We had a wonderful stay! Maria was warm, friendly and was very helpful. She stocked the refrigerator with fruit and water (thank you!) and was there to greet us and give us pointers on where to go and what to see.

It turns out that this may not have been the best time to visit Bologna. Many of the shops and restaurants were closed. According to Maria, it was not uncommon for this to be when the Italians went on vacation. Regardless, we had a wonderful time and would come back again in a heartbeat. And we would want to stay here again!

We walked everywhere or took the train. From the airport, we took the bus and then walked. If you are travelling as a family, I would recommend skipping the bus and taking a taxi - it will cost you about the same (around 24 euros).

The weather was warm, but pleasant. We are from Texas, so maybe it was easier for us. Maria had fans for each room - between this and leaving the "doors" open, we were very comfortable. She also offered a dehumidifier, but we did not use it.

The apartment was very comfortable for the 4 of us - but I could see having up to 6 people comfortably - Maria even has a crib! The apartment has 2 bedrooms, bath, kitchen and a living room. It has good natural light and the doors open to a small courtyard below. The apartment is on the 2nd floor, but there is a small elevator which made it easy to bring luggage up and down.

We also took advantage of the washing machine! It helped us pack less and Maria had a drying rack that we could lay everything out on to dry. I recommend planning ahead since the washing machine is smaller than American machines and I had to do 2 loads, which took longer than I had planned.

As for the location - you really could NOT ask for better! Everything was within walking distance and we enjoyed exploring the nearby areas. As I mentioned earlier, the train station is nearby (15 minute walk) and we took day trips to Parma and Florence. If you want to take the train, I recommend buying your tickets in advance to make sure the train you want is not full.

Oh, and most importantly (for our kids), the apartment has Wi-Fi. We did not activate our phones for use in Europe, so it was easy to contact Maria via email, if I needed to.

Oh, and did I mention the place was CLEAN!

You won't regret choosing this location!