Sep 25, 2019
In Bologna David attend the Africa Europe baseball qualifier for the Tokyo Olympics. One day when David was at a baseball game Jenny, AJ and I walked 30 minutes to get some of the best reviewed gelato in Bologna. It was heaven to my taste buds. We also got a lot of schoolwork done. We went to the anatomical theatre. We saw parts of the old university. Like where they taught anatomy. It was a wooden room with portraits of famous doctors and Apollo surround by constellations. We also saw an old lecture hall with old books on lots of different subjects. It took us a while to get there because we got lost but once we got there it was really cool. One night we went out to a restaurant called Pinterre. All in all it was very fun and we got a chance to relax and catch up on work.
Sep 25, 2019
Today as I am writing this post I am in an Airbnb in the Italian countryside. It is very cosy. The Airbnb is on an olive farm and there are also three dogs and two cats (a very nice bonus). My mom found a dead scorpion under her bed, which freaked her out. There is also an outdoor pool which is refreshing but very cold.
Sep 25, 2019
We had a busy final few days in Bologna.
I watched the last two days of the European/Africa qualifiers… which ended in disappointment for the Italian hosts, when their team dropped a one-run game to Spain (followed by a bench-clearing brawl) and then lost a final must-win game against the Netherlands (giving up 4 runs in the top of the 9th to put any hope out of reach), who placed second and kept their Olympic dreams alive.
Team Israel walked away with first place and the berth in Tokyo, losing only a single match (to the Czech Republic) along the way. Alas, I didn’t see them clinch, as they did it on the last day in Parma.
On Monday, after the tournament, we took a high-speed morning train to Venice — where the clouds emptied in a downpour onto the thousands of tourists in cheap ponchos. We still enjoyed 8 hours of wandering through the lagoon-bound city. Briar insisted that we take a gondola ride, which did not disappoint, as we drifted through a labyrinth of narrow canal-ways. Jenny got us to take a tour (out of the rain) of the Doge’s Palace in St Mark’s Square, which was fascinating in its ornate design and complex political history. (It also hosted a gallery show about Rubens and his contemporaries.) The armoury of weapons was especially impressive.
Looking for a free washroom (hard to find in Venice!), we stumbled across an exposition as part of the Venice Biennele, hosted by three African nations, which included several floors of contemporary art works.
Our favourite part of the day may have been wandering the old Jewish ghetto and surrounding neighbourhood, away from the crowds that were lured toward St. Mark’s Square. Here, we could imagine life in the this moody, water-bound ancient city.
The next afternoon, we picked up a rental car in Bologna and drove the toll highway past Florence, through multiple tunnels, to Montevarchi, where we headed up winding hillside switchbacks to our country “barn” AirBnB near Montegonzi… a town that none of the Italians we mentioned it to had every heard of!
After the heat of Rome and Florence, the weather is now autumnal and cool — we had a brief dip in the outdoor pool when we arrived — but not rainy. The surrounding hills are green and lush. Francesco, our host, is a fireman with a one-year-old baby who also runs the olive orchard (and gave us a bottle of his olive oil). He says that the harvest usually takes place at the end of October, but he might begin earlier, as the forecast is for a colder, wetter winter in these hills, on the edge of Chianti and Tuscany. His menagerie includes three dogs and two cats, which has delighted the kids.
We plan to just chill out and catch up on rest and “homework” and perhaps do a hike or two during our five-day stay here.
Sep 21, 2019
We are winding up our second week of travel and staying in our third AirBnB or la nostra casa per le vacanze (our vacation house). All have had their pluses and minuses, but we’ve enjoyed all three.
In Rome, our apartment on the ground floor of an apartment on Via Panisperna was very old and interesting. The building dated back to 1741 (!) and had stone steps leading up to a loft bedroom (we were worried about these steps since the rail began at the perfect height to trip someone in the night). Rome was hot—to us at least, reaching more than 30 degrees Celsius each day, though far cooler than it had been. The apartment was dark and relatively cool. It had high ceiling made of vaulted wood, with the only windows at the top of the kitchen, which was a tiny galley room with a hot place. Every place we have stayed has had a tiny Italian coffee maker for espresso, and A.J. became expert at making them for me. It had some strange features, including a bizarre hair dryer attached to the wall and a tiny combination washer-dryer (all in one) that sat in the bathroom area. It came with five pages of instructions, but reader, I figured it out and did not flood the apartment. The street was steps from wonderful restaurants (Le Tavernelle, which we loved) and within walkable distance of the coliseum.
Jet lagged in Rome
Our Florence place was on a lovely cobblestone street in an tiny apartment that apparently once housed a famous artist (this story was unclear). We could see paint through the walls, that someone had once painted them, which just added to the cheerful mystery of the place. It was on Via D’Ardigilone, over the bridge from the main tourist area in Oltrarna (over the Arno River). It was amazing narrow, cheerful green shutters, décor all in bright, primary colours, mostly IKEA. We slept on bunk beds at the back of the apartment and the shower was in the middle of the bathroom with two curtains to separate it from toilet and bathroom sink. It was smartly designed to make the most use of the space. The kitchen sink and stove (no oven again) was in a tiny alcove. Not the greatest for a tall guy like David. It had a lot of personality and it was not a lot of space for all of us, but we enjoyed it there.
