Mon, October 23, 2017

airport

verona city tour

bologna city tour

overnight in bologna

flight yyz - vce

at the airport air canada rouge didn’t open the gate 70 desk until around 6 pm for our 7 pm flight to venice.  the flight left as scheduled at approx 7pm.

our assigned seats were 32KL (aisle-window) which was right over the wing.   since there was lots of seats available deb asked for both window seats, in 37 and 38, so we would get 2 rows.

as it turned out, the three seats in the middle of 38 were unoccupied, so deb took those so she could lie flat and sleep.

I ended up using row 38 for storage/backpacks and sat in row 37, so i had the use of 4 seats and deb had 3, for a total of 7 seats.

the hot meal was served at 8 pm, it consisted of chicken with veg, potato salad, bun and butter, chocolate brownie and a bottle of water.  my meal was just warm, not hot, but deb said hers was hot.

i didn’t eat the potato salad cuz it tasted sour.  i ended up eating my brownie and most of debs.  i ate the rubbery bun with butter.  saved the bottle of water and had tomato juice with the meal.  afterwards i ordered a black tea to accompany the brownie(s).

i noticed we seem to fly really low for the first 3 or 4 hours, i could see city lights periodically when i looked out the window.  my seats were behind the wing, and required that i peer backwards out the window to see anything.

for breakfast, we simply got a slice of banana bread which i had with black coffee.  as we arrived we could see the venice skyline from the airport, but could not make out the canals.

italy arrival

venice airport immigration was brutally slow with only 4 agents working, but more talking than working.  we took over an hour to get through and our luggage was on the conveyor belt wating for us.

we waited another hour in the arrivals hall for victor to find the hongkong component of our group and locate the tour bus.

verona

we left venice airport at 10:30 and got to verona about 12:15.  The bus parked at a bus stop where we took some pics while some went to use the washroom.  then we walked to the old verona town along the old wall and went through an archway into the piazza streets lined with trendy shops.  

initially a group of us were going to sit down for lunch but figured it would take too long so we opted to just order a calzone 4.50 EU which was premade and heated up, not much filling …was supposed to have ham, tomato, cheese, etc. but it was dry and not satisfying.

we had lots of time to wander around the piazza and take pictures before meeting up with the tour group at 3:15 pm.  then we went to visit juliet’s balcony, but all we saw was metal scaffolding.  you had to go through and archway which was covered in graffitti and bandages, painted in black.

afterwards we walked about half an hour back to where the bus parked, taking more pics along the way of the river.

modena

our bus then drove another 2 hours to modena where we would visit a balsamic vinegar farm?  they gave a half hour tour so we could see the grounds and how they made the balsamic vinegar.  deb and others bought balsamic vinegar to bring home.

 we then proceed to have dinner there.  

dinner was pasta with ground pork, which we tried with balsamic. pretty good.  we also had wine and water with the meal.  then came the warm bread rounds so we could dip more balsamic.  the main course was like a roast beef and mixed salad, again using balsamic vinegar as main ingredients.  more buns, and finally ice cream dessert also topped with vinegar.   all in all, the meal was quite enjoyable despite sitting next to salina, the loudest in the group.

the tour group was split into two long tables with victor and bus driver in between.  we were supposed to get coffee and tea with our meal, but victor said the bus  driver had to leave by 8 so he could get to airport.

got to the atahotel in bologna, very basic, and our room key was messed up for room 206.  deb had to go downstairs to get new room keys. the room was large and spacious with two twin beds, but no kleenex in the whole hotel, according to front desk.

in bed by 10:30 pm.