Bologna, Tuscany and on home

final days: Bologna, Tuscany, and out...

We left Assisi in the rain which continued for pretty much the entire drive. First we headed into the town of Ravenna to view the main Basilica and what is said to be the best mosaics in Italy. The church was nice but dark and the mosaics underwhelming. Still it was an OK break and not much out of our way. We arrived in Bologna at 1:00pm but missed the hotel entrance so I parked, found the needed details and made the loop to get in. Only after I was in the room I found info on the city centre being a no go area for private cars with auto sensors to capture license plate details and automatic fines issued... It appears our hotel is just outside that zone. All good but our little stop and a traffic block by an ambulance meant I may have strayed into the red zone... Time will tell.

And the rain still came. We sat in the room for awhile, reading and watching tv, then I headed out to get my bearings during a let up in the rain. But I was back just under 30 minutes later as the rain returned and did not let up. Dinner that evening in the hotel restaurant was really great supporting Bologna's foodie reputation.

The next day dawned to clear sunny blue skies. We covered an area about 1.5 by 1.5 kilometres in size in an area that was almost completely closed to vehicle traffic. Many churches and public sculptures with roads and alleys of shopping (most closed for Sunday). In one church we listened to a men's choir for half an hour and then moved on to the Basilica of Saint Petronio where Mom attended Easter Sunday Mass. More wandering followed but we headed back around 1:00pm as my feet where getting tired and we had seen many of the highlights.

Monday morning and time to head into the hills of Tuscany and the town of Siena. But my tummy was not well so the drive was not a comfortable one. I napped for an hour after arrival and then we took a drive through the Tuscan hills: loads of vineyards, olive trees, and farmland dotting the rolling and sometimes steep hills. Then every now and then a village perched on the stone walls topping one of the hills.

Dinner in at the hotel followed by the 3 hour drive to Rome airport for our final overnight stay.

Arrivederci!

Italy2014:Bologna&Tuscany (click photo to see album)