As a lot of
you may know, I went to Bologna last weekend with Megan, to make the most of
the Easter holidays. Vero was going to join us but she was sick so sadly she
decided to stay in Siena to recover rather than go on the trip, fortunately
she’s now feeling better. Here’s what we got up to…
On Friday
morning I got up earlier than I actually needed to before the bus, and ended up
nearly finishing 13 Reasons Why (last entry evidenced my addiction problem).
However, Megan arrived to put her things in the suitcase and leave just as I
was 30 minutes short of finishing the season. Worst timing ever, but my bad to
decide to try and fit in 2 hours I didn’t actually have… We made our way to the
station and, to our surprise, the bus was on time. Quite busy, but on time.
And, behold, the wi-fi worked this time and I managed to finish the season
while on the bus! Hurray for FlixBus working wi-fi! The trip was fine – it
takes 2 hours to get to Bologna and I spent most of them sleeping or watching
13RW. Once we got to Bologna it was really hot in comparison to Siena, which
was great! We didn’t have any problems getting the bus to the Airbnb and
reaching the apartment itself: a bohemian student flat near Giardini Margherita
and 15’ walk off the city centre. The flat was amazing and our hosts, Federica
and Jacopo, were very nice. Our room was massive and so was the apartment and I
absolutely fell in love with the decoration: full of posters, artsy prints,
sketches on the walls, a tonne of books and music on vinyl playing in the
background. Honestly, I wish I actually lived there! If you’re looking for a
place to stay in Bologna give me a shout and I’ll give you the details of the
place!
Once
settled Megan and I had something to eat and then headed out to explore. It was
lovely and sunny and we didn’t really have an itinerary so we just went out to
have a wander around the city. We ended up visiting most of the main sights: we
stumbled by chance onto Basilica di Santo Stefano which is known as the sette chiese because when you walk in
you realize it is actually a cluster of different churches. It was amazing and
I’m glad we actually walked in! We then kept on walking and went past leaning
Torre Garisenda and Torre Asinelli with its everlasting queue and then turned
onto the Old Jewish Quarter. As is to be expected, the cool cafés and
restaurants were mostly in this part of the town and, although it was pretty
quiet, I quite liked it. Then we went to a couple shops as Via dell’Indipendenza
is flanked by a wide assortment of clothe shops unlike Siena (travelling is an
excuse to go shopping!) and towards Piazza Maggiore which was full of people
and we stopped to see a hip-hop group of dancers performing. The sun was
setting and the buildings looked even more orange than usual which made them
look so pretty! We kept wandering and went past a couple more interesting
places like the Chiesa dei Celestini which is worth walking into if it’s open –
the frescoes and decorations were breathtaking! -, the Archiginnasio which was
closed by the time we walked past, and the Quadrilatero market – plagued with
people and amazing food!
We were quite hungry after so much walking so decided
to go to Osteria dell’Orsa and see if we could get a table to try the famous tagliatelle al ragù. The restaurant,
which has been recommended to us by a few people, was quite busy but we managed
to get a table and order some wine, ragù and tiramisu. It was all fairly good
but not the best place I’ve been to if I’m honest. If you’re looking for a
cheap place that has the local specialties, definitely give it a try but don’t
expect a culinary heaven experience!
After
dinner we decided to go back to the Airbnb and get changed before heading back
to the centre and meeting Dennis, a friend of Megan who was passing by Bologna
at the same time. We weren’t really sure where the party was at but we were
suggested Via Belvedere so there we went. By Mercato delle Erbe we managed to
get a table and enjoy a couple of aperospritz
while chatting. Apparently, Bologna is a great place for partying but we just
happened to choose the worst time to go – Easter weekend when all the students
have gone back home! It was fine though, after a couple of drinks we decided to
change and go to Via Zamboni to search for a bar with music since Megan wanted
to dance. Via Zamboni had a more student feel to it, but no places to dance. We
ended up in an English pub that was playing some Spanish music but Megan was
the only one dancing so we ended up leaving quite soon. At around 2 we were on
our way back home – a different evening in a different city.
