We stopped in Bologna on the recommendation of a good friend of ours. He had been and really enjoyed it so we thought we'd give it a go. We stopped for two days and, at times, that seemed like too much time. Bologna can be seen in a good solid day and we half wished we could have rented a car to drive around the countryside for the second one. We had a short trip from Venice and found our hotel without much of a problem. This one was much nicer than the previous one in Venice. The hallways didn't smell and there was internet for a reasonable price.
We took a walk around the ring road around the city to stretch our legs and check out all of the piazzas. Some were dedicated to war soldiers and others to famous people from the city. It struck me as interesting that we were standing here staring a war memorials in a country that lost one of the most decisive wars of the 20th century. The city's sidewalks were unusual in that they were all covered sidewalks under the buildings second floor. This made it nearly impossible to look at the buildings as we walked. Most of the buildings had a red clayish color.
Bologna is full of churches. The first one we visited was the Basilica of San Stefano. It dates back to the 8th century and has a white, light feel inside. It is a round building with white walls and dark wood inside. Later we visited the San Petronio Basilica, the most famous church in Bologna. It is located on the main square, Piazza Maggiore, and has a lot of construction going on to get it ready for a big anniversary. The first stone was laid in 1390 so a cleaning is due. Inside is a meridian line with astrological symbols and some sculptures by the great Donatello. An old man who worked there was quite insistent that I remove my hat for some reason. I saw plenty of people walking around wearing hats in the church. The church is large and open on the inside and is decorated with lavish paintings.
In the northern part of the city is a park and some really fancy steps. It was the first thing we saw and we walked around to it to take some pictures. The park at the top seemed a little seedy and I'm pretty sure we saw some drug deals going down.
Bologna is famous for the two towers in the picture above. They are but a small fraction of the possible 180 towers that existed in the city before the 12th century. Their purpose isn't clear but historians agree that most of the towers were demolished in the 13th century. These two still remain and are unanimously considered to be the symbols of the city. Both are leaning and date back to the early 12th century. Over the years, the towers have been prisons, seen lightning strikes that have caused fire and collapsing, and scientists conducting experiments on the rotation of the earth.
The other part of the city we had to visit was the area with the university. Built in 1088, it is the oldest university in Europe and the oldest operating university in the world. Most of the buildings are old on the outside but have all the signs of modern student life. There were tons of posters for concerts, roommates needed, furniture for sale, language lessons for new arrivals needing to learn some Italian, etc. It was great and I can't imagine how awesome it would be to attend classes in buildings that have been around almost a millennium.
Foodwise, Bologna is famous for its cuisine. It is the gastronomic capital of Italy. The first day we had some pizza for dinner and did some searching for a good restaurant. On the second day, we had some wonderful pizza and the people who sold it to us showed us how much better it is to buy two slices and fold them together to eat. We found a wonderful little restaurant with Michelin stars on the door called Teresina. We each had some great pasta starters and a beef main course with parmesan mashed potatoes. The decor was a bunch of imitation pieces of impressionist art and created a great ambiance. From Bologna, we caught the train one stop to Florence.
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