{"id":385,"date":"2026-04-17T02:35:47","date_gmt":"2026-04-17T02:35:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fonh.com\/sacruise\/?p=385"},"modified":"2026-04-18T21:56:07","modified_gmt":"2026-04-18T21:56:07","slug":"day-26-31-tuscany-bologna-milan-and-lake-garda-apr-5-10","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fonh.com\/sacruise\/uncategorized\/day-26-31-tuscany-bologna-milan-and-lake-garda-apr-5-10\/","title":{"rendered":"Day 26 – 31 – Bologna, Milan, and Lake Garda (Apr 5-10)"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Today, we are off to Bologna.\u00a0 We decided to take a water bus to the Venezia Santa Lucia Train Station on the island of Venice. We\u2019ve been blessed all along the way with wonderful people willing to help us with instruction and our luggage. This was such a case\u2026we met two women physicians from Romania that were also going to the train station and they not only told us they\u2019d lead the way, but they helped us with our luggage up the number of steps into the station.<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u2019d already bought our tickets, all we needed to do was to find the platform where it would be arriving.\u00a0 Once it arrived, we got on and had a wonderful hour plus ride to Bologna.<\/span><\/p>\n

Taxi fiasco<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

We were told that the car rental place was within walking distance of the train station.\u00a0 Turns out it wasn\u2019t – it was at the airport 20 minutes away.\u00a0 So, we decided to take a taxi to get our car.\u00a0 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\u2026 you had to text and wait. Several other folks had already been waiting a while and none showed up.\u00a0 Finally, one did but only took cash, then another showed up but said his card machine was broken.\u00a0 Finally, we did get one that would take a credit card and a working payment machine\u2026and we were off to the airport. <\/span><\/p>\n

Car Rental<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

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\u2026you just need a printed copy of it\u2026which 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!\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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April 6<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Today we decided to go to Milan, 2 \u00bd 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.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 No gates, no trees, just a beautiful white edifice.<\/span><\/p>\n

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And here\u2019s the inside of this great cathedral\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

Another place where we took too many pictures to put in this blog, but suffice it to say\u2026it was beautiful and magnificent.\u00a0 Then we went into a museum that showed how the building was built and all sorts of artifacts used – amazing\u2026again way too many pics\u2026will share later, but here are a couple\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

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After a quick lunch we got back in the car and took a leisurely drive back to our hotel.\u00a0 On the way, I mentioned that I thought Milan was where the Lamborghini was built and she got curious and found it wasn\u2019t in Milan but only about 15 minutes from where we were staying in Bologna and they had a museum.\u00a0 So, when we got back to our hotel, mom took a nap and I went to the Lamborghini museum.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t a museum like the Cathedral museum in Milan, but for a car lover, it was thrilling! Here\u2019s a couple of pics\u2026enjoy!<\/span><\/p>\n

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After I left the museum, I went \u201chome\u201d to the hotel and mom and I had a relaxing dinner and reflected on the amazing day.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 Here\u2019s was a marvel\u2026no tourists and just a relaxing place to see the Alps in the distance and a calm lake with Roman ruins in the distance.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Once we got home, mom was thinking maybe we shouldn\u2019t do the spa\u2026but after checking, they couldn\u2019t cancel it without losing all our money we\u2019d 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\u2026we\u2019d also gotten the massage package\u20262 massages, one after the other for 30 minutes each. After we were done\u2026she was glowing and grateful that we did not back out.\u00a0 It was just what we needed for our trip to Amalfi tomorrow morning!<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today, we are off to Bologna.\u00a0 We decided to take a water bus to the Venezia\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-385","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fonh.com\/sacruise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/385","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fonh.com\/sacruise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fonh.com\/sacruise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fonh.com\/sacruise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fonh.com\/sacruise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=385"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/fonh.com\/sacruise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/385\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":485,"href":"https:\/\/fonh.com\/sacruise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/385\/revisions\/485"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fonh.com\/sacruise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=385"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fonh.com\/sacruise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=385"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fonh.com\/sacruise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=385"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}