Our apartment in Florence
Cheery in Firenze
In Bologna, we are staying in a residential area about 40 minutes’ walk from downtown Bologna and 25 minutes from the baseball stadium where David is a attending the Europe/Africa world qualifier. The apartment has a pull-out bed in a small kitchen, a balcony where we can hang laundry (and Briar can watch neighbourhood dogs coming and going from their own balconies). It is newer and stylish, all in neutral colours of white and beige. It is nice to have a proper standing shower with a glass door, and it is bright. It even has an oven, though very few dishes and kitchen tools. We were only given one key, which has presented some challenges. It is also near a big, local park that is very busy with residents playing soccer, volleyball, tennis, basketball jogging and even learning tango dancing. The kids and I have gone running there and enjoyed the neighbourhood vibe.
Airy and bright in Bologna
Sep 21, 2019
Bologna is the “business” part of our trip — 5 days of baseball, for a potential article or book about the the internationalization of the sport.
The World Baseball Softball Confederation have organized the Europe/Africa Olympic qualifiers, split between stadiums in Bologna and Parma, here in Italy. Six teams qualified, five from Europe (Italy, Netherlands, Spain, the Czech Republic, and Israel) and one from Africa (South Africa, who I’d seen decisively clinch their berth at the African Championships in May).
This tournament is a round robin with no playoffs. The top team will earn one of only 6 spots at the Tokyo Games next July. The second place team will hang on for a chance at a final play-in berth next spring… although likely against very good squads from the Americas and Asia. The other four will have their Olympic dreams end.
I’d gambled staying in Bologna. Unfortunately, more of the games (and more that I’d like to see) are in Parma, which is only 30 minutes by fast train but tough to get to and back again for games that begin at 8pm and the last train that leaves at 11:30pm.
So while I wanted to see Italy play South Africa on Wednesday night in Parma, instead I attended Spain vs. Israel here in Bologna. It turned out well. The Parma game got rain delayed with it tied 4-4 in the 5th and then moved to Friday morning for completion. The rains held off here in Bologna, and Israel — with a roster of American-born players, many rushed into citizenship before the European championships a few weeks ago — won a pitcher’s duel with a 3-0 win. Danny Valencia (former Blue Jay) led the way with a 2-run homer and a sac fly.
The next day, we all attended the afternoon (1:30pm) game between South Africa and Spain. Another tight pitcher’s duel got blown open with a 5-run fifth inning by Spain. who won 7-1. I returned alone for the evening game, with Italy facing the Czech Republic. The stands were closer to half full, after the sparsely populated earlier games I’d watched. The Czechs scored first, but Italy quickly tied it 1-1 with a Chris Colabello (another former Blue Jay!) hitting a sac fly. He added 3 more runs with a homer in the third and Italy cruised to a 5-1 win. More shocking, in the other night game in Parma, Israel scored 6 quick runs and beat the top-ranked Dutch 8-1 to upset predictions of who would earn the berth in Tokyo.
Chris Colabello after Italy’s win over the Czech Republic
The next day, alas, the big games were in Parma, so we did a sojourn into the old city of Bologna (to visit a zoological and anthropological museum and buy AJ the rain jacket he forgot to pack!) and then I watched the erratic live streams of the key matches back at our suburban apartment in Bologna.
Italy won the rain-delayed game (starting at 11am) in weird fashion, scoring 6 runs in the top of the 10th inning (world baseball rules put runners on 1st and 2nd base in extra innings, but 6 runs is still a lot!) and then ending the game in the bottom of the inning with a dubious triple play (off the first batter!) when Rowan Ebersohn fouled a pitch off home plate that appeared to then hit his leg and roll into fair territory. The umpire didn’t see the ball hit his leg, the Italian catcher threw to third, who threw to second, who threw to first, and a video review was disallowed (you can’t review fair/foul calls) so the missed call stood. Game over.
That set up the biggest game of the tournament so far: Italy vs. Israel in Parma in a battle of undefeated teams. The winner would control their destiny. Israel flirted with danger, as Italy kept putting runners on base early. But Italy left 10 runners on base over the nine innings and had their hopes fall to pieces in the top of the 8th, after Chris Colabello got beaned and had to leave the game in the bottom of 7.
The dominant Italian pitcher Luis Lugo was removed after beaning the first Israeli batter (perhaps in retaliation), and then Pat Venditte (famed ambidextrous former major leaguer!) struggled to shut down the inning and had to be removed. A squeeze bunt muffed by Colabello’s replacement at first base gave Israel a 3-2 lead. Another muff by the shortstop loaded the bases. And then three straight singles by Israel added 5 more runs.
Italian fans were stunned. And the Italian team could muster nothing in their final two innings. Team Israel had taken control of the tournament and only needs to win one of its games versus the Czech Republic or South Africa (both lower ranked teams) to secure their ticket to Tokyo. The final game in Bologna, with Italy versus Netherlands, had promised to be the big match. Now it looks like it might be the playoff for second place and a last shot at the Olympics.
Sep 21, 2019
As of right now I am in Bologna, one of the top food destinations in Italy. Bologna
is a lot less touristy than all the other places I visited. I am staying in a residential area of Bologna so I am getting a sense of what living in Bologna might be like. In Bologna we have been relaxing and catching up on some sleep so there isn’t to much to write about other than a couple museum and a baseball game. The baseball game was an Olympic qualifying game with South Africa and Spain facing of.
