Today, we are off to Bologna. We decided to take a water bus to the Venezia Santa Lucia Train Station on the island of Venice. We’ve been blessed all along the way with wonderful people willing to help us with instruction and our luggage. This was such a case…we met two women physicians from Romania that were also going to the train station and they not only told us they’d lead the way, but they helped us with our luggage up the number of steps into the station.
When we got into the train station, we found a small cafe where we could sit and wait for the train to arrive in an hour. I’d already bought our tickets, all we needed to do was to find the platform where it would be arriving. Once it arrived, we got on and had a wonderful hour plus ride to Bologna.
Taxi fiasco
We were told that the car rental place was within walking distance of the train station. Turns out it wasn’t – it was at the airport 20 minutes away. So, we decided to take a taxi to get our car. But even though we found the area where the taxis would normally be (a taxi sign and instructions on how to bring one)…none were there… you had to text and wait. Several other folks had already been waiting a while and none showed up. Finally, one did but only took cash, then another showed up but said his card machine was broken. Finally, we did get one that would take a credit card and a working payment machine…and we were off to the airport.
Car Rental
Getting the card was simple thanks to someone we met on our cruise who told us that our Capital One Venture X card could be used as the Primary Insurance and not to let them talk you into any other insurance…you just need a printed copy of it…which I now had. The rest was easy and we got to the car, dragging our luggage behind us, but finally it was all in the car and we were off to Mitico Hotel & Spa!
April 6
Today we decided to go to Milan, 2 ½ hours from Bologna and wow, were we glad! Magnificent! We parked close to the square where the Milan Cathedral was and walked across the street and had a quick bite to eat and the compulsory cappuccino. Then as we walked the short distance to the square, you just walked around one building and BAM there it was right in front of you. No gates, no trees, just a beautiful white edifice.
And here’s the inside of this great cathedral…
Another place where we took too many pictures to put in this blog, but suffice it to say…it was beautiful and magnificent. Then we went into a museum that showed how the building was built and all sorts of artifacts used – amazing…again way too many pics…will share later, but here are a couple…
After a quick lunch we got back in the car and took a leisurely drive back to our hotel. On the way, I mentioned that I thought Milan was where the Lamborghini was built and she got curious and found it wasn’t in Milan but only about 15 minutes from where we were staying in Bologna and they had a museum. So, when we got back to our hotel, mom took a nap and I went to the Lamborghini museum. It wasn’t a museum like the Cathedral museum in Milan, but for a car lover, it was thrilling! Here’s a couple of pics…enjoy!
After I left the museum, I went “home” to the hotel and mom and I had a relaxing dinner and reflected on the amazing day. The following day was a day of relaxing and really going nowhere. The final full day in Bologna, mom changed her mind about visiting a lot of Tuscany and found a lake she wanted to go to back up between Milan and Verona. A lake called Lake Garda – a jewel in the middle of nowhere. Here’s was a marvel…no tourists and just a relaxing place to see the Alps in the distance and a calm lake with Roman ruins in the distance.
Once we got home, mom was thinking maybe we shouldn’t do the spa…but after checking, they couldn’t cancel it without losing all our money we’d spent on it. So, she decided to go. The spa had a Sauna, a Turkish bath, and a Steam room and lots of curvy chaise lounges to relax on. But the most important part came next…we’d also gotten the massage package…2 massages, one after the other for 30 minutes each. After we were done…she was glowing and grateful that we did not back out. It was just what we needed for our trip to Amalfi tomorrow morning!
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