Day 2 Ravenna...nothing we expected

 Day 2 started off...we had high hopes.  The sun was shining it was going to be a warm day we were ready to go and see the Mosaics and churches and experience what Ravenna is all about.  So our B&B has a nice continental breakfast with cereal, croissants, meat, cheese, bread, yogurt fruit etc.  And they will make you an espresso or cappuccino.  I had a croissant with cheese & meat and a banana with nutella and a nice cappuccino.  Ronnie and I then embarked for the mosaics.  First stop was Duomo.  It was a gorgeous church but we did not see where you got tickets for the mosaics etc.  So we just looked around.  

We then left and saw the next stop was listed just around the corner.  So around the corner we went and well....

Due to the storms and flooding etc, everything is closed.  And I mean everything.  We started just looking up random museums on the map and they were listed as closed.  So all of our great plans, we now had none for the day.  So it was off to next favorite thing to do in Italy behind eating and going to churches, just wander around and see what happens.

Our new favorite spot- Dante Alegheri Plaza ( not sure that is what it is called but we just kept ending up back here even with everything closed.  People watching was fantastic.  The families out with their little ones just riding bikes, kicking the ball, playing and having fun with other little ones.  It was so great to see.  

We then realized the church in the square was open...so might as well take a gander inside and light a few candles.  It was San Francesco, as with all the churches, it was gorgeous.  There is even a goldfish pond underneath the alter.  

of course San Antonio

And this really cool animated Presepio.  The wise men bow, Mary covers and uncovers Jesus.  In the back lightening flashes and Angels appear.  

We then began to wander as usual and found a cute restaurant tucked away, definitely for the locals.  They were making fresh pasta, we could see the meats they were cutting through the window, they had steaming large bowls of soup enough to share.  We got the chicken cesear salad and a pizza con cotto e funghi.  We could not finish either, but it is just so amazing how fresh and delicious all the food is, and how cheap all the food is everywhere we go.  

Again, we had nothing to do but walk and where did we end up....another church off Pizza De Populare.  

yes San Antonio again.  

I just can never get over the beauty.

We headed in for our afternoon nap and then back out for a nice long walk.  We did get to the water way and walk around the area, plus we got to see where the train station was and how long it would take us to get there in the morning!

A nice leisurely stroll back to the center of Ravenna- at least our center to continue our evening.  I found what seemed like a cool place called Pont'Aurea.  Ok bad google.  It brought us past was looks like an old prison or maybe what is not a military area to this empty field.  Oh well...we needed our steps in for the day  LOL.

As we headed back we saw the only mosaics I have seen in Ravenna on the wall of the Military building.  

We were again in our favorite Piazza and stopped for an aperitivo- I had a Hugo Spritz, Ronnie and Old Fashioned and they served us some fantastic little snacks: fried balls of yummy goodness, bruschetta, and a little omelet piece.  

We then decided to get lost again to find a place for dinner.  We ended up over by all the really high end shops and guess what was open...the National Museum of Ravenna.  Now we had about 10 minutes to go through the items, but it was open- at least the outside part was.  

At least it was not a total loss for the Ravenna history for the 2 days.  We did see something of value.  

Finally we were ready for dinner and settled on a Japanese place.  So glad we did.  The food was phenomenal.  We started for a raw tuna appetizer.  Ronnie had a steak and mango dish, I had a BBQ pork dish.  My goodness I cannot even begin the describe the flavors.  Ronnie's steak with the mango was so unexpectedly delicious.  Never thought of those 2 in combination before.  But it went so well together.  And the BBQ pork- it was a rib and it was so well seasoned and delicious.  The meat was cook so well it just fell off the bone.  AMAZING.  Ronnie had a Japanese beer, I had hot sake.  The meal was perfect and again, so well priced for white tablecloth service.  

On the way back to the room we stopped for a sweet treat of sfoiletelle and frutta di bosca cheesecake.  both bite sized and again, both amazing!!!!  The cream had an almond flavor to it and paired so well with the chocolate, not too sweet at all.  The cheesecake was a great soft consistency.  

A sweet end to a sweet day with my sweetheart.  Now off to sleep for a new adventure tomorrow with the trains in Italy!  Hopefully nothing is under water and we have a nice seamless transition.