You sang the Oscar Meyer song in your head, didn’t you? Admit it. It’s the only way I can spell it, too. This amazing city is SO MUCH MORE than a pressed together piece of ehh hemmm…“meat.” It is full of charm and culture and has the best food in Italy. Hands down!
On a recent vacation that I had poorly planned, we found ourselves stranded (not really) in London and looking for a place to wander for a few days. I always check the weather, along with flight availability and found that Lake Como, our destination of choice, was experiencing monsoon like rains for days. Venice was a no-go because flights were full, so I booked us with some miles on a short hop over to Bologna.
The airport is beautiful, as airports go. Getting to the city was a breeze, since the city bus stops right outside the airport and then heads to the Central train station in town. Because I believed reviews and my map, I was convinced that our hotel was so close that we could walk, so we headed in that direction. I quickly realized that walking wasn’t the best idea when hauling luggage. Oh well, I wasn’t the one lugging it.
We stayed at the AC Hotel Bologna, a clean and fairly new Marriott property. The staff was excellent and there was a city bus stop right out front. It was a 5 minute ride from the hotel to the train station (oops) and extremely easy from there to get to the city center.
We ride the red ‘Hop-On-Hop-Off’ bus everywhere we go, and I really enjoy seeing the sights without having to navigate or blister my feet. I also like hearing from the guide in my ear about what sites I may miss if I were to go it alone. As part of their ‘hop on hop off,’ Bologna has a little train that rides up the hilltop to the Sanctuary of Madonna di San Luca. You can walk via the 666 arches of the Portico, but be prepared for an almost 4 mile trek uphill. How ever you get there, the views from there are spectacular and not to be missed!
