Day 7!

Ciao ciao ciao! What a day!
I got up this morning at 5:30 to go running. Of course no one else wanted to go that early, so I had a nice little solo jog around the city. This time I went north of the hotel to il Parco della Montagnola. It was nice, but not nearly as pretty as Giardini Margherita, so I think I will run there from now on. It is farther away, but what with all the pasta I'm eating, I can use the extra exercise!
Maria, Rodolfo, and I went to mass this morning at the basilica of San Petronio, right off the main piazza. It was nice to go to mass, but it made me sad to see that there were only about a dozen people there and absolutely no young people!
Later, after coming back to the hotel and having breakfast, Rodolfo, Maria, Elisabetta, and I took a hike up to the sanctuary of San Luca, a church up on a hill well outside of the main city walls. It took us about 2 hours each way, but was well worth the hike! I took a lot of pictures of the church and the view, so check those out! I really want to go back soon.
We were absolutely starved on the way back from San Luca, so we stopped at Trattoria Meloncello for lunch. It is a highly acclaimed "cento percento" (100% ) Bolognese restaurant. There is no menu, the waiter just suggests food for you! We all got what he suggested, which was a sampler of three different typical bolognese pastas. All of which were unbelievable, of course. I don't remember what all of them were called, but my favorite was the tortelloni with ricotta, burro (butter), e salvia (sage).
We walked with Elisabetta to her apartment (she moved in on Saturday!). It was so big and so beautiful. I like mine better though, because it's a double and soo much closer! But it was nice to see her place. We also stopped on the way and I bought a Vogue Italia. It came with a free shopping guide too, so I have two Italian magazines to use to start brushing up on my reading skills! All my vocabulary is going to be della moda (concerning fashion). We got back to the hotel and both Maria and I took wonderfully long naps!
Later Erin, Meghan, and I went out to dinner at the Trattoria del Bassanotte, a nice little place just around the corner from the hotel. I had prosciutto e melone (prosciutto ham with cantaloupe). The salty ham and the sweet, juicy melon are the perfect combination!
My first Sunday in Bologna was just about as perfect as it could be!
Classes start tomorrow!
xoxo