LOCATION: Bologna, Italy

WEATHER: Very cool – highs in 40s and rain

We said “arrivederci” to our beautiful housesitting villa in Cingoli. The homeowners gave us a ride through the beautiful countryside, past hilltop towns, vineyards and fields of wheat, to Ancona where we picked up the train.

We took a local train for 4 hours, following the Adriatic Sea coast for much of the way. It was pretty desolate today, in the rain, but in the summer time, it really “hops”. We weren’t sure we were on the right train, as there hadn’t been much signage in the Ancona train station, but it turned out ok.

Upon arrival in Bologna, we bought our train tickets for our next trip, to Geneva in a few days. We overheard the ticket agent telling some Chinese tourists that the trains were booked to Milano today and tomorrow. Glad we got our tickets ok.

We traipsed around Bologna in the cold rain until we found our hotel. Nice and cozy, we rested for a few hours and researched dinner options online. Bologna is known as Italy’s “foodie capital”. We are anxious to try some of its specialities. We had dinner in a beer pub. As a nice change of pace, we tried some Italian craft beers. We shared an antipasti that was a plate with a huge chunk of fresh buffalo mozzarella cheese, arugula and mushrooms. Nice and light.