Impressions of Bologna


Main streets run like spokes on a wheel to the center from where gates were when Bologna was a walled city. These major streets all have tall covered arcade sidewalks. One person told us that the areas above these arcades are additions to increase housing availability.


The sidewalks in the arcade areas are beautiful terrazzo.


Bologna is a place to come to eat and drink. Gelato, bakeries, pizza, sandwiches, restaurants, bars, candy shops, and more. Certainly lots of Bolognese cuisine but also Halal, Greek, Kebab, Japanese, and even more than one Poke place. Most places have both inside and outside dining and often more of the latter. 


Fun aside - We hadn’t figured it out yet when Serena took this photo but there was a movie filming in Piazza San Stefano today/tonight. The woman in the green dress and the man next to her are extras. Most of the time the extras were standing around waiting.


https://youtu.be/zpPVs7N2CAI 

There are trees but not really much else in terms of greenery. There are a couple of parks but they are small and don’t seem to be lively neighborhood hangout places. Where there are trees the cicadas are LOUD in spring and summer.


Bologna is a very walkable city (a lot of bicyclists too). We’ve been doing a lot of back and forth but just walking from the center to one of the historic gates isn’t much more than a mile. 


Even jet lagged we noticed immediately several canabis pharmacies. On our last visit to Italy we were surprised to see cigarette vending machines. Even more surprised this trip to see canabis vending machines.


The Two Towers are a Bologna landmark. They do lean but not as much as the photos make it seem. Climbing 488 steps in 80+ heat while wearing a mask was not fun. But it was cool and breezy at the top. Also a great view. 


Facade of the Basilica remains unfinished. The interior is complete.


one of Bologna’s city gates


crowds & masks

We have been told that tourism is still slow but the streets, shops and restaurants seem full. Outdoors walking around most people are not wearing masks. But everyone has one handy (nearly all are surgical masks not fabric or the style variety we have in Santa Cruz). Masks are required indoors in all public places except when eating and drinking. Restaurant staff, even working outdoors, wear a mask the entire time. Shops have strict capacity limits and hand sanitizer at the entry. Museums have timed entry tickets and capacity limits also. Italy’s vaccine availability started later but their percentage of people vaccinated is now close to the US.


Travel and jet lagged arrival

In order to avoid a 10-day quarantine upon arrival in Italy we had to fly into Milan from JFK. This entailed a red-eye from SFO on Friday, a 10-hour layover at JFK (Saturday), and another red-eye to Milan (arrived Sunday). The no-quarantine rules also required a pre-departure negative covid test and another test post arrival. We arrived in Milan prepared to test and were told travelers from the US were not subject to post-arrival testing or quarantine (even now, both the Italian Ministry of Health & the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs specify that we should have taken a post-arrival test). But we saved time and money and got out of the airport fast & quick and onto a fast(130+mph) train to Bologna. 


Summer temps in Bologna are in the high 80s/low 90s. When we arrived it was also very muggy. As per our usual when arriving in a new city and jet lagged we did not take the most direct route to our destination. We were quite sweaty and tired when we dropped off our luggage at the hotel around noon. We got a recommendation where to go for lunch options and headed out to kill a couple of hours. After lunch we checked-in to our hotel, showered and immediately took a two-hour “nap”. Immediately thereafter we took a one-hour nap and then it was time for dinner. Guess what we did after dinner? We went back to sleep!







Comments

  1. gary andersonJuly 23, 2021 at 1:09 PM

    Beautiful! Looks/sounds like you're enjoying another of our favorite Italian cities. Love the idea of fewer crowds and all that good food! Enjoy.

    ReplyDelete
  2. UnknownJuly 23, 2021 at 2:09 PM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  3. JHJG2014July 23, 2021 at 4:37 PM

    So many naps! Don't forget to take one for us, too, LOL.

    Love the pic of the arcade ceiling, especially. Also the towers. Reminded us of Sienna.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Bruce WJuly 25, 2021 at 1:25 PM

    Beautiful photos and smiles! You’re getting your steps in. And the top of the tall tower in Bologna—I am imaging the cool breezes that go with that city view! A cannabis vending machine—how cool is that!?

    ReplyDelete

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