13 Comments

What a lovely jacket you picked up. Not to be a shopping enabler but I actually TRY to buy one thing per vacation as a memento to remember the trip by. Bologna sounds incredible!

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Yes, I suppose this trip is especially suited to shopping! Often I go scuba-diving or camping, and shopping never even crosses my mind. Bologna is lovely! The winter months are definitely a great time for visiting Italy... everywhere we go, we've been told that it's a lot quieter now compared to summer, and I'm quite relieved.

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Love the Iceberg jacket on you! It will go with practically everything in your closet.

Ah, you made me miss Bologna. I haven't visited it in so long. The food there was to die for over 20 years ago and I'm sure it's the case now, too.

Enjoy the rest of your stay in the city!

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It's a really lovely, "liveable" city -- you can walk to most places (granted I am mostly within the city walls) and there are so many small businesses from which you can buy groceries, have a coffee, or a drink. It's been a really great place for us to live and work in while we're here. And yes, the food!

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A pleasant read as always. Your thought process of souvenir shopping reminds of how I used to make it a big thing during travel, saving a long list of what to buy for friends and family (what an Asian thing to do!). Now I keep it easy and simple, it’s my travel journey that matters afterall.

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Oh yes...but I still make a list of who I want to buy gifts for! This time it was easy because I just bought everyone small blocks of Parmigiano-Reggiano. I try not to stress out about buying gifts, but I do feel that pressure because my sisters and friends always get me things.

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I love that you gave yourself permission and a budget to do a bit of shopping and help commemorate your vacation. I still have many of my clothing and jewellery souvenirs from vacations, and I highly recommend a piece of jewellery like a ring.💕

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You're spot on...I was in Venice and I bought my sister a Murano glass ring...and decided to buy one for myself! I still lament a tiny gold and sapphire ring I bought in Sri Lanka nearly 10 years ago that I later lost :(

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I have a Murano glass pendant from Venice.💕 Aw, lost jewelry…

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I loved reading this, and I’m ashamed to admit I’ve never been to Bologna! It’s not even far from Rome by train, and it’s been on my list forever.

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Dec 3Edited

I saw loads of Black Friday discounts on Trenitalia and Italo, if that's any incentive, haha. Italians (and Europeans) are so lucky to have such a great train networks. We spend all our weekdays in Bologna, but one weekend we went to Venice, another weekend we went to Parma for a day, and we plan to spend this Saturday in Florence. Visiting this many places in Australia would require a car or cost a fortune (and carbon emissions) in flights.

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Yes to intro city walking tours and tipping appropriately!

Yes your husband’s suggestion to look at budget not an item count. I really think, at least for me, it is a balance of both as well the ratio of what I bring in to what I pass on (give, sell or donate).

And a big yes to your jacket purchase! The nice thing about over size is you can layer a big jumper under it when needed ( your red Babaa🙃).

What a wonderful experience to live in Italy for an extended period of time ❤️

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Yes, we're lucky to be able to do this before companies fully turn on remote work! My friends were like, why would you stay in one city for a whole month, you should travel around more, but I think slowing down and staying put has been a great experience, and far more relaxing even though we're actually still working during the week.

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