Venice

The train from Florence brought us to Venice, then we walked from Santa Lucia station to Hotel Al Vagon with our luggage. That took us along one of the main routes through the city, so we got a very thorough first look at Venice on the way.

St. Mark’s Basilica and Doge’s Palace were originally planned for that afternoon. We moved seeing the exteriors to the next day and skipped the interiors.

The food tour was the weakest of the trip, although the guide was good. She knew her stuff, connected the stories to her family, and did not judge anyone for being less adventurous.

Unfortunately, Venice and my seafood preferences were not an ideal match. I absolutely hated the cuttlefish. The fried seafood and vegetables with polenta were surprisingly good, especially because fried food does not automatically make something safe for me. We also had sandwiches, including anchovy options and less-adventurous alternatives.

The gelato was piled into a “mountain,” which the earlier tours had already taught us was a warning sign. It was not real gelato by the standards we had acquired over the previous week and a half.

Bologna was mostly a food-tour-and-anatomical-theater day. The porticoes were nice, especially for the shade, but we did not explore much beyond those two things.

The food tour focused on cured meats—which should have been obvious in hindsight—and local pastas. The food was good, although we did not really connect with the other guests. It ranked third of the four food tours: below Rome and Florence, but above Venice.

The dark-chocolate gelato I paired with salted caramel was my favorite gelato combination of the entire trip. It was real gelato too.

At the Teatro Anatomico, I had hoped to see old medical instruments. There were no instruments, just the cadaver table and the history of the university. It was still interesting, just not quite what I pictured.