06.18 Early last morning here at Hotel Ascot in Florence. From outside the window, the hum of the street sweeper can be heard. The reason for this early wake up is that the only possible train for us departs at 08.21. Next in line are some miscellaneous chores. We should among others eat breakfast as soon as it starts being served.

07.07 In Turkey, the people, through a referendum, said yes to the proposal to extended presidential power. Here in Florence, we are just waiting.

07.26 We made a short stop downstairs at the reception. Now Roberth has paid for us with the help of his card. Christer and I owe him 127 Euros each for our three nights here at Ascot.

07.57 So far, we are effective today. Breakfast has been followed by a collective tooth brushing and individual toilet visits. Now it's time to saddle up and leave this place.

08.13 We validated our tickets at the railway station Santa Maria Novella. This was mostly for the sake of safety. We have booked seats. When we came to the platform so did the train. There is someone on the seat that Roberth has a ticket for. He is, until further notice, seated on a different seat.

08.41 We have stopped in Prato. The lady who has a ticket for the place where Roberth sat has now sat down there. Roberth, in turn, has placed himself in the right seat. He who sat there before is now sitting in some other place. Roberth assists friends to he who left Roberth's place with where they possibly should sit.

09.07 When we do not go through a tunnel we do enjoy the views towards a lush, green and hilly landscape. We are also thinking of the stone, rock, which is available here. Is there any conglomerate, magmatic or maybe tartar/dental plaque? I will come back with further information. We travel on towards Bologna and also against a new Italian region. We leave Tuscany behind us and will arrive in the Emilia-Romagna region.

Today´s train ticket.

Peter is awake, Roberth did not manage that.

We have arrived to Bologna.

Roberth is navigating with his telephone.

Bologna, the city of arcades.

Before checking in at the hotel we are having coffee at Bar Igea.

09.18 A search on the internet by Roberth has given us answers, it is limestone, sandstone and sometimes, through the cracks elements of the magma that can be found here. Further away one finds alabaster and calcium phosphate, that is to say, plaster. The alabaster was appreciated by the Etruscans.

09.30 Christer and I are back in Bologna. The last time we were here was in July 2004. Then we changed trains and ate a fruit salad. I might add that Roberth is still with us now.

09.35 Google, the cell phone and the blue dots shall take us to our home here in Bologna. We have named the entire thing; Blaupunkt navigation. Roberth has also read that the city shall have the fine arcades, a full 40 kilometres in fact. It is good on rainy days. Bologna is called "the red city" because of all the red shades in the buildings, and left wing politics that dominates here. Other nicknames are "the learned" because of the university and "the fat" because of its wealth.

10.01 The small Bar Igea will serve us coffee in different forms and taste. Christer and I have ordered Americano. Roberth intend to sip a Cappuccino Estivo. We actually sit under some of the arcades.

10.41 On the road from the café, Roberth bought some candied almonds. Now we have checked in at Hotel Paradise (http://hotelparadise.hotelsbologna.it). We are sitting down and wait for the room to be ready. The woman who checked us in have also come up with tips on what we should see in the city with the help of a map and a lot of enthusiasm.

11.12 The three gentlemen are stretched out on the beds in room 304. According to the original plan, we would have just started the journey here by now. We are clearly ahead of schedule and can afford this rest. On the TV we see a nature film with African animals. Memories from last summer come back.

12.16 The time has come to go electronic, push a button and close the skylight and go out for lunch.

Candy and a newspaper before checking in.

Nature documentary in room 304.

We are staying two nights at Hotel Paradise.

Canale di Reno, Bologna.

Restaurant decorations.

Lunch at Trattoria La Montanara.

12.44 The city walk has quite quickly been interrupted for a lunch. Various local pasta dishes have been ordered at Trattoria La Montanara.

13.09 The dishes in Italy are often quite limited food on the plate but what you get tastes divine, as was the case here. We also drank good wine.

13.21 After the good lunch we went over the Canale di Reno, where there were padlocks in a grid. Now we pause in front of a church so that I can get a chance to write this. It is the church Basilica di San Martino from 1217.

13.38 Via the street, Via Zamboni, we have made it to the city's two leaning towers. Here, as in Pisa, the thing with tower constructions has turned out less well.

