Italy: Bologna, Padua, Venice, Verona, Tuscany

Ok, if you are following on from the last post then you will be relieved to learn that I had a really good dinner. Not very Italian though... I started with a big slab of focaccia which was super tasty and real cheap. But then things got a little crazy... I was walking a long and saw a sign for a shwama! I hadn't had one since Syria so I thought I would treat myself. It was really good... but it got me in a middle eastern mood so I had to follow it up with some baklava. So I am well fed and ready to post about the rest of my Italian Adventure.

[Lauren: You like my new hat? I lost the sweat hat sorry...]

So from Florence I jumped on a train and headed to Bologna where I was to have my first solo couch surfing experience. I had exchanged an email or two with the dude I was to stay with and he seemed a bit of alright... turned out he was fantastic! He picked me up from the train station on his scooter! And took me out to an Italian family party (celebrating a baptism) which was incredible. Everyone was so open and hospitable, there were only two things they did not condone: an empty stomach or an empty wine glass. Fortunately the food was most excellent the the wine... dam, I think I like wine now, it was so so good, classic Tuscan flavours.



The graffiti in Italy, specifically Bologna as its a student town, is always very political which is awesome.

From tasty Ragu (Spag Bol!) to Padua. For me Padua was going to simply be a cheap base to make day trips to Venice, but it turned out (thanks to another fantastic CouchSurfing host) to be a pretty darn interesting town, I think I saw the tomb where Luke is buried (he was smuggled over in a barrel of pork), although I am not 100% sure.


Venice is cool. Much like Florence it had the theme park feeling, but again you got the vibe that it was legit. I lurked through the Palazzo where the Venetian boss sat, it was very cool, especially the massive (whole walls, 4x10m) maps from the 1500's (no New Zealand...). I went back to Venice on Saturday night with my host and a bunch of other couch surfing folk for a festival of some kind, it involved heaps of people, loads of fire works, a few bottles of wine and hanging out on the beach till sun rise. Good times in Venice indeed.


I popped over to Verona for a day and a night. It was actually surprisingly beautiful. All I expected was a statue and a balcony, but alas I was again in awe of a pretty city.


And the last 5 or so days (I have lost count) I have been back to central Italy and lurking about in Tuscany. Spent a few nights in Livorno (The communist heart of Italy where people supported France in the World Cup final as they so dislike the current political situation in Italy), Mt Amiata where I stayed with a CS dude and his family who run a restaurant. Back to Perugia for a night out. Then to Certaldo for a buskers festival where Rox and I danced to some hippies playing bongo drums till the sun rose. We are such hippies.

There you have it, that's my current state of being. Thanks for all the comments on the previous post, they motivated me well. Currently I am in Genoa, which my first impression is that its the best city in the world... I will keep you posted on how it pans out.

PS I also went to Siena for a day, it was very Italian, Tuscan, Old and Romantic. There are probably some whole regions I have forgotten to mention... Oh well, it will give me something to talk about when (or if) I get home.