Today we graduated with a Diploma in Gelatology!

Today we had pre-booked a unique and one off experience - a gelatology class. However, this was the end point of the day. The journey to get there from Modena would take a little while. Shannon had read about an interesting statue of the local favourite - Tortellini. We stopped in the small town of Castelfranco Emilia and discovered the fascinating monument, which appears to be the centre point of town.

 

 

So, the story goes that the innkeeper of a tavern, was struck by the beauty of a young lady who entered. He spied on her through the keyhole of her room as she was undressing and was particularly stunned with her belly button (she must have had an outie - Shannon). He decided to recreate the shape and so was born the tortellino. This small town also ended up being a pleasant morning tea pit stop before our journey continued.

 

The next stop today was to be Bologna. We spent some time in Bologna during our last trip and enjoyed the charm of the city and the people. One place in particular stood out to us and when we realised we would be heading through Bologna today, knew we had to go back and visit Mio Bar. We had come across this little bar on search for a good coffee and found Mio Bar, a small, typical Italian bar that serves coffee and pastries in the morning, cold drinks and snacks for the rest of the day and then turns in to a spot for Aperitivo in the evening. More enchanting was the bar's owner Guerriero Latino. He doesn't speak any English but was so friendly and welcoming, eager for us to enjoy his little cafe. We had a wonderful experience and went back a couple of times during that trip. When we left, we liked his Facebook page, then became friends with him on Facebook. We have kept in touch from time to time over the last couple of years and so I messaged him to let him know we were coming back.

Today, we were welcomed to his bar like old friends. We had some lunch and with the help of his staff member who spoke very good English, had a chat and some friendly banter with Guerriero. He is so proud of his little business and treats each customer like a friend.

We bid a fond farewell to Guerriero and headed off to the Gelato University just outside Bologna. Yes that's right, they have an actual university where they teach people the art of making gelati! It's part of the factory that makes gelati machines - Caprigiani. Our guide explained they don't actually produce gelati to sell in their factory, just the machines. The university section, teaches people how to use the machines correctly and then of course make the perfect gelati. Our guide gave us a tour of their museum. It showcases the history of gelati making and the changes in gelati machines through time. 

The best part of course, was being able to taste the different flavours at the end of the tour. She walked us across the carpark to their gelateria. Because we had paid extra, we had a private tasting with an expert. She talked to use about the difference between gelato and sorbet, how to tell a good gelato from a bad one, then the tasting. They make 14 different flavours every day and we were to taste and guess the flavours of all of them! Fortunately they were small portions, but we were still left feeling full at the end.

Introducing Pietro - the Fiat Panda! He is safely getting us from place to place. Nobody gave us any ideas for his name, so we had to come to a decision ourselves!

And now we are almost at the end of another day of 'la dolce vita' as the Italians would say, the sweet life. Off for dinner and an earlyish night as we have a very early start tomorrow, before travelling across the countryside.

Tomorrow; trying to fit the pieces together