Orientation Day

Piazza Maggiore before the demonstration (spectaccolo)
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It really was easy to get here. My hotel is very contemporary and in a great location, and my room is very efficient, meaning I think it’s smaller than our bathroom in FL. I decided to try to stay awake and after a ham, rocket and cheese piadina (sort of like a panini exxcept instead of bread it’s made with a thin pancake - local specialty), I wandered to the Piazza Maggiore. It turned out that a walking tour was starting ten minutes after I arrived which was a great way to get oriented. It also happened that today was “fuck you” day, and there was a huge demonstration/concert protesting parliament’s high salaries and poor performance. People stood in line to sign petitons, waved signs and generally cartried on. Maybe it’s time we had a fuck you day.

Fruit Market
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At one time there were over 200 towers here.Most were destroyed, but 2 leaning towers remain. The tall one is 7’ out of true (I’ll climb it one day,) and the short one is 10’ out of true. It was so dangerous, that the top was lopped off. Our guide brought us to a spot to photograph them, but they were entirely in the shade, so I’ll have to shoot themsome morning We went into the Palzzo Communale where we had a great view of all the people in the square, and we walked through Collezioni Communali d’Arte which housed the cardinal’s collection. Nice room.

Very happening in Bologna

Salumeria
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It’s very medieval here. We saw Santo Stefano (church) built rorm the 8th - 12th centuries to replicate seven holy sitesof jerusalem. some relics of Bolognese martyrs are here. PArt of the city are built on top of Rman ruins, and the Roche Bobois store has orignal colums inside and below the floor is the orignal Via Emilia (road.)

I knew that the universtiy here is the oldest in Europe, but I didn’t know that there are 100,000 students in Bologna. It feels very young and happening, sort of like the BU area of Boston. There are alos wonderful market streets surrounding Piazza maggiore - beautiful fruit and flowers and slumeria with pasta, cheese and meats. Our guide pointed out a gelateria at the beginning of the tour. The spectaccolo made it hard to find my way back tthere because I had to walk all the way around the square, but I prevailed. I didn’t think I’d find gelato better than Sienna’s, but Gianni’s here is fabulous.

Piazza Maggiore from the Palazzo Communale
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I can’t beleive I’m still awake. Foraging for food for dinner was frustrating. The city is so crowded (I don’t know if it’s always like this on Sat. nite, or if it’s because of the demonstration) that there were hour long waits everywhere. I finally found a trattoria with an empty table, sat down and realized that the food was Japanese - not what I had in mind. I ended up at a little bar/cafe across the street from the hotel and had delicious lasagne bolognese and prosciutto and melon which was molto buono. I forgot that Parma is near here. I also tried a wine iI never heard of - Farlanghina (sounds like that religion that the Chinese have banned) which is really good.

Collezione Communali d'Arte
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Tomorrow I think I’ll take a train to Ravenna and maybe study a little before my test Monday morning.