Bologna, Italy - 2019
- keloweelee
- May 6, 2019
- 5 min read
This would end up being an entire series of my trip to Italy, ones focused on places to visit and some dedicated to food (of course). I'm quite proud of myself - I paid a lot more attention to details this time round (or more like, I tell my friends to remember on my behalf but same difference) and I'm pretty excited, so here goes!
We would have wanted to visit more of Italy but I have a job now (yay money, nay responsibilities and lack of flexibility) and I could only take that many days off, so we spent two full days in Bologna, a day in Cesena, yet another two and a half days in Venice and half a day visiting a small island called Murano. Let's begin with: Bologna.
The Italian Tax
We didn't know this tax existed when we booked our flight tickets but only when our Airbnb host sends an extra invoice to charge us for urm... existing in Italian grounds. It's pretty confusing because they kinda want tourist but they also kinda can't say no to us because tourism = moneyyyyy. I would have really appreciated if I was warned prior to clicking "yes" to paying a whole lump sum for my air tickets just to be told that "hey, you'd be paying more!". Just like a cute heads up, you know, like "gotta pay for breathing our air you know what i'm sayin, gurl". Anyway. Everyday in Bologna was €2/3 per person depending on how many there were in the room, whereas in Venice it was €4.50 per person per day (I read somewhere that it would be increasing to €10 in Summer so yay us).
It Gets Dark
Not trying to paint a picture of a horror/thriller film but let's just say Bologna is a much better experience when it's bright and sunny and during the day. We stayed in an Airbnb that's about half an hour bus ride away from town, so we made sure to go home earlier than we usually would (it's also helpful to have guys around). It's a rather small town, so you'd have the main attractions gathered in one place (where all the branded stores were and where we pretended to be rich) and the rest of the town was eerily quiet (and like the rest of this side of the world, shop closes relatively early). If you chose to stay nearer to town, then everything (everything exciting anyway) is within walking distance. But even if you chose to stay slightly further, the bus routes are pretty straightforward - you just have to buy your bus tickets from Tobacco stores (which were everywhere; a single ticket from the store is €1.30, buying it on the bus is €1.50 and if you'd be on the bus more often, you can opt for a 10-in-1 ticket for €12), hop on and validate it with a grey machine (which swallows and vomits your ticket out with a stamp - yay validation).
Highlights
1. Sanctuary of the Madonna di San Luca
It's a simple basilica church situated on a hill above 300m above the city and is reachable via a footpath that's about 3.8km long (with many, many, many x39 storeys of stairs) - beautifully sheltered by perfectly symmetrical arcades (666 arches to be exact). I wish the entire route up was better maintained so people now can enjoy the paintings and the architecture of it all, but unfortunately most of it (like most of Bologna) was quite old and run-down :( If you're too tired from the many many steps, there are paintings (which were in cages lol) to read and appreciate on the way up. There are also many people walking their doggos.
If you're not one to hike or walk or climb, there is also the express train - we didn't hop on it only because we didn't know where it starts/stops and it was quite pricey but it was fun to wave at the people in the train while we're panting all the way up to the church.
2. Piazza Maggiore
This was basically the hangout spot of Bologna - where young and old, locals and tourists, lay men and performers alike gather. Everything revolved around this square - quite literally, you'd be venturing into different streets thinking you've teleported to a different side of town just to turn into this square once again. There's nothing to dislike about it though - you have obscure and obscene fountains (I'd let the picture do the talking), break dancers warming up, clowns resting by the edge of the stairs, couples fighting - couples making up, doggos; so many doggos, and of course, the police - and gelato. What's not to like. I'm not going to pretend I did my research or know everything, here is the list of buildings that essentially make up the square - it was apparently the place where death sentences were decided and announced (I'm pretty sure there were many more joyous occasions, this just stood out to me most). These events were from hundreds of years ago and the human race has definitely progressed since and yet we still have debates over the death sentences, I will not impose my personally stands, but it makes you think, doesn't it - when someone from the year 3517 writes about 2019, what do you want them to know?
3. Old Libraries
There were many libraries and bookstores in Bologna, they were nice to look at but we couldn't get much out of it because everything was in Italian (or because the buildings were physically under construction). We only had time to visit one though, because we were too busy eating (which I'm excited to write another post about!), which was the Archiginnasio of Bologna. There were areas which required extra entrance fees but most of the building was free, it was rustic, old, beautifully detailed. Wikipedia suggests that it's one of the most important buildings in Bologna and was once the main building of the University of Bologna.
If you had the time to spare, Bologna is a nice visit - especially because it was also cheaper than a bigger city. Not gonna lie, there was a small racist incident (when a guy just looked at me and said "ni hao!" in the most condescending manner possible - small but mean nonetheless) and there was this huge group of male tourists just staring at my friend when she wore a skirt; and one of my friends got pickpocketed as well - I can't say these things don't happen anywhere else, you just have to be mindful of your surroundings and take care of your belongings. Those unfortunate events aside, Bologna would probably offer more of an "authentic Italian experience" - where you struggle to communicate what you want because of that language barrier (although most people do speak English) compared to the larger cities that has been wildly modified to accommodate tourists (e.g. Chinese menus). It has beautifully symmetrical arcades everywhere you go - look up once in a while (although it hurts the neck a bit) and adore the delicate art.
This would be a rather short entry, also because the Italian experience is one centred around food (which is the main reason why it's worth going), so stay tuned for stories about ham and cheese and wine and more ham and cheese and wine.
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