Travel
After leaving Bologna, pretty convinced I have seen my new home, we then drove to Verona. We took a little detour because Minne wanted to stop in Ferrara, which he heard was a very beautiful town. I must've admit I was a little shocked but what a wonderful
Travel
Our last big Bologna highlight was visiting the Anatomical Theater and one of the sites of the oldest universities in the world. The walk started with a walk through Piazza Maggiore with its famous statue of Neptune. It was incredibly ornate with very incredible details, many other pictures I took
Travel
Our last day in Bologna we visited two amazing sites: the Sanctuary of Santa Luca, which was perched on a hill overlooking Bologna and then we went to the Anatomical Theater, a sixteenth century medical school and the site of one of the oldest universities in the world. First the
Travel
July 21 is the last full day in Bologna. It was indeed an incredibly positive visit. This is the first place I came to and just felt like I was home. The city is like an Italian San Francisco in that it is small but has much of the big
Travel
Update: in my description of Balsamic Vinegar IGP below... Tuesday 20 July is suppose to be the first full day in Bologna. So what do we do? We drive to Modena. In Modena we have an appointment for the tour of a Acetaia Di Giorgio, which I assume is a
Travel
One small detail I left out of the cheese tour is this picture. Every wheel before it goes on sale, is tested by the cheesemaker with a mallet to make sure the wheel sounds good and there are no air pockets found. The air pockets do not effect the taste;
Travel
We left this morning (Monday 19), a day earlier to spend an extra day in Bologna. On the way out of the city I had arranged a tour of a cheese factory where Parmigiano is made. It was an amazing experience. Minne was able to take some great films of
Travel
Late in the afternoon, Minne and I went alone on a last walk in Parma. This was a much nicer tour and I saw a lot to really love about Parma. We saw more medieval and renaissance parts of Parma as well as more interesting streets. We also stopped into
Travel
Not much to write about the last two days. There was too much family drama. Which is resolving itself by Sarah taking a plane back to Amsterdam on Tuesday. Parma started with so much hope, including a rainbow greeting last night: You'll see little record of yesterday evening&
Travel
In the last day at Genoa, I took Minne and the girls to see the sights they missed: The Chiesa del Jesu with the Ruebens, the duomo and a few other sites. And then it was off to city number 4: Parma, which was at one time considered the lead
Travel
Sarah suggested we go to Portofino, and first insisted we watch the movie Luca. She wanted to go to Portofino to see where the (animated) film was located. So we decided to get out in the country and explore the Italian Riviera. But First Esther wanted a little photo shoot
Travel
Today I was showing the girls around Genoa. It is so beautiful they were duly impressed. Sarah passed a bag store and wanted this beautiful bag, it cost 200 euros. (I was actually relieved when she said a designer bag I was braced for 1,000s--not that she would have