I'm back now after my 3-week trip to Italy, most of that time spent in Bologna and other parts of the Emilia-Romagna region. I actually returned almost a week ago, but I was sick the last few days of the trip and am only now feeling better.

I appreciate all the help that other Slow Travelers gave me in organizing my trip, especially colleenk and Pokey, who recently returned themselves from the area.

I thought Parma was charming, Bologna was really interesting as was Ferrara (I love the Castello Estense!) All of my hotels were very good, particularly the Hotel Orologio in Bologna where I stayed a week. (Reviews to come, I promise) I had some remarkably great meals and wonderful wine and met some really interesting people.

I also did day trips to Ravenna and Padua, which were fantastic. The mosaics scattered all over Ravenna must be seen to be believed! In Padua, I had booked a double-turn ticket which gave me fully 40 minutes to view the Giotto frescos in the Scrovegni Chapel. That was amazing, although I couldn't move my neck for days afterwards (all that craning!)

I used Trenitalia a lot, and had only one problem, a fine when I got on an Intercity train to Padua rather than the slower train I had paid for (which was leaving at almost the same time as the faster train!)

I rented a Fiat Punto for my five days in Umbria at the end of the trip. It was some freakish hybrid, combining an automatic and manual transmission all in one (thankfully, Letizia from Alla Madonna del Piatto helped me figure out how to shift between the 2 before I blew the transmission outside Assisi!)

Speaking of Letizia, I had another wonderful cooking class at her beautiful agriturismo above Assisi and couldn't resist spending another day in Assisi.

I stayed at the gorgeous Genius Loci agriturismo (which has v. cute hedgehogs) and really enjoyed the wonderful hospitality of Mary T., and her family. The inn gave me easy access to my favourite textiles, my favourite ceramics shop in Deruta, dinners in Spello and Montefalco and Bevagna's fascinating Mercato delle Gaite festival (with its competitions and challenges between the town's 4 medieval gaite.)

I've been blogging and I'll do a proper trip report and reviews later, but I wanted to thank everyone who gave me such excellent advice for this trip.

Cheers,
Sandra

Welcome home and I'm glad you're feeling better. We are eagerly awaiting your future blog posts! Plus, exciting news: you've hit exactly 1,000 posts here!

Sandra
Welcome back and sorry to hear you weren't well at the end of the trip.

Bologna really is a wonderful base to explore from with Parma, Modena, Reggio, Faenza, Ferrara, Ravenna, Padova and even Florence and Verona in reasonable day-trip distance.

regards

Ian

Welcome home Sandra!! I can't wait to read your trip report. You'll probably have yours completed before I finish mine (I'm 75% done).

Did you buy another gorgeous textile from that young lady?

I happy you're feeling better!!

Pokey

Sandra, welcome home. I just caught up with your blog posts What a wonderful trip.

Hope your feeling better fast. Bummer about being sick and in pain while away.

Can't wait to read all the details! Sorry we weren't able to arrange a mini gtg in Umbria!

Welcome Back!

glad you had (another) great trip to Italy.

jan

Welcome home Sandra! I am so glad that your trip was filled with so many grand experiences (except the tooth-what a bummer to be in so much pain). I thoroughly enjoyed your blog, especially your descriptions of the Giotto frescoes. A trip to Pauda is high on my list now, perhaps as a day trip from Venice next October. Glad to hear you are feeling better now. I am looking forward to your reviews and pictures.
By the way, what is the name of your favorite ceramic shop in Deruta?

Hi Vicky, thanks for pointing out my 1,000 post milestone! I'm going to have to come up with a (clean) joke to mark the occasion.

Thanks Ian, I don't think I realized until I was there just how much of a transportation hub Bologna really is. That said, I'm still glad that I had some nights in Parma and Ferrara, to see different sides of those towns (and have more opportunities to enjoy their great restaurants!)

Mindy, you're way ahead of me, I can't wait to see your trip report (I'm drooling already!) And I did buy another of Marta's beautiful and unique tapestries. This one is a bit softer and decorated with lion medallions in a pattern copied from a 13th century chapel in Foligno. Her work is so wonderful, I wish I could afford to purchase a few more and give my shack a bit of class!

Thanks so much Terry. With the root canal now behind me, I'm feeling better already and able to concentrate much more on my memories of the trip, rather than just my teeth!

Barb and Art, I'm sorry we weren't able to get together this time, but maybe next year when I'm sure I'll be back in Umbria.

Jan, I wish I could say that it's good to be back, but I'm afraid it isn't -- I'm missing Italy already!

Hi Colleen, I hope you can visit Padua! It really is a short trip from Venice, I think only about 30 minutes by train. And I was truly gob-smacked by the Scrovegni Chapel. I wish, however, that I had arrived much earlier for my 7 p.m. booking. I had heard that visitors have to wait about 15 minutes in a kind of cooling-off chamber before going into the chapel, and that a short film about the chapel is shown while you wait.

But I didn't realize that there is a sizeable multi-media museum you can visit, with other films and a lot of information about the Giotto frescos. I only had a short time there before I went in to the chapel, and it was really interesting and informative.

In terms of ceramics, I'm not an expert. But Mary T had shown me around several shops in Deruta and my favourite is Gialletti Giulio. I think they have beautiful designs, I like that you can visit the workshops right behind the showroom, their prices seem to me to be good, and they did a beautiful job packing and shipping my dishes from last year. I hope this year's pieces arrive in such good shape!

Best,
Sandra