Whew - jet lag and so much walking

AIRPLANE, TRAIN, WALKING (Monday and Tuesday)
Our journey from home to Bologna went off without much trouble. I forgot my passport at home and had to go back for it, but we were in time to catch our plane, and everything else was pretty smooth. We flew into Dublin, and it was fun to hear Irish accents and some Irish language being spoken. After a layover we flew to Milan, caught a shuttle bus to the train station, and took the fast train to Bologna. Then we walked to a bookstore-cafe near the Two Towers and had a sandwich. Our friend Pietro met us there and, on his scooter, carried one of our bags to our apartment in Murri (south-east of the central part of Bologna). We walked from the towers to Murri, which was a lot of unaccustomed walking, but good for us. We met our hostess, Roberta, and had dinner at the apartment with her and Pietro and Cinzia. It was so good to see them again. Since we hadn't slept on the plane, we went to bed.
WALKING, WALKING, WALKING (Wednesday)
The following day we tried to register with the Questura (declare that we are residing in Italy). The confused-looking policemen directed us to an office across the street, which was, of course, closed for the day. We did a lot of shopping for electronics at Comet, then went to Iliad and bought SIM cards for our phones. We toured the neighborhood where we stayed last year, and went to Cinius to look at interesting beds. Then we walked back to the apartment. In the evening we went out to dinner with our friends Lynn and David, the pianists (and composer) couple who are performing our concert on November 6. The food was great, but by this time it was just TOO MUCH WALKING for one day. It is a 40-minute walk one way from the apartment to the center of Bologna, and we had made three round-trips! However, it is wonderful to be in Bologna again. We like it here.
CRASHING and SALA BORSA (Thursday)
We spent much of Thursday napping and talking to Roberta, who is a former singer and now teaches voice in addition to another administrative day job. We also spent some time getting our new Italian SIM cards to work as hot spots for our computers. In the evening we went to the Sala Borsa library where we are volunteering to speak English to people who need to practice their English skills. There was some kind of miscommunication, so we re-registered as volunteers and had an apertivo and dinner at F.G. Pasquini, near the Comet store. We strolled home, enjoying the nice weather and the sights.
​THE QUESTURA AGAIN AND ACCADEMIA FILARMONICA (Thursday)
Our second try to register with the police as a failure; we had the right office but were now told that we should register online. We hope that works. Italian bureaucracy has a reputation for being nightmarishly complex and hard to understand. We are beginning to grasp the truth of that. We stopped at the Accademia Filarmonica and had a lovely time talking to Laura Maccanti, the segreteria, a very energetic, knowledgeable person with excellent English, thank goodness. The Sala Mozart has a very good piano and the acoustics are perfect; I could not find a dead spot anywhere in the audience area.