We’re finally home after 90 days in Italy (at least according to Italy’s math). We had planned on staying 92 days, but were told at the airport in Pensacola before we left that the law now requires that we have our return booked no later than 90 days, or we’d need a VISA. While this would have been disastrous in 2011 and 2014 when we stayed over 100 days, this last minute change wouldn’t impact us much as Padova was our final destination before departing from Marco Polo airport in Venezia. It could have been much worse. Either way, after traveling for about 24 hours, we’d back in Florida. The air conditioner is on and I’m planning on going to the beach tomorrow.
Our trips to Venezia and Verona with Anthony were memorable, but those memories will quickly fade, hence the blog. My little brother eats out a lot, and likes to drink, so Italy’s café lifestyle fit him perfectly as he found himself right at home. We made two trips into Venezia. The highlight of the first trip was surely the drinks he treated us to at Lavena on piazza San Marco. Lavena has been around since 1750. The wait staff wears white jackets and bowties. Drinks are brought to customers on huge silver trays while the bandstand fills the air with classical music. Guests are served beer (Anthony), Aperol Spritz and cocktails (Cinzia), and Coke Light (me) with a variety of treats to nibble on. It was quite an experience, and one Cinzia will not soon forget, especially since that same piazza experienced the 4th worst acqua alta in the history of Venezia just one week later as almost 3 feet of water rose to flood the city. If you’ve seen the photos, they’re both mesmerizing and saddening.
Our last few weeks in Padova flew by. I probably would have written several more blogs, but Weebly, the blog provider, wanted me to verify my account by sending me a code via text message. With no phone, this was impossible, so writing stopped but picture taking continued. All of the shots from these weeks are posted in the Photo Gallery.
Our final day in Bologna would be a short one. Checkout was at 10:00am. We only had a single small piece of rolling luggage and a shopping bag with some goodies, so it was easy enough to make our way back to the fountain of Neptune and into a comfortable seat at an outdoor café with a view of everything. The sun felt delightful as we sat sipping our drinks. In time we noticed that the local police had started to slowly park in the piazza and put up red and white stripped “Do Not Cross” tape on both sides of the fountain. Pedestrians and bikers had to find another path if they wanted to cross. The perimeter slowly expanded until I was asked if I could vacate my table and move to the opened table directly in front. Cinzia watch over my shoulder as the authorities seemed focused on a bag that was apparently abandoned by the fountain. In time, a bomb squad covered the bag with a heavy red barrier, apparently some explosion containment material, and without warning a very loud “BOOM” turned everyone’s head. They exploded the unknown bag! An investigation immediately followed with various departments having a closer look at the remains of the bag. Satisfied, the barriers were removed, traffic resumed to normal, and the police left with whatever evidence they could gather from the scene.
After a good night’s sleep in our air-conditioned rental, we hit the streets early. Bologna has a huge market with vendors selling all sorts of clothing, especially scarves. Cinzia can never have enough scarves even though we live in Florida. She bought a number of them in 2014 and loves them all. I got my scarf at the market in Bologna and love it too. So off we went with high expectations. These market days across towns in Italy have really changed ever since I had starting going to them. Italian vendors use to sell nice everyday tablecloths, wooden spoons and other kitchen gadgets, hand-painted ceramics, shoes, handbags, and garments of all types. These days the market stalls are manned by Chinese or Middle Eastern vendors selling cheap textiles all manufactured in China. Prices are still relatively low, but the quality has all but disappeared.
We arrived in Bologna, made the hike from the train station to our rental, waited for the owner, dropped off our bags, and then immediately went next door to La Rustica Osteria for lunch. Remember, this is Bologna “The Fat”, so let’s jump right in with some tasty pasta. Cinzia ordered the classic tortelloni prepared with brown butter and sage. Even this tiny osteria, located on some back street of the city, advertised pasta fresca fatta in casa (fresh homemade pasta) as well as dolci fatti in casa (homemade desserts). But would we order dessert? No. We had someplace else in mind.
Our third day in Firenze started as usual: hit the café in the morning for some goodies, walk through the piazza, look at some shops, pop into a church, and photos around town. Hey, why not some gelato? Let’s go to La Carraia early! We made our way across the Arno and arrived at the gelateria minutes after they opened their doors at 11am. The newly made gelati looked inviting with full bins of creamy, delicious goodness. We were met by Eleonora. In her 60’s, nicely dressed, and with a deep tan, she was apparently the owner. I told her that we were here 7 years ago and their Schiacciata alla Fiorentina con Crema di Limone was the best in all of Italy. She said that they haven’t made that one in a while, but to let her know the next time we’re planning on coming to Firenze and she’d make a batch of that along with Almond Cream – another favorite. La Carraia also makes a number of cakes made with gelato – all look amazing. These top a Carvel cake any day.
After walking over 23,000 steps yesterday, we were ready for more today. I stared with a Coke Light and pastry at one of the more upscale cafés. A Coke Light and pastry for me with a cappuccino and pastry for Cinzia ran €12. Yikes! But this probably paled in comparison to Hurricane Michael which hit the Gulf Coast 75 miles to our west, totally destroying Mexico Beach but leaving us with only a bit of rain. Yeah, those Weather Channel satellite photos of hurricanes look terrifying, but the really strong winds are only located a mile or so from the eye wall. Oblivious to what was going on back home, we dodged a bullet. Now, let’s have more Firenze!
After squeezing all that we possibly could from Padova, we were ready for a vacation from our vacation. Firenze is a straight shot south on the Frecciargento with Bologna in between, so Cinzia lined up 3 nights in Firenze followed by 2 more in Bologna for us after much back and forth with the various hosts via Airbnb and VRBO. We spent 2 months in Firenze in 2011 and 2 months in Bologna in 2014, so we knew the cities well. It would be like going home in a way.
Fall in Italy brings out the chestnut vendors. You’ll find both varieties, marroni and castagne, sold in fruit and vegetable stalls in net bags or loose. They’re oftentimes listed as 1st, 2nd, or 3rd quality based upon their size and color. The best sell for about €13/kg. If you’re not looking for raw chestnuts, you can find roasted chestnuts sold by vendors in the piazza. They’re cooked over open fires in huge perforated pans until their shells are black. The score cut into them prior to roasting makes them open up like clams. You can also find pastries made with chestnut flour or chestnut cream. But the king of the chestnut offerings is the marron glacé.
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