look a like for the New York Police Dept.?
• Have you seen the ice racing bike produced by Ducati? This bike came without brakes as you apparently cannot brake in ice? Scary!!!!!
• Why did the Ducati colour scheme go from red to orange and what is the significance of the bar code on Casey Stoner's bikes?

This museum was truly memorable for someone who has only ridden a Vespa 125 and is a devoted non petrol head. But if you are planning on going, ring to ensure that factory and museum visits and tours are available. We were lucky to strike somebody with a soft spot today as apparently they were not available, although their web site said differently. This is apparently standard in Italy.
I cannot really do justice to this place in a few words and post here a link to their web site with all of the history and development notes for those with an interest in this sort of thing.

http://tinyurl.com/66sfhrn

1946 Cucciolo

Casey Stoner's bikes lined up

The record breaker - the rider could not put his feet on the ground on this bike and the bike had to be held while getting on or off and starting. If it stopped half way around a course he fell over.

The "ice bike"

The "prancing horse" on Mike Hailwood's 1960 bike with the Harley look alike and its 4 cylinder engine in the background

Tuesday 10th May

Everybody has been telling us "you must go to Florence". Half of the other tourists in Italy, who were told the same thing, also turned up there today with us. The other half were there yesterday.
We took the Eurostar fast train ( 37 mins from Bologna to Florence ) and the entire trip of about 100kms was in tunnels. Did not see any country side at all.
When we arrived we got straight onto the hop on / hop off bus tour which we believe is the best way to see a new place quickly and then decide what part you want to concentrate on. There is a lot to concentrate on in Florence, but we decided on the Ponte Vecchio and the Duomo.
The Ponte Vecchio is known as the "Golden Bridge" as its sides are lined completely with gold jewelery shops as it has been since the mid 16th Century and goes back to the Medici era. It missed the bombing in  WW11 and remains largely as it was back in the 14th Century. If Ann cannot find a new delicatessan then she is quite prepared to settle for a jewelery shop. Her dreams came true again today but she restrained herself admirably.
The Duomo, the "Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore", the cathedral of Florence is just down the road from the Ponte Vecchio and its not only Florence's most iconic landmark it is also one of Italy's big three ( with the leaning tower of Pisa and Rome's Colosseum ). Its famous red tiled dome, bell tower, baptistry and breathtaking pink, white and green marble facade have the wow factor in spades. It took 150 years to build from 1296. If you only see this in Florence it is worth the admission price.
The "admission price" to Florence doesn't stop when you get off the train. Be careful, if considering a trip, of the prices being charged around the Ponte Vecchio and Duomo ( and we imagine other places that we did not visit ). How about 10 Euro ( about $13) for a Gelati and 9 Euro ( about $12 ) for a 410 ml beer. I can supply the names of places to avoid if needed as well as the lunch place from hell - the worst tucker in 6 weeks.
Florence is beautiful and it's worth a lot more time than we had today. "Everybody" was right - you must go to Florence!!!

The Ponte Vecchio

Ann restraining herself on Ponte Vecchio

View along Ponte Vecchio

The Duomo

Top of Front Facade

Bottom of Front Facade

Baptistry, Front Facade, Bell Tower and Dome

Monday 9th May

If you work hard enough you can get Bologna to reveal a lot of secret places and sights that they don't tell you about. I think the Bolognese like to keep some things for themselves.
We had heard about the "Mercato Delle Erbe" in via Ugo Bassi, one of Bologna's main streets. But it was described as a market. We did not have its name. Supposedly this place houses a large undercover food market of  fruit and veg., meats, fish, oils, balsamic vinegar, breads, pastries and cheese of all types and styles. But we had walked this thoroughfare perhaps half a dozen times and you would think a market of this alleged size would stick out. But this one was secreted away in this main street at the back of an arcade and unless you knew its name you would bypass it. See entrance photo below.

It was full of all of those foods that we were told about and not another tourist in sight. We are only here in Bologna for another 4 days so we had to curtail Ann's food buying gene a little but we still had to take our purchases home before doing more discoveries.

An aisle in the market

I love plain olives

Ann in cheese, salami and other deli products buying mode.

We were then off to reveal other Bolognese secrets and although we claim some as new discoveries I am sure others have been before us. We found more churches with elaborate paintings and archways and columns, and one which we couldn't get into but with a 10th century facade nearly eroded away by time, we found rivers running under the town and its houses, we found historic houses with their porticos supported by ancient oak beams and we discovered coconut gelati - what a delight.