On Saturday we woke up early since we were
going to catch a train to Parma to meet with Sara, my Skype tandem partner from
last year. We had some trouble with the hob: apparently you had to use a normal
lighter to light the flame as the spark did not work, however to do this you
had to put your hand incredibly close to the flame so we developed a different
technique requiring the two of us – lighting up a napkin while the other one
started the gas and quickly putting the paper out after lighting the hob ring.
Not the best technique but a little safer? Due to this mishap we missed the
first bus to the station but made it in time to catch the train we wanted to
get despite the station being super busy. The trip to Parma is about an hour
long and went just fine – Sara was waiting for us at the platform which was
great! It was fantastic to finally get to meet her, she’s so nice! She put the
time aside to show us around Parma even though she was back home for the
holidays – grazie mille! The day
started quite chilly and overcast but eventually the sun came out. Sara showed
us around the main locations in Parma: we walked along the Torrente up until
the Palazzo della Pilotta (an evolution of the Spanish word ‘pelota’ in
reference to Spanish soldiers playing there), the Duomo with it’s amazing
frescoes inside, the Battisterio, the University, Via Cavour and Piazza
Garibaldi with all their shops… We stopped for an early lunch at a café called
Malva and I had to order some prosciutto
crudo of course! I went for a smoothie and a cheese and crudo focaccia, it was so yummy! We then
did some shopping and Sara had to leave us around 1 because she had to get back
home to meet her family. It was so lovely seeing her, thanks again! Megan and I
roamed the shops for a bit more and bought a couple of pieces before getting
some dolci: the typical Italian colomba and another shortbread pastry
filled with what tasted like mince pie. They were both super yummy. Parma is a
more industrial-looking city; it has a lot of shops unlike Siena, but I’m happy
with my Erasmus choice because Siena looks a lot more like my idea of an
Italian city. It was great to discover Parma nonetheless – wish I had a bike
too, because it’s so flat you can cycle everywhere! Then we made our way
towards the station to get back to Bologna.
Once back in Bologna we were knackered after a
late night and early rise so I took a nap and shower before going back out in
search of dinner. We decided we wanted to get some Indian food and good old
Google suggested a place near Via Belvedere called Ristorante India. The place
was massive and the food was great. Megan went for dhal, some basmati rice and melanzane while I opted for the chicken biryani with
some mango lassu. I’m proud to say I made it through – I’m not one for spices
as Vidushi can tell, but I ate the whole thing and survived! It was really good
even though my mouth was on fire afterwards. I then decided to treat myself to
a McFlurry on our way home (I’m so mainstream), but they had a baci fondente one which has probably now
become my favourite flavour – it was so rich!
On Easter Sunday Megan was so nice surprising
me with some Easter eggs! We don’t really do eggs in Spain so I always forget
they are a thing in England – thanks Megs xx We woke up fairly late and
eventually gave up on our initial plan of hiking to San Luca because it was too
far away and we had to take a couple of different buses just to get close to
it. Instead, we decided to do the sette
segreti di Bologna that Giacomo had told us about on Thursday night. We
were on our way into town when, surprise-surprise, we bumped into Sebastian!
The German Erasmus student who showed us around Pisa! I swear I don’t know how
we do it, but we always end up randomly bumping into people we know when we are
away… Italy can’t be that small,
right? He was on a trip with some friends – such a coincidence that we happened
to walk through the same street at the same time! The seven secrets didn’t take
too long because we had already done a couple of them. The list varies from
page to page, but here’s a list:
·
Laughing
satire head in Piazza di Santo Stefano
·
Sette
Chiese (Basilica di Santo Stefano)
·
Statua
di Nettuno’s erection (unfortunately for us, it was under restoration)
·
Glass
on top of Torre Asinelli (we didn’t go up, but apparently the broken glass is
not there anymore…)
·
‘Canabis
Protectio’ sign on the ceiling of the archway between Via dell’Indipendenza and
Via Rizzoli
·
Voltone
del Podestà’s “wireless telephone”
·
La
freccia (arrow) on the ceiling of Corte Isolani
·
The
finestrella in Via Piella 16, which
looks like little Venice
If you want to learn why these places are
quirky, make sure to look them up on Google. It takes about half an hour to
visit them all as they are pretty close to each other and we actually had gone
past them before – just didn’t know what we had to pay attention to! My
favourites are the finestrella and
the seven churches.
