Bologna

Greetings! This past weekend was our first IES sponsored trip to Bologna. Bologna is a large city in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. First established by the Etruscans and then conquered by the Romans, Bologna is located in the Po River Valley and is famous for its great food, education, and art.

Bologna is a more modern city then Siena. It’s bustling with tourists, students, as well as buses and trolley cards. The architecture in the city is beautiful. Bologna has more arches than any other city in Italy. No traces of marble exist because marble quarries are not found in the Emilia-Romagna region. Instead, everything is constructed out of terracotta, red brick, and sandstone. These materials, plus the abundance of heavy red curtains to keep out the sun and heat in the summer, give the city a warm feel.

I enjoyed the city of Bologna and it’s nice to venture outside of Siena. However, each time I leave my quaint medieval town, I am very happy to come back. Bologna is dirty and polluted. There is graffiti and litter everywhere. It also as a seedy underbelly with many streets you are advised to avoid. Nevertheless I had a great trip and saw a lot of interesting sites.

DAY 1—

On the first day we took a tour of the city. We visited the main piazza Piazza Maggiore to visit the City Hall and the Basilica di San Petronio. In the Basilica we caught a glimpse of the largest zodiac sundial in the world. We also visited Europe’s oldest university-- Bologna’s law university—that was originally established to help settle disputes between the city and the Papacy. The university tour was particularly interesting. It continues to attract students from all over the world and the tradition continues that one student representative from each country has his or her family shield painted on the ceiling or hung on the wall of the university. We also viewed a classroom in which human dissections took place. It was a beautiful wood-paneled room with high ceilings and sculpted busts of famous scientists like Galileo and Socrates.

Our tour the first day also took us by the many negozi d’alimentari “food shops”. Wonderful fruit and vegetable stands, fish markets, and whole stores devoted to pasta, meats or cheese lined the streets. Like Siena’s Wednesday mercato, these stores were bustling with locals purchasing their food for the week.

DAY 2—

We started day two with more touring of Medieval Bologna. We visited the Medieval Civic Museum. What I liked about this museum and many of the places we saw on our tours is that the art was not dripping with religious symbolism and history. The focus was much more on the university and education system. Professors at the university were revered. They dressed very well and part of tuition money went towards buying the professors gifts. Lavish tombs were also constructed to bury professors that had died. Bologna’s university was important economically to the city because students coming to Bologna needed food, clothing and places to stay. During one revolt and boycott of the university, the students fled Bologna and the economy suffered.

After the tour we climbed 480 steps to the top of Bologna’s highest tower, Torre degli Asinelli. It was an exhausting climb but the views made the climb absolutely worthwhile. We were lucky to have been there on such a beautiful, clear day.

At the end of the day I went to the modern art museum. In NYC it’s called the MOMA. In Bologna it’s MAMBO. I will never understand modern art. I keep giving it second chances, but it is just too weird to me. However I saw some interesting photography as well as some great Andy Warhol stuff. Some of the exhibit bordered on pop art so it wasn’t a complete waste.

Dinner on the second night was fabulous. We had really great penne with a Bolognese sauce, followed by delicious arrosto (beef) and potatoes.

DAY 3—

On the last day in Bologna we went to “La vecchia scuola bolognese” (the old Bologna school) to take a cooking class. We learned to make tortellini—famous in Bologna--- as well as a linguini type pasta called tagliatelli. Making pasta is simpler than I thought it’d be. The dough requires only egg and flour. You kneed it together until it forms the right consistency and then it sits for a short while in the dark. In the next stage the dough is rolled into thing sheets. Our instructor was impressed with my rolling skills and showed me a bit more advanced technique. After she demonstrated the proper way to fold tortellini. Our reward for the day was eating all the pasta we ourselves had created. It was delicious.

The trip to Bologna was great. We all had so much fun and the 14 of us became a closer group. I can’t wait for the next trip to Milan. It should be just as great. If not better!

Don’t forget to check out my photos

-Gio