13.52 While Roberth is inside, and looks around the Basilica di Santo Stefano, a church from the 400's, I sit on a metal sphere and write this.

13.58 Roberth has come out. There seems to be four churches in one, a quadruple church.

14.21 We will now, after various small talk in the sunshine, carry on.

15.01 We have passed the city's main square, Piazza Maggiore. Along the way back home Roberth and I bought an ice cream cone with three balls. The price was 3 euros, it was OK. Now we are back in 304 again.

16.04 Enough with room rest. It is time to see more of Bologna. Tomorrow we intend to make an excursion, so today, the city shall be covered.

Basilicia di San Martino, Bologna.

One of the two leaning towers in Bologna.

Roberth at Piazza di Porta Ravegnana.

Basilica di Santo Stefano, also called Sette Chiese (Seven churches).

Basilicia di San Petronio.

Piazza Maggiore, Bologna.

16.31 Christer had read about it on Trip Advisor and now we have found it in real life. La Prosciutteria in the centre of Bologna http://www.laprosciutteria.com/bologna/) has received a visit of us. Now we have some snacks and talk. A prosciutteria is a place that serves ham. You can also get cheeses and wine.

17.06 Here at La Prosciutteria we are drinking Bolgheri Rosso, a wine from Livorno, and have ordered a tasting platter for three persons. It is a platter with cheese, ham, olives, grapes and vegetables, it is to say the least very good.

17.27 We have left the delicious products behind us and walk on. Roberth has entered Pellegrino Antica Gelateria Artigianale (https://www.facebook.com/GelateriaPellegrino1936/) to buy a cannoli, his favourite pastry from Sicily.

18.25 The bells tolls over our red city. After provisioning, we are at home in our rooms and everyone is happy.

19.25 Italian TV is not so especially entertaining. I guess we knew it already but have had it confirmed again.

20.49 The silk curtain of the night have been drawn across the heavenly window.

We will visit La Prosciutteria.

Group picture in the prosciutteria.

We could try different products.

Piazza Maggiore in the evening.

Evening walk in the university area.

San Petronio in front of the leaning towers.

21.44 After a nice evening walk where we among other things walked through the old Jewish quarter and student blocks we have walked to the pizzeria Il Portico. We sat at a table for four. At the time of ordering the waitress asked what the fourth one wanted. Because he/she doesn't exist, it was difficult to answer. During the walk here, we passed a shabby man who sat leaning against a wall. Roberth said, mostly in jest, That is me in about ten years! The man then said something with a rough voice that sounded something like, It's worth it!

22.37 How it was with the food is probably of little interest to the common man. However, we can conclude that the pizza was, well, dry and hard. We are in all cases at home again.

23.18 It has become time to switch to the horizontal position. I wonder how the beds are. We are thinking about if everything that should be with is still are.

Tuesday 18th of April

07.47 The beds are very hard. and far from the best we´ve used, however, we managed to bring our tired bodies some rest.

09.16 After having relaxed a little more in our room, we shall now consume some breakfast.

09.58 Great coffee with snacks for us to eat. Around us were people such to meet and greet.

10.25 Now, we are ready for a new goal. First we'll head out where the door in the wall has made a hole.

11.02 It sure is great that we remembered how to get to the house from which you go by train. For a price of € 4 each, we're going to Reggio Emilia.

11.29 Our train came without any shout. Virtually all the passengers walked out. Soon we will depart all three. There is a new town that we want to see.

11.37 Enough with the poetry, the morning session will now be summarized a bit better. Breakfast at Hotel Paradise was to begin with excellent, a fantastic variety, including strawberries for dessert. We would according to the original plan on this trip see Bologna today and tomorrow do some small quick stop in some of the neighbouring towns during our travel. Now we covered Bologna really good yesterday since we got here so early. Therefore, we devote the day to an excursion. The neighbouring towns of Reggio Emilia and Modena shall be visited.

Roberth is enjoying his breakfast at Hotel Paradise.

It´s difficult to cross the street near the railway station in Bologna.

Three men prepare for today´s adventures.

Peter in the train.

We have reached Reggio Emilia.

Roberth wonders if they use the Reggio Emilia approach here in Reggio Emilia?