We then did some more shopping and had lunch at
Regina Margherita, a Neapolitan pizza place. Mine had mozzarella, basilica,
pomodoro and DOP olive oil and it was amazing! Definitely a place to recommend
if you’re looking for a place to eat in Bologna. It’s a bit off the beaten path
which means more local ;)
After a filling lunch, we went past the airbnb
to drop the cameras and get some water before hitting Giardini Margherita
because the weather was so lovely it was calling for an afternoon in the park.
We spent a good three hours sunbathing, reading and napping. It was great! The
park was also really busy with a lot of families out on a walk after Easter
lunch.
After having a shower we decided to go out for
dinner to a tortellini place we’d seen in Via Marsala to try out the tortellini in brodo. It was a poor
choice of restaurant sadly – the brodo was really salty and the service was insanely
slow. Do not recommend. We then went back home and chilled before bed – random
hail included, it seemed like the ceiling was going to collapse over our heads!
Finally Monday, Pasquetta, was our last day in
Bologna. It was a sunny and calm day as most shops were closed. We got ready
and left all our stuff more or less packed and ready to go before heading out
the door into the centre. We decided to take a different route into the centre
which took us past Galleria Cavour where all the high-end shops are. And then
out near the market and towards the Archiginnasio. The University of Bologna is
the oldest university currently still active and it was amazing to visit the
main old building and the famous Teatro Anatomico where they used to teach
Science lectures and the Sala dello Stabat Mater that now houses a large
collection of old academic books. The whole building was beautiful, with the
walls decorated with coats of arms and names of the former graduates of the
University. It was definitely one of the prettiest and richest buildings in
Bologna, definitely worth a visit if you’re around!
After visiting the Archiginnasio we didn’t have
much else to do so we wandered around the smaller streets and tried to stay in
the sun because the breeze was actually quite chilly. We ended up at Naama
Dolci, a Middle Eastern pastry shop near Piazza Maggiore. We’d walked past it
on Friday and an Italian passer-by had said it was really good, so we went
inside and got ourselves some treats. I went for a honey and nut pastry and
another one filled with dates. I can’t remember the names, but they were
sublime! We enjoyed them in the sun of Piazza Maggiore, listening to a nearby
busking brass band and watching the people walk past. We then got a little hungrier
so headed to the market to get some food – I settled for a crudo and mozzarella
farcita and a spinach and cheese
calzone while Megan got a melanzane pastry and a mortadella sandwhich. All
really good and pretty cheap. We ate under the sun again and then decided to go
to a couple other shops before heading back to the airbnb and retrieving our
stuff. The trip back was fine, we got the bus and the FlixBus was on time again
which was great.
All in all, it was a great weekend away.
Bologna is a gorgeous city with great food. It was a nice combination of new
and old buildings and I wish it had been an option for the Erasmus exchange,
just like Pisa. I’ve really liked both cities. Bologna, with its nice Spring
weather, alleged student atmosphere (we just happened to go on holiday period
when students were out of town), culinary and cultural landscapes, is
definitely a place to stop by if you get the chance!
Hope you enjoyed the post! Make sure to follow
me on my social media to see more amazing pictures and keep up to date:
This week I’m staying in Siena getting work
done before Dad comes to visit, so a few more boring days before travelling
starts again – keep your eyes peeled!
Ci sentiamo!
Zoe
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.