June 30, 1997 - Monday 

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We woke up at Albergo Gariscenda around 08h00.  I did manage to get some more sleep last night which was good considering we had a long day ahead of us.  Since we didn't have a private shower, I wasn't too keen on having the kids use a public one, considering there was no way I could watch both kids at the same time.  Plus, there were no provided towels for the shower.  But one day without a shower is okay, at least for them.

We started out eating breakfast at a local coffee shop.  People really seem to take to the kids so I think I get better service than I would otherwise.  This morning in Bologna was absolutely fabulous.  The sky was partly cloudy and comfortable with a bright sun.  We headed off walking to explore other parts of Bologna that we did not see the other day.  That took us to a local park with this powerful statue guarding the gates.   Inside the park we found more examples of sculpture that were simply striking when you saw them.  You can not find such works of art back in the states.  These and other samples are hidden away in this nondescript Bologna park.  There was a playground here too so the kids ran around burning off energy that would not be used sitting on the train later today.  We had a long ride to Trento ahead of us.

The people at Albergo Gariscenda wanted us to vacate the room before 10h00, which I thought strange.  They did let us leave our bags there which was goodness.  We walked back to the hotel, but had to pass the carousel for the kids to ride one more time.   Then we caught a taxi to the station and had another hour to kill there.  We sort of hung out on the platform.  I asked a couple of conductors if we were waiting on the right platform and they said we were.  We boarded the train and were finally on our way.  Once again, I have failed to stamp the tickets before boarding the train.  This odd process has always confused me.  The conductor is going to punch the tickets anyhow, so why do I need to punch the tickets before I board?  Doesn't make any sense to me.  Anyhow, I got a bunch of gobbledygook about not stamping the tickets.  After that rude conductor I didn't have any problems with the subsequent conductors.  But the train ride to Trento was longer than I had anticipated.  It was a good thing that I decided to split the travel into two parts.  Had we tried to make the journey all the way from Rome, we probably wouldn't have gotten into Trento until 22h00 or later!  As it was, we got in around 19h.  All the way from Verona northward the scenery was mountainous and beautiful.  Partly because you could see nothing but vin yard after vin yard of grapes waiting to be made into wine!  A beautiful sight!  The green stuff you see in the foreground of this last shot are grapes on their stocks, just too blurry to really make out.

We arrived in Trento, got into the taxi rank.  I told the cabbie where we were going and instead of telling me that we could walk two blocks, he took us in his cab for an 8,000 Lira ride.  Well, it was less than $4US so I can't really say he was taking us for a ride.  Had he taken us around town first it would've been another story.  The Albergo Academia is not an attractive sight from the outside.  I saw this place and thought what kind of a dump did the company set me up with.  Enter this place and you change your mind almost immediately.  The staff is not only friendly but also speaks English.  It appears lots of English/Americans do stay here.  The room is spacious, not large like the Gariscenda, but roomy enough for three.  The private bathroom is a nice benefit.  The first thing we all did was shower (and I shaved) and we headed out to town.  The girl at the front desk recommended a restaurant across the street.  We wouldn't see anything walking across the street so I decided we'd do some  exploring of our own.  We came to a piazza and came across an amazing sight.  This church you see in the left shot is the left hand side of the church.  Peeking out behind it are some of the mountains.  The  right-hand shot is the right-hand side of the church, another statue of Neptune and a better view of the mountains.  Walking some more around town you see that we are completely surrounded by mountains.  The church in these two photos is gigantic.  You are probably seeing only about 50% of it.  The rest is in the center.  By the way, this is not the only church.  I counted about three other churches all within a couple of city blocks.

We made our way to the ristorante and I was dreading what was about to happen.  The kids wanted nothing but plain spaghetti, no sauce, no nothing.  I was wondering how that was going to go over with the Italians.  Fortunately I had studied enough Italian from my dictionary that explaining what they wanted was not a problem.  Additionally, I had asked the waiter for some red wine.  He immediately suggested a mezzo litre (half litre) of their house wine!  My man!  These are my kind of people.  And it was great wine.

I myself had what they call Pizza Angelo.  Let me tell you something now, I have NEVER had a better pizza.  By far, if the Northern Italians didn't invent pizza, they certainly improved upon it.  I have had my favorite pizza joints in New York City and none of them even come close to what I had tonight.

Another thing is that service is set up to make dinner take it's sweet time.  We finished our meal almost 2 hours later!  The kids didn't get into bed until 23h00.  That is the latest they have ever been up with me.  And as it is, I need to get to bed too.

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Copyright @ 1997, Alexandre POLOZOFF.  All Rights Reserved.