June 25 Bologna

My notes for the remainder of our stay are sketchy. The many photographs are helping me to remember. Basically Bologna is known for the color red. When reading about it the romance connected with the many shades of red went swimming through my brain. Yes there are many shades of red in the buildings and the arches that dominate the architecture. On the other hand the centuries of wear and tear on buildings and neighborhoods are equally prominent. It's not a bad thing its just not the fantasy land that the books and promotion fliers imply.

The city started in the 6^th century BC as the capital of the Etruscan Po Valley. Its name changed during those early centuries depending on what group got control. During the 12^th century wealthy families built towers to commemorate themselves. I saw a model in one of the museums of 12^th century Bologna where towers dotted the cityscape. There are still many towers but apparently whoever maintained control over the remaining centuries destroyed most of them to show their power of control. Often it was the papacy that destroyed monuments that honored families rather than the church.

Each morning we ate our breakfast in the Hotel Fiera. Peaches were ripe. My favorite and with Italian creamy yogurt... well I ate two peaches and a big glob of yogurt everyday. I also had hardboiled eggs and coffee. After that first day I skipped the deserts. They just weren't that interesting to eat even though visually they were very tempting. Often I would pinch an extra peach or some other fruit for a midmorning snack. My body could not wait until lunch most days without the shakes so a little food as I walked the streets got me through.

Richard did have obligations to the meetings but he spent some time touring the city and surroundings with me. The meetings provided lunch everyday for him. There was an opening reception that I attended and it was lovely. Tiny, beautifully decorated finger sandwiches presented in a little paper cup, nuts, and quarter size cream puffs filled with at least 6 different flavors as well a chilled white wine, water and juice. I tasted most of the sandwiches and they were delicious with little shrimps, salmon, rocket and more. I'm not keen on caviar so I passed those by. He said that for lunch they offered more of these little sandwiches, a pasta, desert, and wine, water. I sneaked in for lunch one of the days because he was touring museums with me and he wanted to eat lunch at the conference. I was hungry too. We had pasta, little sandwiches and wine. It was served buffet style. Nobody even noticed that I was there. The conference also had a big evening meal. I could have gone for about $80.00. I really didn't need all that food. The company would be computer scientists talking about their research and so I snacked on cheese, sausage and crackers in the hotel room. Richard said it was good but included a lot of specialties that we had already covered in our travels and that it was definitely too much food. My food loving guy even skipped a few courses. He did enjoy the conversations and had some interesting stories to share with me. Otherwise I lunched on pasta with red sauce at the university cafeteria one day and at thrice the price had a salad with mozzarella at a cute cafe on another day. On our last evening after we had packed all our stuff for the plane trip home we went back to the restaurant we had enjoyed our first night in Bologna. We were quite early this time and were the only customers at that early hour of 6:30. We order one pizza for two and a half litre of their sparking white wine. Perfect.

In planning our trip I had been advised by a book or some site on the Internet to buy a museum ticket which would admit me to a great number of the Bologna's museums. I soon learned that was not necessary because all but one of the museums I went to did not charge admission.

One of the most amazing museums was the Georgio Morandi museum. Finding it was a minor problem that I figured out by wandering in an out of buildings and then finally finding a sign. The museum exhibits 250 of the artist's oil paintings, watercolors, drawings and etchings. I arrive when it opened and was the only visitor during the time I toured. It was like a dream come true. I had begun looking at his work in 1980 and to actually see so much of his work was a highlight of this trip. Photography was allowed and I took lots of picture of the paintings etc. Some of them are a little blurry. No tripod. I had one but it is only six inches high and would not have worked for pictures at eye level.

Other unusual sites included Bologna's canals. They were visible via a window under a portico that I walked by the first time. I wasn't looking. I inquired at another museum and a woman explained careful how to find it. She seemed thrilled that I was interested in see it. Venice is famous for them but Bologna? When I peered through the window there it was with unassuming boats, clothes lines. One of Bologna's secrets.

Salsa Borsa is an Art Nouveau hall built at the end of the 19^th century. Currently it is the site of a library and extensive book and map sellers space. We had visited there on our first day but never noticed the glass floors because we never went to the middle of the building. We had skirted around the edge. The glass floors reveal a glimpse of the underground world of Roman and Etruscan Bologna. Tours are offered on an arranged basis to visit the underground locks, canals, and old remains. One of the clerks at our hotel tried twice to line up this tour for us but they could not find enough people to make a tour so we just looked through the glass.

The University of Bologna is woven in an around the city and many of the museums are part of the university. The Collegio di Spagna is a college founded in 1365 to house Spanish students. We came across it by accident. We were looking for an art museum that eluded us as we roamed back and forth and around trying to locate it. Determined not to give up I went into the college and asked a group of young people where is the museum. Not English. Do you speak Spanish? Well, not at that moment. Any Spanish I might have remembered would have been embarrassing so I said no. We did eventually find the museum and you did have to go through the Spanish college to get to it.

Another adventure would have been to climb to the San Luca Church. It was described as the most charming way to reach the church. I have pictures from the beginning and quick snaps along the drive and some good shots from the top. We had trouble finding our way along the 666 arches of the longest portico in the world in the car. We went late in the day and it was HOT. The view was fabulous. Afterward we found a nice country restaurant where we ate inside in the cool. Never regretted not walking.

Museums that R and I visited together included: the fabulous Museo Civico Archeologico; a steamy hot Museo Civico Medioevale with so much stuff I walked fast and still took 45 minutes; the Pinacoteca ; the nicely located Collezioni Comunali d' Arte where I got the info on the hidden canal; the Museo della Specola and the Museo delle Navi e delle Antiche Carte Geografiche.

Aside from these I visited Piazza Maggiore and Nettuno as well as numerous basilicas and churches. I love this city. There is so much to see, the residents are friendly and the food is great. I certainly would go back if given a chance.