A wet start

On May 4 we were off to Bologna, Italy, by way of London. Our cruise originally was to embark from Venice; however, the prior month we were notified of a change to Ravenna, a seaport some 4 hours down the Adriatic coast from Venice. Venetian city fathers finally had enough with cruise ships towering over their serene republic. Ravenna would be only an hour from Bologna by limo, so we changed our airline booking to Bologna. Our evening in La Grassa, as Italy’s culinary capital is known, was a dud since the region was in the grip of a continuous soaking rain. The chilly leaden skies surprised us both since we are used to warm sunny climes in Italy in May. The fast monorail connecting Marconi Airport to the city center is testimony to the can-do spirit of the Bolognese. After our breakfast the next morning in the UNA Hotel Bologna we set off in the rain to find a pharmacy that would do covid antigen tests to clear us to board the ship two days later. Lucky us, one was right across the street. Therein begins another case study in Italianità. After getting our tests, Adriana was drawn into an hour-long casual conversation with the senior farmacista and his junior female staff. The staff seemed aggravated only when another customer dared interrupt their jolly good time.