Columns and paintings inside the Bologna Cathedral

Eroded 10th Century facade

River running through the town and under houses

Ancient oak beam portico supports

Sunday 8th May

Happy Mother's day to all mothers. It doesn't appear to be celebrated here except  in Bolgna where Ann got a mothers day cup of tea in bed. She does everyday but this came with a special mothers day kiss.
Today was a planned big day - get the car out of the garage from hell, navigate the one way streets of Bologna to Maranello the home of the prancing horse - Ferrari. It wasn't that bad really, I've just been traumatised from the experience of getting in here last Saturday.
The "Galleria Ferrari" houses the worlds largest collection of Ferraris. The Ferrari factory, just  down the road, is off limits to 99.9% of the world's population who don't own  a Ferrari or who don't have special contacts. It is thought that some Caterpillar people may have these contacts. We were limited to the museum. (Ted, if you are still reading this blog do you have a name and number please? )
It is very commercial, a "hefty" charge to get in, expensive merchandise and food but once in it's a petrol head's dream come true. The cars are there that won world cups, the cars that won world car of the year, the one off models that were produced for the wealthy, concept models, models used in wind tunnels, plus, plus.
Some non affiliated outlets were offering test drives. I didn't take up their kind offers as I was still recovering from getting the car out of the garage. The Citroen C4 is about my limit but Ann was able to pose in front  of a couple of current models. Look at some photos and drool.
We moved on from Maranello to some of the countryside of the Province of Bologna south of Bologna and travelled around the "Parco Storico di Monte Sole". This country is so different from what we experienced in Umbria and the Marche. Plane Trees in full leaf , cherry trees in bloom and fruiting and espaliered fruit trees in rows and rows,and fields and fields of wild flanders poppies and flat country. It was only when we got down to Marzabotto on the western side of the park, that we started to get into the hills and views. It was a similar viewy type drive back along the eastern side of the park to Bologna and the carpark. Did the return drive through Bologna and into the carpark in a breeze - perhaps a Ferrari test drive tomorrow.

Saturday 7th May

Rest day - blog postponed for the day.

Friday 6th May

We haven't ventured far from Bologna itself apart from the food experience trip to Modena. There is a lot to see here in Bologna. But we decided to spread our wings today but by train to Ravenna which has been described by Dante as a "symphony in colour" and is reputed to be the region's shining artistic jewel.
What we hadn't reckoned on was the labour strike and march through Bologna which effectively stopped the traffic and buses ( our transport to the station ) so we walked the 1 km or so. The second non reckoning was the mal advice received from the station information man who told us to transfer from the train to a bus at Castel Bolognese ( 3 stations down the line ). Of course there was no bus according to the Castel Bolognese station information man and the next train had been cancelled due to the strike. While pondering what to do next a big tour bus pulled up empty. The driver jumped out and called "Ravenna". This was a bus going to Ravenna and he said in 10 minutes and walked off. 45 minutes later he returned, we boarded and headed off to Ravenna. What bus he was we don't know but he was happy to accept our train ticket as fare paid.
By the time we got to Ravenna it was lunch time and we found a terrific ristorante where the food was great and well priced and the waiter turned out to be a great tourist information source. He provided us with a map and detailed directions etc on it on where to go.
Dante was right in his description. This place is special and it is where, in a little more than 200 years between 540 and 752 AD the city grew into a glittering showcase for Byzantyne art and culture and includes UNESCO listed sites containing the most elaborate mosaics you can imagine.
I have added some photos here showing just a small fraction of the mosaics. The first is of a pattern on the floor inside the Basilica San Vitale to show the size of the tiles. The rest of the mosaics on floors, walls and ceilings in all sites use the same size tiles but in a multitude of colours and designs and patterns.
We got the train back at 6.40pm to Bologna with not one mishap except the leftovers from the march were still partying on in one of the main streets of  Bologna, with the police looking on, and effectively diverting all traffic including our bus.
Cont'd - Have been having a bit of internet connection problems - an effect of the strike??? Therefore a bit late getting this out. Remember , what you see are mosaics, not paintings.

Size of tiles about 12mm x 12mm

A dome ceiling - rotate to see the lot better