Stubborn vines..

I found this building while wandering yesterday, and I thought it was pretty interesting.  I wonder how long those vines have been growing for...some of them even reached the ground.

Archaeological Museum

Sorry for the lack of posting...exam time.  Anyway, this is the courtyard of the archaeological museum, which is located right off of Piazza Maggiore. The museum has collections of Roman, Greek, Etruscan, and Egyptian artifacts and is really quite a fascinating place. You can learn a lot about the history of the Emilia-Romagna region (where Bologna is located), and its Egyptian section is one of the most important in Italy. Torino's museum however holds the largest collection of Egyptian artifacts in Italy.  Another plus, admission is free.  =)

A piece of Piazza Maggiore

A view of one part of Piazza Maggiore.  The building on the left is the Palazzo dei Notai, built in 1381 which housed the city's notaries, while the one on the right hand is Palazzo Comunale, the city's town hall. 

Delicious..

Not exactly a view of Bologna, but some rather delicious desserts from the well-known pasticceria, Gamberini.  They're window displays are likely to stop you in your tracks and make you drool....  ;-)

The road to San Luca...

  The road to the church San Luca is lined by porticoes, about 3.5 kilometers consisting of 666 arches to be precise. It's a beautiful walk, but the whole walk is uphill so be prepared. =)  It's a local superstition in Bologna that students should make the walk to San Luca before their exams for good luck.  

L'Amore

        There are a few canals in Bologna, small ones, but they exist nonetheless.  On a side street there is a square window cut into a wall which overlooks a canal, and surrounding the window many people have chosen to write little declarations of love.  The wall itself isn't too beautiful, but I liked this particular love note, especially in sepia-tone colors....

I Spellati

Literally, "the skinned", these two statues flank the professor's seat in the anatomical theater in the Palazzo dell'Archiginnasio, the first unified seat of the University of Bologna.   First constructed in 1636, the theater was almost completely destroyed during a bombing raid in WWII and then rebuilt using the original pieces found among the rubble.  

Andiamo a scuola!

As I was walking towards Piazza Maggiore today with a friend, we spotted this ridiculously cute school bus.  I couldn't not take a picture. =)

I Portici

I portici that line most the streets in Bologna. This is on Via Farini, one of the more glamorous portico-lined streets.

A day in the park

I was in one of the many little parks in Bologna the other day and watched this man feed the pigeons. It's been getting a bit warmer lately, and the sun peeked out for a little bit. He looked so at peace relaxing there. 

Neptune Fountain

One of the more controversial aspects of the Neptune Fountain. ;-)  The fountain is located in Piazza del Nettuno, located just off the main piazza. It's a big gathering spot for the Bolognese at night, especially for the younger crowd. 

Welcome to Bologna

To start off this blog, I figured I'd give a little history about Bologna and how I've come to be in this beautiful city....

Bologna is an Italian city with a long history, dating back to 500B.C. with the Etruscans.  It has a colorful story and is a place of great importance to this day.  Bologna is the capital of the region Emilia-Romagna, in the northern half of Italy. A small city which like many European cities, has a nice mix of modern and medieval aspects. Bologna has three nicknames, La Dotta meaning "the learned", La Grassa meaning "the fat", and finally La Rossa or "the red". 

 The first nickname derives from the fact that Bologna has the oldest university in Europe, dating from 1088, which had notable scholars such as Dante, Boccaccio, and Petrarch as students.    La Grassa comes from the rich culinary tradition in Bologna, now one of the gastronomic centers in Italy. It's the home of tortelloni, mortadella (vaguely related to that American version - bologna), and ragù sauce.   The last name comes from the red-tinted buildings and rooftops. 

Now, my reason for being in Bologna and the reason for this blog:

I am currently living in Bologna for the year, completing my last year of undergraduate study at the great Università di Bologna.  While I'm living here, I wanted to share with the world the beauty of my new home. So I hope you enjoy the pictures and the bit of history I can maybe provide with them. 

  Benvenuto in Italia!