Baloney

Americans call their version of mortadella "baloney" because it is from Bologna. In Italy Bologna is known as "Bologna the Fat" because of its foody reputation. They also invented the ragu we call 'bolognese'.

This morning it was raining lightly when we left Venice. The fast train took us to Bologna. Lyn made friends with a pleasant American woman called Kim and they talked solidly through the 90 minute journey. 

Our apartment is beautiful and very modern. We bought some groceries and then headed into the city square where the whole population was gathering to party. It turns out that October 4 is the Feast Day of the city's patron, Saint Petronius.

We quickly identified two of the city's landmarks as the evening closed in: the statue of Neptune known as "the Giant" and Bologna's pair of medieval towers. The latter were designed with the same lack of interest in the perpendicular as Torcello.

Tonight, in the epicentre of Italian cooking, we made ourselves a chicken curry. I mention this because we needed a break from Italian food and ingredients. You don't realise the variety we have in Australia, and how influenced we are by Asian cuisine, until you come to a place like Italy. In our entire time in Italy so far we have seen two Chinese restaurants and one Indian takeaway.