Europe In 30 Days - Surprise! Bologna Italy - Part 1

The time has come for the surprise trip that Stijn had planned for me during my stay here in Brussels. So now after a few days of being back in Brussels from our trip to France it is now time to go to Bologna Italy! That's right, Stijn planned a trip to Bologna as a surprise for me because he knows how much I love Italy and he wanted to take me there. Sorry ladies, he's already taken.

It's January 22 and we land in Bologna in the early evening and hop on the bus to our hotel. We are staying at the Hotel Mercure which is part of the Ibis Hotel chain (Stijn is racking up those points!) and it is perfectly located across the street from the train station and bus stop. We walk across the street, check in, get freshened up and head out onto the streets of Bologna for some dinner.

First we pick up a free map at the hotel desk and decide in which direction we are going to head. The first thing that I am absolutely amazed with is the covered porticoes as we walk down the streets in search of the perfect restaurant. In fact there are 25 miles of them throughout the city, all different in their color and frescoes on the ceilings.

We come upon Ristorante Nino on Via Volturno and decide that it looks the perfect place to have dinner. This was a great traditional restaurant with it's several separate dining areas and we are seated at a table by the window. Neither Stijn or I know too much Italian but the waiters were very friendly and helpful and we got our point across about wanting some vino. We also order some parma ham with buffala mozzarella as an appetizer and we each order ourselves a pizza. That's how you do it here in Italy, you order your own pizza, for you, and then you eat it yourself.......whew!

After dinner we take a different way back and we get a glimpse of what's in store for us tomorrow in Bologna!

If you would like to see more pictures just go to Where's Debbie and click on the album "Bologna"