Sono arrivato......Mr. Roboto.

Sorry, could not resist the title, nor can I locate the apostrophe on this Italian keyboard, so this post (and possibly future posts) will have to do without conjunctions. Please forgive.

Well, as stated, I have arrived in Bologna, and after two days, can say that it is fantastic.

On Monday night, Stefano, the brother of the friend (Michela) of my sister in law (Robina) picked me up from the airport. By the time we arrived to my new abode (some pics below), it was near midnight, but my internal clock was so screwed up, I was not tired at all.

Stefano and I went for a few beers and a night tour of Bologna on his Vespa-ish moped. Yes, beers and mopeds can actually be a good combination (as long as you wear a helmet). As Stefano kindly pointed out in one of the bars, even the carabiniere like to have a few beers before speeding off to prevent crime.

One unexpected thing is that you cannot smoke in bars in Bologna (not sure about the rest of Italy). Being used to Spain where your eyes start hurting pretty quickly from the dense smoke, it was definitely a change to be in a bar in Europe with no smoke at all. Although I am not a smoker, it seemed like something was missing without people smoking in the bar. No smoking in a European bar seemed....well just not right. Like, those vices should go together, at least in Europe.

I digress. I can tell this is already getting long-winded, and I am just coming off a three course lunch of tagliatelle a la bolognese (pasta with bolognese meat sauce), verdure con olio d oliva (vegetables with olive oil) and carne con aceto balsamico (meat with balsamic vinegar), plus a glass of wine and the obligatory post-meal espresso.

I figured I would have a light lunch today, since yesterday, we dined at home on tortelloni, pollo al rosmarino, patate and a beer to wash it down (see pics below). While I would presumably gain weight gorging myself as such, strangely I do not feel full after these meals, nor did I feel stuffed after my pizza de quatro stagioni yesterday evening.

I discussed this phenomenon with Stefano last night over some Averna (a digestivo, kind of like Fernet), and he thought that the American weight problem was more due to the preservatives in our food.

For me, this issue remains open to debate, but I will continue to sample the gastronomical delights of this fine town, purely out of scientific curiosity, of course. Did I mention that the olive oil I had with my verdure this afternoon was some of the BEST I have ever tasted?

Unbelievalbe, really. I realize that this post has been 75% or greater regarding the food of Bologna, but that may be appropriate since it seems to be such a big part of life over here, and well, I guess a big part of my life as well!

As for other matters, I have been practicing Italian with my limited knowledge and am considering enrolling in a course. Michela will arrive tomorrow evening and Stefano and I will pick her up from the airport.

On Friday, I have been invited to dinner with Stefano and his friends at the restaurant of his friend (yeah, really could have used that apostrophe) in the mountains....it is a tough job, but thankfully I am here to help out. Until next time, ciao, arrivederci.