Domodossola

After 5 days we left Switzerland behind and travelled back to Italy. Although it took 3 trains and 1 bus, it was a shortened day of travel (changes still due to storm damage). Domodossola was our overnight stop of choice. It is a transport hub for transit to take you to various routes. Set in a valley at the bottom of the Italian Alps, it was just the stop we needed.

Time for a much needed laundrette and an Italian haircut. I left Ruthie with the washing and went in search of a barber. While looking into a barbershop window, I suddenly got taken by the hand and led into the shop. Before I knew it I was sitting in the chair. It was a young crowd and the music was pumping with middle eastern music, nobody spoke English. Through hand signals, I tried to convey what I wanted done. As you can see from the resultant photo, I don’t think my message got through. Anyway, as it turns out, I have now had a Tunisian haircut in Italy. Ruthie cacked herself laughing when I returned to the laundromat.

Of course, even on our lay day, we had the mandatory stroll. Ruthie chose to walk to the old monastery and yes, it was on top of a hill. The monastery is now abandoned. It was so still and peaceful and still beautifully maintained.

This city has such a good feel about it. Not too busy, fresh produce aromas linger as you walk past the stalls, beautiful old buildings and as always, interesting people watching. It had been hot on our walk so it was time for an aperol spritz and aperitivo.

Our accommodation breakfast the next morning was sensational. It was set in the cellar of the building. All the fresh produce was locally sourced and our host was a delight.

Bologna

Ok, travel isn’t all beer and skittles (fun). Today our 4 hour trip to Bologna took closer to 10 hours. This was due to overbooked bus replacements (how do the Italians think a train load of people will fit on 1 bus?) People rushed to place their luggage in the luggage hold but then didn’t fit on the bus so had to unload it again. It was absolute chaos. We had a new set of tickets issued and that train was then cancelled, and then a 3rd set of tickets issued for more cancelled trains. We didn’t have tickets for the train we eventually caught. There was a lot of waiting time and rushing at doors when trains finally arrived. It got a bit stressful on our last leg when we were wrongly on the fast train, in the wrong carriage, in the wrong seats, just waiting for passengers to kick us out of their seats.

Of course, we then had a ticket inspection and there are usually quite hefty fines. When he asked why didn’t we catch the train on our ticket, Ruthie batted her eyelids, showed him the support bag of comfort items the previous station had given us and he quickly melted and sorrowfully let us travel on. Today, navigating the Italian train system, we felt as if we could conquer anything. In the end, us oldies were even advising the lost, forlorn younger travellers.

After a good nights sleep we were ready to explore Bologna. After finding some Roman ruins we then came across a huge market which seemed really cheap. Unfortunately our luggage space is limited.

Next was the grand shopping mall and piazza. The wide cobbled streets were bordered by porticos that went forever. Bologna has something like 62 kms of porticos. Interspersed with all the big brand name shops and eateries were notable buildings such as churches and residential housing.

It wasn’t uncomfortably busy and very multicultural but it was hot! So time for the first refreshing apperol spritz! They do it so well here in Italy and without asking we were provided with a gourmet aperitivo.

Back to the hotel for a refresh before we headed out for dinner. Bologna’s signature dish is Tagliatelle Bolognese Ragù. It was a beautiful balmy night. We found a little trattoria and our table was plonked in the middle of the street where the bicycles and scooters whisked past us all delivering food of some kind. The food delivery game is next level here! The Tagliatelle Bolognese Ragù and the Tortellini were delicious.

The city centre had really sprung to life this evening. There was a huge outdoor cinema in the piazza, buskers on many corners, the ristorantes were buzzing with chatter and laughter. We felt quite safe in this city.

Rome

Apart from knowing that there was a lot of old history, I didn’t know what to expect from Rome. We have 2 days in Rome before our bus tour begins. Ruthie said “ I’ve booked us into somewhere different for those 2 nights, a monastery run by nuns”. So it’s 39 degrees Celsius in Rome, we have no A/C, no refrigerator, no TV, no wifi, bread and jam for breakfast and one power point. When we unplugged the fan to charge our phone we melted. Do you think she’s trying to tell me something? I did have an out of body experience! Not necessarily a pleasant one haha.

Day 1 Rome has just been a tick and see exercise of close by highlights, Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps and unfortunately the heat takes away from the magic.

On the plus side, we did get some tasty takeaway pizza from Forno (Jacquie Felgate’s recommendation) and a takeaway aperol spritz, found some quiet stairs in the shade and soaked Rome in.

Back in the nunnery, fortunately a little Irish bar was across the road, The Fiddlers Elbow, and we were able to keep the hydration levels up.

When I was in high school I had a history teacher and when he spoke of the Roman Empire, he would get so excited that he would sweat and spit. I think after all these years, I get it. Walking within a small area near the Colosseum, seeing the ruins of creations from thousands of years ago, as well as the later buildings still remarkably preserved, I got a sense of how mighty this empire was. And I was sweating and spitting!

It’s great that Rome has drink refill fountains everywhere as this summer is so hot! The fountains have fresh and more importantly cold water that people queue for. Well the tourists queue – we’ve learnt Italians don’t queue. Our tour guide advised us against buying water from the touts. They just recycle bottles and refill them!