Mum Doesn’t Even Like Our Orange Roof

Oh Bologna. You pretty city. It was so lovely to get to Bologna and our first hotel of the trip. The best part was the short walk to the hotel and the safe feel. The hotel itself was average and smelled of hospital. And the two rooms were a pain in the butt. The kids put up a good argument to be in a room on their own but we didn’t buy it. They are so noisy when they get silly that we couldn’t risk it. So I slept with Isla and Max in one room and Mike and Kayden in the other. Apparently Dad’s much cooler because he let Kayden stay up later.

We chose Bologna for a one night stop between Ischia and Venice. It was a city we have not visited, it’s known for its incredible food and a cool vibe as it’s a university city. It is also where Kate Langbroek moved with her young family and we have recently listened to the audio book as a family (well Mike and I did) on our road trip up north. The original plan was to do a walking food tour and climb the tall tower. However the food tour fell through. Which is ok as to be honest we’re all getting a little overloaded on the food. It’s plentiful and such high quality that we might not have appreciated it. Luckily, I made a reservation while in Perth for a popular trattoria. So we still had the opportunity to eat the local cuisine.

Bologna is very proud of their ragu, tortollini. lasagna and of course their neighbouring cities Parma and Modena supply the OG proscuitto, Parmesan and balsamic vinegar. I was in heaven.

Before dinner we went for a walk into the centre of the city. It is just so beautiful! The famous porticoes provide shelter across the whole city and the terrazzo floors are stunning. There was even a breeze! The kids do have a hard time just walking. So does Mike. They need to be heading somewhere. The kids and I have a little chuckle as Mike who appears to be embracing his Italian side does some weird wobble head and angry gestures and charges around people (like me) who are just out there to walk and soak it all up.

We see a lot of homeless people. They all appear to have dogs with them. People donate food and dental bones to the dogs. I want to stop to take pictures of all of the winding streets and buildings which all are a different shade of terracotta. Isla, ever the sass queen/truth teller remarks “mum takes photos of every single orange building but hates her own orange tiled roof”. Truth! Maybe I’ll like it a bit more now.

Dinner was marvellous. We had a booking and of course they question Rrrosssii again. We must roll the R so they don’t think we’re saying Rosie. Isla decides she can’t eat any more pasta and has a little sook. The rest of us all settle on gnocchi for Kayden, taglierie ragu for Max (their signature dish) and Mike and I both order a trio of pastas. One of them ragu, one was tortellini in brodo (broth) and green lasagna. Which is simply lasagna with spinach in the pasta. I think! They were all amazing but the absolute highlight was the tortellini in brodo. I couldn’t get over that broth! What on Earth was in it? Crystal clear yet so much flavour! I could never get it that clear!

As we finished our dinner, Isla of course got her appetite back. I quickly googled the best gelato in Bologna and we began our pilgrimage. The family

now either trust in my food searches/bookings or just accept that’s what we are doing. The gelato shop had a line but it moved fast. Isla chose fragola (strawberry) and I had lemon creme and pistachio. The boys all got granitas. It was so good that we went back the next day.

Day 2:We all slept in today and then decided to walk and look for breakfast. Our train was not until 3pm so we had a day to enjoy in Bologna. Not enough! We found a breakfast place that made fresh juice and incredible pastries. It was nice to be back in a city with more people that spoke English. We found they were keen to practice their English rather than be grouchy they had to use it like in some places we have visited.

We spent the day walking around the city. It was pretty hot in the sun. Unfortunately we couldn’t climb the tower as it was booked out. The kids were keen to spend some money so we did a bit of shopping. Max wanted to buy his teacher a toy Ferrari car and was pleased he found one. We stopped to eat some local food called tigelle for lunch and before we knew it we were

on our way to Venice.

We had booked tickets but when we got on some older ladies were sitting in our seats. It’s always awkward. We ended up saying to the ladies don’t worry, we’ll sit elsewhere and if someone gets on and needs our seats, we can all shuffle. The ladies both had little dogs on their laps. The kids were so excited to not only see them but pat them. These two ladies were a mother and daughter from NYC and Florida. They had brought their dogs over with them as they both own homes in Italy. We chatted for a while about the process of buying in Italy and their experience. Is this another sign that it’s in our future one day when the kids fly the coop?