Backpacking in Bologna - Day 2

Hey guys! I'm sorry I couldn't post earlier, I was veery busy (and now I'm sick (T-T)). But at least I have more things to write about in the future!
I also have my exams coming soon this June, so don't leave me, it'll not be long. I promise (^o^)

So, this is the second day of the short trip I had with my dad in Bologna, Italy!
You can read about the first day here.



The view I had from my room.



Time to take a picture, the housekeeper had brought breakfast for two.





Coffee, tea, jam, Nutella, croissants, hazelnut yoghurt, strawberry yoghurt, peer juice. Yum.





Visited the Santo Stefano Basilica in this pretty small square.



Being the guide-translator as always.





I took billions pictures inside the Basilica (which actually is a complex of seven religious edifices) but I don't want to make it boring for non-believers.






Believe me or not but it was already time to eat. We had bio pasta for the first time, bruschette offered as a starter.





The Two Towers of Bologna. Sadly you can't see well on my picture, but the tallest is the Asinelli Tower, and the smallest, the Garisenda Tower, is leaning.
It's really impressive IRL but I wasn't able to capture a good picture (>O<).

If you remember my old post about Venice, I already talked about GROM. This is probably my favourite Italian ice cream chain!





We had May's flavour, which was dedicated to the Little Prince, and almond/nougat as usual





Back on the Piazza Maggiore to eat them, before visiting the Palazzo d'Accursio.




These stairs used by horses pulling diligences. This way wealthy people with heavy luggages don't need to walk.



The view on the Piazza Maggiore from up there.





Aperitivo




For dinner, we believed the Use It again and went to the Osteria al 15 .





At first we were alone and felt out of place, but people quickly started queuing to eat there.
At the same time, asians were taking pictures with their food. I was not alone, lol.





We really ate too much this time. We even had a bruschetta with beans offered as a starter. I was so full I could barely breath anymore.



That's all for today. The next day we go home already!
I'm sorry if the post was a bit messy, but I can't think proprely.

Backpacking in Bologna - Day 1

You probably already realized, but my dad and I get along well. He brought me up the Italian way, therefore, I grew up in the love of food & cooking.
And everytime we travel to Italy, it transforms into a culinary trip.




Compulsory picture of the plane's wing. Flying with Ryanair. Since it was only for 3 days with light clothes, we didn't register any luggages and flew for cheaper.



My dad bought this very useful device some days before, so we could listen to music together.
Yeah we get along in this too, we like all kind of music but mostly the same (not Johnny's tho, except drama songs).

I couldn't take a picture quickly enough, but you know, when you land, there's this car guiding the plane? Here in Bologna it was a Lamborghini (Bolognese car) (ToT)



On the Piazza Magiore, the San Petronio Basilica is getting restored, and the work is hidden by a Converse advert directly aiming at me haha!



First thing after getting off the aerobus, Tourist Information Desk to get this :



If you are visiting any city in Europa, check out Use It website, super useful free maps made by locals (I think I should deticate a full post to them one day).



Carefully checking where to eat according to locals. I'm the one in charge of translating from English, and my dad translates from Italian.



We finally choose Rosso, we arrived early, but people quickly started queuing to eat there. Wow.



We took a 10€ menu and crescentine.



Crescentine, Bologna style. This is a speciality and this a kind of deep fried bread. I personally like Bolognese crescentine more than Modenese.
You eat it with a slightly sour cream (in between mayonnaise and soft cheese) and it usually comes with prosciutto, mortadella, and other Italian hams.





Bologna used to be a water city, but now you can only see the last stream from this small window in the middle of the street.




Typical Italian streets. I always joke about the "best selling colour in Italy"



We went to the hotel to lighten our backpack and had a ice cream at Castiglione. Ice cream flavours' names come from old nobles of the city.



I had Crema Michelangelo (almond ice cream -my fav-, with sugared Sicilian almonds) + Cremino Ludovico (hazelnut ice cream, with I-don't-know-how-to-translate hazelnuts).



I think my dad had Dolce Emma, a ricotta cream with sugared fig and lemon peel, plus another flavour.



We shared our ice creams in front of the shop, next to locals. The taste made me want to cry. I don't think I've ever tasted something this good.



You pay for the size of the cone and can get as many flavours as can fit in.








Haha. Definitively.







Unusual bookshop in a former church.



The Piazza Del Nettuno (Neptune's square), at the side of the Piazza Magiore.



Neptune's back, looking at the Piazza Magiore.



That's when he started imitating One Piece's Neptune (ToT), jamon.



It started raining, so we entered the Urban Center next to Neptune




Reading foreigner newspapers. Couldn't find any Belgian ones, though. (Ah, forgot to mention my dad is a bookseller and stationer)

When it stopped raining, we spent time on the Piazza Magiore with a free guide book we got at the Tourist Information Desk. They only had them in Italian or English and we decided I'd be the one translating, so we got the English one.



Then it already was aperitivo time.



Spritz! They do it Venitian way (giant olive less) and it's very common here too.



In Italy, aperitif is at 7PM, and usually comes with a free buffet (hot food or not). But it's not a free meal!! Just a snack!
Fill one or two plates depending on the amount of people and share the food. You can go as many times as you want, if you want to try everything but think of it as chips at a party and only take small portions. (I say it because I often see tourists eating like it's dinner, and find it quite disrespectful)



That night, we decided to have drinks at different places to try different buffets and not have dinner.





In the student part of the city (Bologna is a very young city, with one of the first university). Small ads fence.