Back to BO

Finally time to write another post. I was pretty busy with various things in February and especially March but now it’s time to do an update. Yes, another trip to Italy for a little over 2 months and now I’m back in Bologna. I’m writing this on Easter (Pasqua). The weather last week was great but yesterday in rained a lot. Here they say “piova a catinelle” (it’s raining buckets) kind of like saying it’s raining cats and dogs. Italians always find it amusing when I tell them our saying for a hard raining. Idiomatic expressions in any language often make little sense. Despite the significant jet-lag I’ve managed to see several italian friends, bought a beautiful moka (stovetop expresso maker) and make a deposit on a nice apartment for May when the lovely Karen arrives. The apartment is on the 2^nd (3^rd floor in the US) and top floor. In this case it’s called a mansarda because it has a gabled roof. There are big exposed beams, a fireplace, two bathrooms and a little terrace. It’s in a great location and faces the cortile (courtyard) rather than the rather busy street so it nice and quiet. The beams look so old that I asked how hold the building was and they told me it was built in the 1500’s. Wow!

Oh yes, I also found a gym that I like at a price that I like so I’ll go there on Tuesday morning to pay the 90 euro membership for the two months. It’s much nicer than the gym that I’ve gone to the last couple of years. It’s further in distance but about the same walking distance thanks to the great bus service that they have here. Speaking of money, I’m delighted that the exchange rate is now averaging about $1.08 per euro rather than $1.35 a year ago. I even splurged on the really cool moka. I’m embarrassed to say how much it cost but the features are interesting. First of all it’s made of relatively heavy stainless steel. You can reverse the little basket where the coffee goes to make either a 2 or 4 cup pot of coffee. Keep in mind that these are the tiny cups they use for a coffee here. Also it has a unique closure. Instead of screwing the top on, one turns the handle to attach the top to the bottom. It’s already in regular use.

Oh, a couple of things that I forgot to mention. Cesarina, knowing my fascination with frogs and my collection of same, surprised me with a little ceramic figurine. Also, since I’m very fond of it, I bought a nice bottle of grappa.

Not much in the way of photos for this post other than some selfies of me and some friends. Another post coming soon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This entry was posted on Sunday, April 5th, 2015 at 6:29 am and is filed under Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.