Like a few of my peers, I felt that my first impression of Bologna wasn’t all that great—the closed up shops and quiet streets had little to offer, and the fact that we had just traveled from one city to the next had me downright exhausted. However, my opinion began to change when we reached our restaurant of choice for the night (which I unfortunately can’t remember the name of), where I decided to splurge a bit and order a 20 euro meal— Lobster and linguine that was definitely worth the money.

Afterwards, my group and I decided to go to—at Dr. O’Connor’s recommendation, of course—one the best gelato places in the city. Knowing he would never recommend a falso gelato shop, I trusted his judgement and kept an open mind. The shop was definitely the real deal, with stainless steel containers and visible prices. The cashier seemed very willing to speak with me in English, which I thought was very kind of him. The gelato itself was probably the best gelato I had on the trip, which was definitely saying a lot! All in all, I’m really glad we stopped in!

So, the final verdict: Awesome.

I began to see why it was known as “The Fat City” because their food, especially their famous bolognese sauce, is to die for. This just goes to show that first impressions really don’t mean all that much in the long run.