11.56 The train has on its journey westward, stopped in Modena. We are waiting for it to continue. The sky is overcast and rain is expected today. The value of the pound drops in the United Kingdom. Theresa May has called for a press conference. Will there be a new election, a war or will she resign? The media are speculating.

12.11 Disembarkation of the train was made in Reggio Emilia. Here, it is now time for a short city hike. The weather is negative. The sky is dark and looks aggressive. Strong winds sweep along the sidewalks. Reggio Emilia is a city that has its name in order to not confuse it with another Reggio in southern Italy. This confusion has spread even into the world of urban football team named Reggiana, respectively, Reggina. In Sweden, the town is best known by educators. The Reggio Emilia pedagogy, which really is a way of thinking, a philosophy, not a teaching, is based on listening, documentation and reflection, as well as to see diversity as an important value. Reggio Emilia's educational philosophy was started as a local ”resistance movement” against the fascist legacy after the second world war by the women's movement in the city and of the pre-school teacher Loris Malaguzzi who became the city's director of child care. Women and Loris Malaguzzi wanted to try to ”immunize” each new generation against all forms of anti-democratic movements begin with the children. Loris Malaguzzi continued for decades, along with parents and educators and in contact with the business community and politicians in their city, to develop this educational philosophy on. (Source: Wikipedia)

12.48 In an arcade, we found the Caffeteria Pasticceria Antica Resti - Lunch Time. Here we will have coffee and sandwiches, thin piadine with tasty ham. Thunder and rain unfortunately darken our day. Theresa May wants to have an election in the UK.

12.59 Coffee break is completed. Roberth whose eyelids itch has turned to a farmacia, a pharmacy. It has become a tradition for him to make a pharmacy visit on our travels.

13.09 Roberth did not found what he wanted. The rain just continues. The market place on the Piazza di San Prospero has come to an end. The traders are about to pack up everything because of the weather. It doesn't go well today.

13.15 We huddle in a portal named Via delle Croce Bianca (White Cross Street). We look out over the rain wet Piazza Camillo Prampolini. Not far from here is the Museo del Tricolore. It covers the birth of the Italian flag, the tricolour. It happened right here in 1797. Then the first version of what later became the Italian flag was created.

13.49 We have now left the city life for a while. We are back under the station ceiling and dries up. Tickets to Modena, 25 kilometres to the east along the way back home is purchased.

Coffee and piadine (ham sandwiches) made us forget the rain for a while.

Piazza di San Prospero, Reggio Emilia.

Piazza Camillo Prampolini in the heart of town.

Peter and Roberth are thinking about what to do next.

Reggio Emilia in a wet version today.

It´s raining in Modena too.

14.19 It is warmer in the train than out on the platform. Another advantage with the train is that it, unlike the platform, will take us to Modena.

14.45 A short train trip is over. Unfortunately, the rainy weather continues. Watch out Modena, here we come!

14.58 Modena is one of Italy's richest cities and is known for its cars. Cars such as Ferrari, Lamborghini and Maserati all have their origin here. The city is also known for other things than cars, for example the opera singer Luciano Pavarotti, and a type of pasta, tortellini.

15.22 What a strange city! Most places and mainly the restaurants are completely closed. This gives us vibes, memories of, the visit to Sassari, Sardinia 2012. Also then we were greeted by rain and closed premises. We had planned a lunch here but that is not possible since everything is closed. We mainly associate siesta with southern Italy but it seems to be something similar here as well.

15.28 We found a restaurant with English and German menus, but they were about to close. A woman thought we were late, and wondered when we actually eat lunch at home. Time is important when it comes to meals. No chance for food if you get hungry between lunch and dinner. We are now at another small restaurant nearby, Via Taglio 12 Eat & Drink. The waitress has been and checked if they have food. OK, they have mostly just sandwiches and cold dishes.

15.31 Hip hip hurray! They have some pasta ragú left since lunch. We will get food.

15.51 We have been drinking the local wine, Lambrusco de Modena Opera, a sparkling red wine. We wonder if we, by the way, got the food which was intended for the staff or?

16.46 Things change here for sure. From the sparkling red wine to a red car, We are now at the Ferrari museum (Museo Enzo Ferrari) a stone's throw from the railway station. It costs a lot to buy tickets and see everything here but we have in all cases seen some old cars.

Chiesa San Giuseppe, Modena.

