Bologna con la Famiglia

Allora,

Now I've rested up a bit from Switzerland, and I can tell a little more of the story. With any luck, I'll be able to finish. Now, where was I?

Oh yeah, so on Sunday, Frauke left to return to Germany. The plan was that I would stay in Venice for the night in the hotel room with Mom and Margaret, and we would leave early in the morning for Bologna. My mom set up an arrangement at La Scuola San Luigi in Bologna, where our friend Antonella Lobietti is a science teacher and curriculum director. The idea was that on Tuesday, Mom would give a lecture on life in America. It's kind of a long story, but Mrs. Lobietti met my family when she came to Charlotte last February, almost by chance, and I met up with her son Matteo later on, when he was working as an intern at an architectural firm in Charlotte last summer.

So on Monday, we walked quickly through the early-morning streets of Venice to the Rialto vaporetto station. Soon we were at the train station, Venezia-Santa Lucia. The train ride from Venice to Bologna is about two hours, and costs about 9 euro. We got there around 10:30, I think, and with some directions from some helpful and friendly Bolognesi, we found the hotel, which is actually right across the street from the Scuola San Luigi. The manager of the hotel, Filippo, spoke no English, so I had to explain everything to Mom and Margaret - keys, breakfast times, checkout, stuff like that.

We walked outside and called Mrs. Lobietti - and she came almost instantly, with two of her students, Federica and Carolina. Both of the girls were Italian but had some connection to the United States - Carolina spent a year studying in a high school in Arizona, and Federica goes to Florida frequently when her father has work there. Their English was perfect, no accent whatsoever, and their vocabularies were really extensive. Speaking with the two students and Mrs. Lobietti put me in a weird position though - I wanted to speak Italian, but that would've been "rude" because my mom and sister wouldn't have known everything we were saying. It was more expedient to speak in English. It's a really weird feeling.

So Mrs. Lobietti took us up the street to the Piazza Maggiore, the main piazza in the center of Bologna. It was an incredible day - sunny and warm, not typical for Bologna, according to the students. The Basilica San Petronio looms over the piazza, and as we went inside, Mrs. Lobietti told us the interesting story behind it. Actually its construction plans called for a church even larger than San Pietro in Rome, but the Vatican halted the construction (mainly in the creation of the transcept) that would have made the church larger than the Basilica in Rome. Interesting, huh? I've been getting a sense for the tension between the Vatican and the independent republics or cities of Italy, like Venice or Bologna. A lot of the Basilica had been destroyed in World War II bombings, so you can see where the stained-glass windows stop. There is a meridiana on the ground, a line where the sun shines through a hole in the ceiling to tell what time of year it is. We were there just at 12pm, so we could see the line illuminated by the sun.

We walked to the public library of Bologna after that, where all the students at the university study really intensely. I should mention that Bologna is particularly famous for the university there, which is the oldest university in Europe. In retrospect, I wish I could be studying there - it would have given me a lot more practice for my language skills. But oh well. We went inside the reconstruction of the anatomy studies room; in the center of the wooden hall is a marble table on which the cadaver would be placed. Basically, a prototype of the modern medical school. It was originally constructed in the 16th century I think, but it burned down and has been reconstructed.

Then my favorite part - LUNCH! Bologna is also famous for its meats, specifically mortadella, which is called "Bologna" in the United States. And if you've ever heard of the famous style of pasta "alla bolognese," you know now where that comes from. Anyway, the restaurant we went to was really close to a macelleria, a traditional deli that sells meats and cheeses too - it's really cool because there are different kinds of meats hanging from the ceiling.

The restaurant where we ate was INCREDIBLE! I really think it was one of my top five meals in Italy. The place was full so we ate at the same table as these two old guys who were sharing a basket of bread with a couple glasses of wine. We spoke to them a little - it was really funny and they were really genial, really friendly. We ordered wooden plates of meats - mortadella, of course, but also different kinds of prosciutto and salami. Then there was all kinds of cheese... mmmm! And the bread was literally to die for. As we chatted about Charlotte and Bologna, we were joined by another of Mrs. Lobietti's students, Edoardo, who was actually born in California but has lived ever since in Bologna. He goes back to the States frequently, however - and he was wearing a San Francisco 49ers shirt, haha. He was really excited to talk American Football with someone else since it's not popular in Italy.

After a couple hours or so we walked through the streets of Bologna to Le Due Torri, the two towers that are near the center of the city. They're a part of the ancient fortifications of the city (which used to be encircled by a wall) and actually one of them leans a little to the left, so there's a reconstruction project going on now. We got a gelato near the towers and continued walking to the Chiesa Santo Stefano.

Now Edoardo had been trying to connect with some friends to show us an aerial view of the city from their apartment. They weren't home - but that didn't discourage Edoardo. When we got to the church (which is actually a combination of five ancient churches joined together over the ages and now looked after by Benedictine Friars. As soon as we got there, Edoardo made a phone call and started walking around. He came back with Frar Stefano, one of the monks with whom he's become good friends. Frar Stefano showed us all around the church, and there were some really funny moments because he explained most things in Italian, and Edoardo tried to translate into English but I helped him out sometimes. When we saw the "Gallo di San Pietro," the rooster of Saint Peter, Frar Stefano had never heard the word "rooster" before, and he thought it was really funny. So stuff like that. There were a lot of relics and ancient religious objects from the first Christian martyrs of Bologna.

That was pretty much the last thing I did in Bologna. Mrs. Lobietti had to go, and then I had to get back on the train. I actually skipped class on Monday, which was no problem because Bologna is really one of my favorite cities in Italy. What's interesting is that there's a dialect, but they don't really speak it frequently, so it's really easy to understand the people there. In addition, there is almost no tourism in Bologna, and I find that more interesting in some ways - people go to school, or work, and they walk around town. There's not much to "see" - it's better just to "be."

Before I left, Mrs. Lobietti came back to take me to the train station. We had some time, so she took us down the main street of Bologna, Via dell'Indipendenza. There are a lot of nice restaurants and shopping, and it all leads down to the Piazza Maggiore. The arcades go all the way down the street, and it was just magical at nighttime. I spoke with Mrs. Lobietti, and she told me that I could see them if I go back to Bologna. I was the only one on the train when I came home, practically... but it was an incredible day. That's not the last time I go to Bologna, definitely.

Continuo a presto - there's so much to tell and I'm still a week behind! Ahh!
Andrew