The day began with an early (before 9:00) walk to the train station.  It was nice to see the streets relatively empty, but as we neared the station activity increased.

Our destination was Bologna to meet my lifelong friend Andrew and his partner Janis, for lunch.  I know, I broke my rule for day trips: never more than an hour, but this was an exception worth making.  The easy trip took about an hour and 40 minutes; I listened to my book and watched the Veneto turn into Emilia, crossing the Po.

Of course, their train from Florence,was delayed; we were able to communicate on WhatsApp and we waited outside the station for them.

We strolled and talked to Piazza Maggiore where we saw this mini demonstration about conserving gas:

We sat for a while on the steps of the basilica before we made our way to Osteria Bottega.  This restaurant is on just about every list about Bologna and, in my humble opinion, it lived up to the hype. We shared a platter of prosciutto, mortadella and salami:

The plate for two went unfinished by the four of us.  I think it was the best prosciutto I’ve ever tasted, so sweet and porky.  None of us loved the salami though.  Then we decided on four pasta dishes.  Ranked in ascending order, they were: tagliatelle al ragù, (basic and classic) tagliatelle with culatello di Zibello (the culatello di Zibello is a very special piece of cured ham and there was a mound of it cut julienne over the top of the egg pasta), tortelli with Jerusalem artichoke sauce (stunning, light, ricotta stuffed pasta with a purée underneath) and the maltagliatti, a short wide noodle with a simple veal and asparagus sauce.  Each dish was really super and we drank a local wine called Naigarten from Gradizzolo which paired perfectly with them. I have no photos because I realized I had used up most of my battery listening and playing games on the train and then using navigation all through Bologna.

Sitting across from Andy was a special treat—how far we’ve come from hanging out at my house as junior high kids!

We strolled back towards the station stopping for coffee, some mediocre pastry and more conversation.  I stopped to buy some tortellini to bring home.  Because of that stop (it was all my fault) we just missed the train to Venice, but there was one for Andrew and Janis.  So, we said goodbye and Ken and I sat outside of the station and waited.  

When we got home, there was a cake and a sweet note from Elisa.  She is just the best!  

Dinner was snacks from the from the fridge and some of Elisa’s cake.

Another great day!