Kimonos and Pizza

Today we ventured to the bustling city of Bologna, or "the Fat city." Know for it's excellent food, it's a good thing we showed up hungry.

We began our day by singing in the Basilica di San Petronio- the 15th largest church in the world. It still being an active church, they were very strict about the dress code. All of the girls brought sweaters or shawls to cover their shoulders, but some shorts were deemed "too short" (to their defense, it was quite warm) and we were made to purchase 1 Euro kimonos to use as cover-ups. Unfortunately, due to their doctor's office quality, they didn't seem to make much difference in bettering their appearance. Some girls smartly converted them into skirts. One girl in particular strapped her "skirt" on and said with determination, "okay, let's do this!"

Pictures were not allowed in the church so I obviously took one anyway. The girls mounted a narrow winding staircase and squeezed through the 15th century choir loft to sing to the visitors who seemed a mile away from their stance. The reverberation in the Basilica is almost magical. Mr. Metallo took plenty of time after cutoffs to let the echo resound enough before cueing the girls to come back in- quite the dramatic and stunning effect.

After our short set, we set off into a 90 minute walking tour through the city. We strolled through the Piazza Maggiore and the University of Bologna- the oldest university in the world (founded in 1088!).

Remember how we came to the city hungry? We still hadn't had lunch and our tour guides took us right through the central restaurant district- talk about torture! Once there, our tour guide carefully explained that spaghetti al bolognese does not exist in Bologna. You would need the rougher pasta, tagliatelle, for the sauce to stick.

When our tour ended, the girls quickly parted into smaller groups to get some lunch. Reports show that pizza and gelato were choice favorites.

After lunch, we boarded the bus back to Ravenna for some time to explore the town in small groups, although about 1/3 of the girls actually ended up napping- pizza + bus ride + jet lag is a dangerous formula for a nap.

In the evening we enjoyed dinner at a new restaurant. The girls were relieved that this dinner was only three courses instead of the usual four. It's been a rough few days :)

Tomorrow we leave Ravenna for Padua. Buono notte!