Jen left for Cleveland on Monday and I took the train to Bologna. I love this city. I love that so many buildings have covered archways– they are everywhere:
My room is inside an “honest to God” palace. I need 5 keys to enter a gate and four doors. When my host, who only speaks Italian showed me the way in I decided I need to go out and come back in myself— she thought I was leaving and it took several minutes to straighten that out:
These are some frescos on the ceilings in my palace:
I had lunch at a little restaurant on the way to my Palace. I started with some homemade liver pate with a little pile of salted herb butter, salad, and toast. The little sprig in the liver mound is thyme— very yummy. I had tortellini in chicken broth– a specialty in Bologna. I got three little cookies with my bill.
I came here for the pasta bolognese and to see the Neptune Fountain. Neptune was showing his age and was all covered up for restoration. I had to settle for pics on the tent that surrounded him and a postcard:
I finally made it to Eataly. It is an amazing three-story book, food, wine, spices restaurant/store with everything Italian you could ever want or need. I couldn’t help myself– I had to buy a pasta cookbook– not many in English but I found one:
This is the view from my Palace bedroom and some pictures from my neighborhood 
There are a number of things that are making this city one of my favorite cities: it is soooo less crowded than the major tourist cities in Italy, the food is amazing, the bread delicious, my room at the palace cost $54, my hair wash/blow dry cost $12 and if it rains you are able to get almost anywhere under the arches. Also the pasta bolognese (I couldn’t get the color “right” because I ate outside and I was under the heater lights):
My last pictures are the food stands around this fabulous city. Being the “foodie” that I am I had to take deep breaths and keep myself calm. I think I’m in my heaven. Budapest —I think Bologna beat you out:
Barb Does The World 
When you get back, I will show you how to make pasta and that tortellini soup if you like! In my family we call it capeletti because the pasta is shaped like a nuns cap. The fillings is pork, chicken, mortadella, prosciutto, cheese, eggs, nutmeg and parsley.
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