Roberth is taking photos of a fountain in front of the huge Accademia Militare.

Christer is planning our next move in the restaurant hunt.

Duomo di Modena.

Roberth and the awaited pasta.

Tiny postal car in Modena.

17.31 It was, as mentioned, expensive tickets at the Ferrari museum. If you wanted to buy a Ferrari-tie the cost was 80 Euros, no purchases for us there either. Instead we went in the drizzle back to the railway station. Here we bought tickets home to Bologna. We are now in the warm and rain free waiting room.

17.19 Things happen here. In through the sliding doors to the waiting room and with a smile on his face came a young boy. He walked up to the elderly gentleman next to me. Was it his grandfather? Most likely not, he was more interested in the elderly man's mobile. He then continued to Roberth's mobile to take a look. The hunt for mobiles continued before he was caught by his mother. None of those looked particularly happy.

17.36 Our journey home in the rain has begun. It has been a varied day. A bit of a pity with the weather. The positive thing about Italy is that you can cover a number of several worth seeing cities in a day. The distances are short.

19.01 After the return to Bologna, we went and bought some things for the evening at the supermarket Conad. Now we're home and the rain patters against the skylight. It closes automatically as soon as it rains. The fact is that it is so sensitive that it is barely possible to have it open at all on a day like this. It closes automatically when some water droplets happen to fall.

20.40 The rain has stopped and darkness has fallen. It is soon time for the evening's dinner.

Before leaving Modena we walked to Museo Enzo Ferrari.

Many windows at the Ferrari museum.

Not an early Ferrari but a De Dion from 1903.

Trattoria Tony, Bologna.

Peter looks short.

Some people are still awake.

20.54 It was a short walk to Trattoria Tony. The restaurant gets good reviews on the internet. Here, we will have pasta.

21.09 We got a table at the back of the restaurant. Behind us is some kind of machine to cut the cured ham. For the pasta course we have ordered wine.

21.35 Pasta with treats is prima for dinner. This is La Dolce Vita!.

21.54 It's time for an evening buffet in our hotel room. We should enjoy what we have previously bought at Conad. Wine, sparkling as well as usual, mortadella (an Italian sausage), cheese and grissini (breadsticks).

23.34 Roberth just said, It is a new day tomorrow, and wrapped himself in the quilt. We can for sure agree with him.

Wednesday 19th of April

09.07 After the customary morning chores here at Hotel Paradise we'll soon sit down at a table, which provides prima colazione, breakfast.

09.41 This is life, said Roberth referring to the trip in general. A heavenly place, said Christer and quoted a comment about a restaurant in Parma.

10.25 We cannot go on and lie on the beds and relax. There is a room in Parma waiting for us, we can relax there.

10.40 We have paid for our stay, waved goodbye to a nice hotel and will soon say goodbye to Bologna, a city where it is easy to enjoy life.

11.12 We are at the railway station. Everything is ready for the trip to Parma, all except that we need a train that we can go with. However, there is no panic. It will get here in time. Ahead of us in the queue for the ticket machine, was a French retired couple, they were on an Interrail trip. It is never too late for adventure.

11.30 Next travel phase is initiated. We are on board on the double-decker towards, for our part, Parma. The luggage shelves above the seats can accommodate, in the best case, a hat.

The same three men on the same spot like yesterday.

The railway station in Parma.

Peter is leaving the station.

A first walk in pleasant Parma.

Italian body language at Caffeteria Verdi.

Astoria Residence Hotel. We are staying here one night.

11.55 It smells burnt, like when you cut into metal. and the train stopped. Now we are still in the wait for, well, what do I know about Italian trains?

12.01 As far as I know, nothing has happened since last entry. Now, we are in all cases on our way again and soon back in Modena. We are, as just announced in the speakers, six minutes late.

12.40 We have reached Parma. We're eleven minutes late, or in Italian undici. Speaking of Parma, it was here that the Swede Tomas Brolin played football. Speaking of Brolin, his restaurant in Stockholm was called just that, Undici. Enough about, talking about. Here in Parma we shall laze in the sunshine for a while before we go to our hotel, which is located next to the station.

