More than two years ago, we visited Bologna for the first time. While we had a wonderful time during our few days in town, our visit was cut short because my dad got sick. We have been awaiting our return to this beautiful city to enjoy its charms.
Pasta, Interrupted
It was on the train to Bologna from Trieste that I got a despondent call from my father two years ago. It was the middle of the night for him and he was feeling quite ill and felt he wasn’t getting enough attention from the night nursing staff. He wanted me to return to California to help.
He got checked into the hospital shortly after he called us. Initially, it seemed that my father may have been in renal failure. Although we just arrived in Bologna for an extended stay, we made plans to come to him. Eventually, we learned his expensive concierge doctor had managed to prescribe medication that overly depleted his salt (!@#$) and the fix was a simple saline drip. Even so, we had to cut our Bologna plans short.
Getting There
Fast forward two years. We were excited to get back to Bologna to see some of the things we missed the first time around. I found a nonstop from Cluj, Romania on Wizz Air, one of the European discount airlines. I’m happy to report the flight was uneventful. No bags were lost or harmed in the movement between cities, although the check-in counter did take quite a while to get through. Cluj even had a decent lounge to hang out in pre-flight.
Arriving in Bologna was uneventful, too. We grabbed a ride with Bolt and the driver took us towards our city-center rental. I say towards because it was a Sunday and the street we were on was pedestrian-only at that time, so he was only able to get us within a long block of the apartment. From there, we had to go on faith, with our United-damaged luggage in tow, towards our building where we hoped to find a rep to let us into our rental, which, happily, we did.
Our Flat
Our last stay in Bologna was not far from our new flat, but our new one was much better. The last one had cat scratches (read, pet dander) on the couch and the bed and chairs were very uncomfortable. Since then, we have resolved to pay up for better quality digs. Although far from perfect, our new flat was better located, had more room and better, though still not great, places to rest our bones.
Another minor challenge was the eight or so stairs we had to negotiate with our bags just to get to the wire-frame, original equipment elevator that had been retrofitted into any several hundred-year-old building. Even though the listing said there was an elevator, they never mentioned the non-ADA route to get to the elevator. There was also a step inside the apartment we had to be wary of and a second step into the loo. We were both a bit on edge trying to ensure we didn’t become a victim when entering the apartment or going to the bathroom in the middle of the night.
One unexpected “feature” of our flat was the circuit breaker. The first time it went off, I thought perhaps there was a block- or city-wide issue. I went into the hall and luckily ran into a neighbor. She said her power was fine and was kind enough to show me into the bowels of the building to find the breaker to reset, at which point everything started working again. Over time, we determined we couldn’t power more than three appliances at a time. So we often had a dance between our AC units, oven, dishwasher, microwave, toaster, kettle, washing machine, and stove. The breakfast scene from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang comes to mind.
The very best part of our apartment was its location. We were literally across from the Piazza Maggiore, the huge piazza with city hall and the cathedral. In the other direction were beautiful porticos and lots of shopping between our apartment and the train station. This turned out to be one of the coolest locations that we stayed at during this year’s summer sojourn.
Bologna Revisited
On our last visit to Bologna, we managed to check out some of the local sites and get some great food. This time, we more or less picked up where we left off. One special treat was getting a personal tour from our friends and Bolognese natives Joe and Jane, late of Grenoble, who were in town for a month. We enjoyed walking around, hanging out, and learning from them. They enjoyed the trip down memory lane with old flats, schools, and hangouts. Good times.
Portico di San Luca
UNESCO recognizes Bologna for the many kilometers of porticos all around town. The construction of the porticos was mandated by the city for a time. Rain was forecast for the day we met with Joe and Jane and I asked Joe if he needed to borrow an umbrella. Joe replied, “Of course not, just walk under the porticos!” This is fine advice until one wants to cross the street.
The grandest portico of all the is Portico di San Luca. Starting from the sanctuary of San Luca which sits on a hill on the edge of town, the portico runs down to the edge of downtown, over 9km in total. Sitting about 1000 feet above the city and surrounding valley, the sanctuary provides some great views. The only ways to get there are by grabbing a ride, taking the tourist train, or walking under the Portico di San Luca.
It was hot pretty every day during our stay in Bologna and this day was no exception. We chose to take the train up and walk down under the portico, which was a pretty cool experience. There are 15 shrines along the route and varied views of the surroundings, breaking up the columns that seem to go on forever. We hoped to grab the train back to town from the bottom, but the schedule was infrequent and the only one we did see was full and didn’t stop to pick us up. Thankfully, we had a multi-trip bus pass with us to take us back the rest of the way to our apartment. I enjoyed the overall experience, but once is probably enough for me.
Il Cinema Ritrovato
Unbeknownst to us, we aligned our three-week stay with an annual classic film festival hosted in Bologna. For a couple of months in the summer, the Piazza Maggiore showcases classic films for free every night at 9 pm, in addition to screenings in local theaters. The program is fairly diverse, and films are subtitled in Italian, naturally.
As I don’t understand Italian well enough to watch a film, I chose to watch Everything, Everywhere, All At Once one night. The screening was preceded by a long interview onstage with one of the producers. While it was fun to listen to, I was happy when the film finally started.
What I hadn’t counted on was the parts of the dialog in Mandarin (and subtitled in Italian, naturally). It wasn’t a big problem since I knew the story from watching the film earlier. A bigger problem for me was the free, hard plastic seats that had been set up. My back could only take it for about an hour into the film before I had to give up. Still, it was pretty cool to be there.
The Bologna Massacre
Another unexpected event was the annual observance of the worst terror attack on Italian soil, the Bologna Massacre. A bomb exploded in the Bologna Centrale Train Station at 10:25 am on August 2nd, 1980, killing 85 people and wounding over 200. Several members of the neo-fascist terrorist organization Nuclei Armati Rivoluzionari (NAR, Armed Revolutionary Nuclei) were sentenced for the bombing, although the group denied involvement and there are many alternative theories about who is responsible.
Our flat happened to have a good, if narrow view of the parade that formed that day to march in commemoration of the event. Many civic leaders and townspeople took part.
Museo Davia Bargellini
Perhaps because of museum fatigue from prior weeks in the region, we only made an effort to get to one museum in town, the Museo Davia Bargellini, which happened to be free of charge. It houses an interesting collection of portraits and furnishings.
Which festival would you like to attend?
