On the road by 5:30am and headed out for the hour and a half drive to Edinburgh Airport.
Arrived at the airport at 7:00am when the rental car operations open.
Originally, our rental car was booked to be picked up and returned to the downtown location. And we did pick it up downtown. They had wanted too much money to drop it at the airport on the original booking, so I figured we would just drop it off and take the bus to the airport.
But when it came time to do this, I called and it turned out they don't open until 8:00am at that location and there is nowhere to park and drop the keys. And our flight was scheduled to depart at 9:55am, so it wouldn't leave enough time to take the bus.
So, we dropped the car at the airport, and fortunately the charge to do so wasn't too bad. £21 ($39 CAD, $29 USD). But, they had made an error on the fuel filling, and we actually came out ahead a little bit.
And then it was into the terminal to deal with RyanAir.
Our RyanAir flight to Bologna.
RyanAir is one of the many discount airlines flying all over Europe. They have very strict standards regarding sizing of carry on bags and personal items. If you follow the rules, you have nothing to worry about. If you don't follow the rules, you need to be prepared that they may charge you extra at the gate.
Or, they may not.
We each have a carry on sized suitcase, as well as a daypack. I paid the option to check the carry on bag in the hold because it was cheaper than bringing it onboard. But, our carry on bags are still slightly oversized by RyanAir standards, although they are slightly under the weight limit. It was self serve to drop your bags for the hold, and fortunately the machine was only concerned about the weight so we were fine.
And when it came time to board, the woman didn't even look at my (also slightly oversized) daypack. Ruth boarded through a different woman, and she did have a quick glance at Ruth's which is actually bigger than mine, but said she was fine. So, it was worth the risk.
The two hour and twenty minute flight cost €37 ($58 CAD, $43 USD) each, including the extra to check the carry on bags!
Onto the plane, and we were not seated side by side because we are too cheap to pay the extra. But, Ruth turned out to be in a row by herself, and once the plane was in the air, I was able to move up to sit beside her.
The bridge at Edinburgh, Scotland.
Goodbye UK!
Somewhere in northern Italy.
The area around Bologna is quite flat.
A new Lamborghini on display at Bologna Airport.
It turns out that the Lamborghini factory is located just outside Bologna.
It was only 2.5 kms (about a mile) from the airport to our Airbnb so we decided to walk it. The temperature was about 30C (86F) so it was pretty warm, but we were fine.
Our Airbnb is a newly renovated apartment in an older building. Really well set up, and the host met us there to show us the place.
Our accommodation for one night.
The facilities.
Even a small patio outside.
Bologna is fairly pricey, (and of course we are traveling during busy season) and I think we did well at €62 ($100 CAD, $73 USD) for the night.
We had a rest and then headed downtown. We took the local bus for the 5 km (3 mile) ride, which you can pay by tapping your credit card. €2.00 ($3.20 CAD, $2.35 USD) each, however you can buy cheaper tickets if you are staying longer.
We knew we were only here for a day, so we didn't do any planning of any kind. We just figured we would wander around and see what we come across.
One of the original entrance gates to the old town.
Statue outside an old church.
The interior was different. No pews, and not many chairs.
Lots of statues and old paintings.
Not sure what they call this wooden structure.
Amazing wood carving!
Looks like a prison.
One of the old entrance gates.
Another statue.
Fountain and statue of Neptune.
Massive old church. We never did find out how to get inside!
Fruit and veggie market.
Various types of pasta.
We hadn't had a lot to eat earlier in the day and we were getting quite hungry. Since we only had the one day, we definitely wanted to eat Italian! So we found a place that had gluten free pizza for Ruth!
I had a Moretti beer, a famous Italian brand that is really good.
And we shared a half liter of red house wine.
And we each had a pizza!
They were pretty big for personal size!
Neither one of us finished them! But we got the leftover for takeout to have for breakfast! We were stuffed. The total bill for the two pizzas, one beer, and a half liter of wine was €39.50 ($63 CAD, $46.50 USD). There is not much of a tipping culture in Italy, and most restaurants charge a small "cover charge" which is included in the total.
With full stomachs, we decided we needed to exercise to walk it off, and headed home that way.
Walking home.
Another entrance gate to old town.
Our flight today isn't until 4:30pm, so we have a few hours available so we'll head back to the center to wander around a bit more!
Next blog post coming to you from Albania!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Today is the start of Amazon's Prime Day! Check out all the deals here!
And in Canada...
Yes, Prime Day is happening in Canada too! Check out all the deals here!
What a great stopover! I don't like to pay for seats either. We take our chances but always seem to get seated together (so far). Have fun!
ReplyDeleteBologna was interesting but there is a whole lot of construction going on at the moment.
DeleteMost of the time we get sat together but not all the time. Our flight yesterday we had separate seating again and this time there was no chance of switching, I think the flight was full.
That pizza looked sooooo good! Yum!
ReplyDeleteIt was very good, even the leftovers the next morning were good. ☺️
Delete