The fair is ended. Like all finished parties, the mood is a little bad. The other days the hotel was full of people and friends (and late night games were setted in the hall), this morning we are alone in the breakfast room. I see the desk and only 7 keys aren’t in position on 114 rooms. Mondays are always empty of holidays mood.

We want some souvenir of Modena’s food so we find a local supermarket and spent 150 euros in aceto, gnocchi fritti and other cholesterol sources.

On the road to home there is Bologna and the Museo Memoriale della Libertà (Memoir of Liberty Museum). It is a place with a private collection of vehicles like this Sherman (it is still in order) that you maybe watched in “La vita è bella” flick.
There is even a place with sequential rooms where was in action animated scenes about WWII in Bologna. Very suggestive and with real deactivated weapons.
The museum was closed but it opened for us. The guardian is a picturesque ex soldier of fortune of Algeria and Indochina wars. We woke him after a night shift…
More here

Near the museum there is Fabio and his headquarters.

I took some pictures in his office. Instead of the real work about software and pharmacology you can see little soldiers everywhere. And some previews about his TB Line. They are real photos, the office is invaded by these little things.

And here there is my viaduct, blocked. Too many things to do in these days. I told it goodbye, I will see you in the following months.

After this visit, Fabio offered us a heavy dinner on the hills around Bologna. I ate crescentine until my stomach permitted it. Thanks Fabio!

Five hours after I was at home, a little tired… next stop is for Agliana, next Sunday!

Play Modena is a huge convention about boardgames, and wargames too. This year we went to Modena for a 4 days tour! We stayed in this hotel, a building with 114 rooms!

The first day a tourist trip around the city. It was he first time I saw it. Beautiful but very small, I’m from Roma, another thing. Here you can see the Duomo with his campanile dressed like a Tetris for refurbishment work.

I ate a lot in these days. Modena cousin is famous. The first night in a posh restaurant: polenta, quaglia eggs, vinegar and cheese.

And after: tortelloni with pumpkin inside.

At the convention we ate tigelle with a mixture of garlic, lard and grana cheese!

Saturday was a hard day to found some place not overcrowded. At last we ate a great pizza. Mine with salty ricotta and small tomatoes.

Sunday night it was very calmer. A lot of people was on the way to home. So we ate in city centre where someone from Ganesha told us about a beautiful waitress. He was fucking right.
We ate tagliatelle with prosciutto and porcini mushrooms, boiled rice with vinegar and grana, tortelloni with asparaguses.

And to end the night this light combination of cream and chocolate.

+ Libri + Liberi (more books more freedom) is a manifestation about books from small publishers. They are almost 6-7 years that this manifestation is holding in Rome. It is an occasion to know publishers out of their regional borders (there is always a interesting Sardinian presence, but they aren’t the only ones) and buy a pile of book that you cannot easily find in bookshops. And for publishers an occasion to meet readers and know the tendency of the market. This is the first time with a section on ebooks. The world is changing…

I spent half of the day with my friend Franci (she is pretty, isn’t she?) along the shelves. I bought a book with photos of Gladiator relieves and one about an Italian medieval treatise on sword fighting. I even added two small books on the underground Pitagoric temple in Rome and on Costantine’s arch.

This building was intended for the universal exposition of Rome in 1942 (EUR1942). Wrong year to organise something. It maintains the architectural style of Fascism together with the later ’50 style.

In the evening there was another presentation (with buffet) of a book on vegan recipes written by two friends of mine: Paolo e Alessandra, just married a year ago!

Some food before hungry devastated all! All you can eat for only 10 euros. And the evening went on chatting with friends.

I have got a magic card that open the doors of exclusive fairs. This one (3 hangars big) is about bread, ice-cream, pizza, fried foods and all these sort of things. https://www.pabogel-expo.com/

Entry at 30euros, but me, erPetra and erMandola swarm inside for free. And free were a lot of food. We start with ice-cream, than coffee, pizza at industrial rates, mozzarella di bufala, fried and coffee again. Without shame.
This fair is for people into the restaurant business and it is a good opportunity to know what is on the market.
An international competition about pizza makers was on and pizzas were cooked continually. I wished I had 4 stomachs. All good food.
Some fun things: at a Neapolitan cafeteria 2 girls were showing their outriggers in an outrageous way to make taste a type of coffee; another Neapolitans showed ovens with a microphone like if they were on a market; one label of prepared food for restaurants have a delicate and beautiful girl at the bench and a gigantic photo of a bikini girl on the advertising after her; some fried food was ugly; rotating ovens for pizza cooked with wood; electric boilers for pasta to cook in bars; a competition on acrobatic pizza was on but I hope that I never eat something so handed!