13.01 Our luggage were welcomed at Astoria Residence Hotel. It should, however, be placed in the luggage room. We get to check-in after 14.00. We got a quick walking tour. In one of the city's opera houses Maria Callas has sung. Pavarotti never dared to sing there. The people of Parma are discerning and demanding. We got this fact from the cheerful lady at the front desk.

13.25 Today we will have lunch before they close. The Caffetteria Verdi, which offers a few different dishes as the lunch offering. Speaking of Verdi, he comes from the city. In addition, the café also has a street here in front with his name. Who was Giuseppe Verdi? He created a series of operas in the 1800s, among others, Aida.

14.21 After some great ravioli, we are now finally in our room at the hotel. Check-in went without problems. We were offered a parking place for the car. We said no to the offer because the cars are at home in Sweden and Roberth asked politely if we could possibly get our luggage. The receptionist apologized and we picked up our belongings. Today's room number is 208.

14.48 Room time will have to wait until in the evening. We want to make use of the sun's light.

Parma, a nice city with a perfect size.

Palazzo della Pilotta.

Basilica di Santa Maria della Steccata.

Verdi has his own festival.

Garibaldi in front of Palazzo del Governatore.

The food bus takes you to different kinds of local food.

15.05 Children are playing and adults are sitting in the green grass. Roberth eats a newly bought icecream. We are at the Piazza de la Pilotta. Before us is the Palazzo della Pilotta, the Farnese family's old complex that was built in the 1500´s.

15.31 A bell tolled just behind me. We are now at the Piazza Giuseppe Garibaldi (Garibaldi Square). It is peaceful and no rush here in Parma.

15.46 In front of us now is a waterway that runs through the city, look there's a pheasant in the grass! The water well is a bit too meagre to be called a river is named Parma just as the city. It starts to get worse weather. The wind blows and it feels like there is rain on the way.

16.04 We have once again in our travels met Pinocchio. He is in wooden version on a tree stump in Piazza Cesare Battisti.

16.20 The air is getting cooler. We now make a stop on the Elzig Café. We want to test a bit of the stuff that made the town famous.

16.54 Cappuccinos and ham sandwiches with genuine Parma ham, that sure is great. Now we find ourselves once again on this journey by a duomo (cathedral). This time we came to the Piazza del Duomo and looking at both the Cattedrale di Parma and the pink coloured Battistero di Parma.

17.45 After shopping for the evening at the supermarket Simply, we have now come home to the hotel room again.

18.36 Theresa May has been given the OK by the House of commons regarding the election.

19.57 The time has come for the three assignments, tickets, ATM, and dinner. To fix this we have to go out. The tickets we want will first take us to La Spezia on the coast and then on to tomorrow's destination.

Central but peaceful. Photo from Strada Luigi Carlo Farini.

The Parma river (stream?).

A pheasant walked around in the grass.

Buildings by the river.

Parma ham in Parma. Also cappuccino.

Cattedrale di Parma and Battistero di Parma.

20.39 To arrange with two of the assignments we went to the nearby railway station. The ATM machine was out of order and the ticket machine wanted us to change trains at a different place than we thought. We bought tickets to La Spezia and buy the next tickets when we will arrive to La Spezia tomorrow afternoon.

20.44 We are thinking if it's possibly to buy tickets from other stations than the one we are at.

20.49 Wonderful, it was possible to book tickets from other stations. It was, however, not so good to pay with coins. The machine just spat out the coins. We finally managed to put in the coins that were needed. Last year we had coin issues in Prague and this year in Parma. History is repeating itself. Now at least we have two tickets for tomorrow's travels, good!

21.05 The ATM:s continues to be cranky. Enough with it. Now we need to find a restaurant.

21.25 The wine. Gutturnio, was just opened and the waiter smelled on the cork. We have sat down at the Osteria dei Mascalzoni (http://osteriadeimascalzoni.it). We chose between two restaurants, the Trattoria del Tribunale, and this one and in the end we chose the one who seemed most genuinely Italian. This was also acclaimed by past guests on Trip Advisor.

22.30 The good food ended with free meringues to all of us and an espresso which cost to me. On the way home we found, finally, an ATM that wanted to release the notes.

23.04 A new evening buffet is approaching soon. This evening strawberries are included.

Osteria dei Mascalzoni, tonight´s dinner restaurant.

Garibaldi in the dark.

Hanging parma hams.

Parmesan cheese in this closed shop.