Hahah okay so FYI, I am in a lesser known town in the north of Italy called Bologna. Bologna is like an intermediate between a big city like Milan and quiet little village like Modena. That said, there is so much culture, history, art and cuisine to soak up in Bologna that I am surprised it is not infiltrated with tourists !
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| Fontana di Nettuno (aka Neptune's Fountain) |
I had been highly recommended to come to Bologna by my Portugese friend, Sofia, due to it's large population of young people. Bologna is home to the biggest university in the northern hemisphere and is also considered the very first university after being founded in 1088. It is ranked as one of the most liveable cities in Italy due to it's mix of old and new. It is famous for not only it's rich, religious and architectural history but also for it's food, most noteably the invention of quite possible the greatest pasta dish of all kind - spaghetti bolognese.
I arrived in Bologna yesterday afternoon and immeadiately got myself lost in the city. Now you know how when people say "they got themselves lost" in Italy, everyone goes "awww" or "wow" because it sounds so romantic, idyllic or adventurous? Yeah well no, not for me. I quite literally got myself lost in the city of Bologna minutes after stepping off the train. I walked around for about three hours with that godforesaken backpack on, walking up and down streets that all had names which sounded like they belonged to the long lost brothers of Mario and Luigi.
FINALLYYYY, I got to my accommodation which is a little B&B just outside the city centre and my house host quite amused told me I looked a tired hippie flight attendent with all my bags.
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| dancing life sized puppets? |
After regaining some mental and physical strength, I ventured back out to the main part of the town. It just so happens that it is "Celebration of Liberal Arts" week in Bologna, so the whole town square was closed off to traffic and there was heaps of market stalls and street performers. The smell of the Italian food mingled with the sound of festive music and children laughing really made the whole place feel so alive and joyful !
Today, I was quite unfortunately reminded that everything is closed on a Sunday, so the city was fairly quiet. However, that gave me a good opportunity to go see some of the main historical attractions of Bologna! I went to Basilica of San Domenico, which has a marble shrine to this saint decorated with statues by the likes of Michelangelo. I visited the Basilica of San Stefano which is a collection of four of the remaining seven churches where 'Pontius Pilate used the basin in the courtyard to wash his hands after condeming Christ to death'. I visited the Basilica di San Petronio, which I had no idea why it was famous so I decided to sneakily jump onto the end of an English speaking tour group and soon learnt that it was dedicated the to the city's patron saint and housed the largest sundial in the world.
I am astonished at the amount of churches there are in Italy and the pure dedication, effort and talent that has gone into building them. Everytime I walk into a church I am left breathless by the amount of detail that is in these buildings in honour of religious figures. Being someone who has never had or learnt about any partciular religion in depth, I find these 'offerings' quite astounding. Each time I walk into a church there are people on their knees praying to alters and I find their blind faith so beautiful. I went to an evening service yesterday afternoon and the quiet refletion and peacefulness that takes place when the choir sing is so serene.
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| view from the top of the tower :) |
I also climbed the 498 steps of the Tower of Asinelli, which gave me a panoramic view of the city of Bologna with it's terracotta roofs and massive Piazza Maggiore.
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| taking a well deserved break |
I swear to god, by the end of this holiday I will have thighs which rival Arnold Schwarzenegger and buns of steel from all the towers and staircases I have been climbing !
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| Asinelli is the right in the middle- one of the tallest in Italy! |
There are actually many towers built in Bologna and the Asinelli Tower is the tallest of them all. It's 'partner' is Garisenda Tower which is a leaning tower (just like in Pisa!), except it is much much taller !
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| Bon apetite! |
To finish my day, I indulged in the national past time of Europe- people watching. After enjoying myself a delicious bowl of the town's famous spaghetti bolognese (mouth watering-ly good !) , I sat on the steps of the Piazza Maggiore and watched the world go by as I enjoyed a yummy nutella and mango gelati
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