Alla mia famiglia e amici.: Bologna and Milan

My week of traveling continued with a program scheduled week in Bologna and Milan.

First stop: Bologna 04.04.2011
We left early Monday morning by bus and headed North to the Emila-Romagna region of Italy. Bologna is known for the oldest University and delicious food and wine. After we checked into our hotel that afternoon (after a 6 hour bus ride) we had a small welcome apertivo and time to enjoy Bologna on our own. That evening Cinzia gave us a brief walking tour of the main attractions in Bologna (not much really) and then I went to dinner with my roommates, Alex and Taylor, to a live jazz restaurant. You're suppose to have the Tortellini or Pasta with Ragu, it's what they're known for. Taylor and I tried these delicious dishes. We didn't want to leave before the live entertainment started so we all ordered dessert (marscapone cream with biscuits).
That night I went to bed not knowing what was ahead for me the next morning...the Bologna Emergency Room and 4 stitches in my chin. How come Italians don't believe in putting more than one light switch in a room? At 7am I proceeded to walk to the door in our pitch black hotel room, tripped over a black suitcase and whacked my chin off the sofa. I wasn't gushing blood, actually I was barely bleeding, so I proceeded to put my earrings in, apply blush, eye liner, and mascara, and head to breakfast (there was no way I was going to the Fashion Capital of the world without make-up on, come on people!). I headed to the Emergency Room while everyone else went to the Ferrari museum. I was 4th in line, waited for 3 hours, why? Because in Italy doctor's don't start working until 10am (maybe you should start then Dad and see how that would fly in the U.S).

Main Square Fountain in Bologna

Old man in-front of the Statue: Bologna

View from the Leaning Towers: Bologna

Jazz Band @dinner: Bologna

Second Stop: Milan 04.05.2011
One good thing that came out of this whole ordeal...I got to take the fast train with Cinzia to Milan and had 4 hours to do whatever I wanted by myself, it was great!
Once the whole group was back together again we went on another quick walking tour of the city seeing the high points like the La Scala Theater and the Duomo. But the highlight to everyone's night was the free apertivo. Milan is known for these and if you didn't know what one was it's where you buy a drink, with or without alcohol, and then eat as much as you want for free. Our drinks were huge and delicious and the food was great too. So great that we went back the next day for the same thing. Wednesday we met up with interior designer/professor Massimo Martignoni. He gave us a history on architect, Piero Portalippi and took us to an awesome modern furniture museum, Triennale Design Museum, and a modern art museum. As we were leaving the museum an artist was painting a mural on a bunch of sheets of paper. He asked us if we'd be apart of his show later that night. Of course we did. Each of us got a piece of this mural he was painting earlier and held it up as photos were snapped. We'll eventually receive a pdf of the final piece signed and all.
On Thursday we visited a museum one with modern flower arrangements, the Skitsch and Kartell showrooms, and the Armani building. After grabbing a cheap lunch and relaxing in the hotel lobby for a little, we went to the airport to catch our flight to our Last Stop: Barcelona, Spain 04.07.2011