Okay we are not in Italy anymore as this is written.
Life has been moving like a river full of logs heading for the mill. One hopes
that the inevitable waterfall is after the mill.
To begin buzz-sawing the current inventory let a certain
context be formed. After leaving the company of Geoff and Linda in Capri the
tone of the adventure would change. The destination was Bologna for four nights
before a romantic one night interlude in Venice and one more night in Amsterdam
and then home to New Hampshire for more fun and frolic.
Our first hydrofoil ride provided conveyance to Napoli from
Capri.
Napoli was a bit of a mindblower after the laid back
ambience of Positano and Capri. Every square inch of real estate was humming
with cars, taxis, limos, foot traffic, trams and pedestrians. Our search for an
economical bus ride to the city train station lasted about two minutes before
deciding to throw ourselves at the mercy of the local cab drivers. Chris’
Italian was dismissed when negotiations arose for the fifteen euro ride.
“Normale!” seconded another taxi person. Fine we will pay the “normal” fee.
The entrance alone onto the main thoroughfare begged for
musical accompaniment and sound effects. We were soon on two wheels and
definitely careening toward the train station (hopefully). At one point the
driver decided that instead of slowing he would swerve, at full speed, into a
horseshoe driveway in front of a commercial building. The miraculous incident
free emergence gained at least 8 car lengths and a traffic light bypass.
A single euro tip was met with a subtle sneer and we parted
company satisfied for the moment having had our respective expectations
met. Ora andiamo a Bologna!
Bologna might not leap to one’s lips when one is imagining the
idyllic Italian holiday. The primary reason for this is due to some familiarity
with the city from previous visits. This had come about due to the interesting
history (at least to Chris and his Kappa Sigma brothers) of Chris’ fraternity.
Though immediately traced to an 1869 start at the University of Virginia at
Charlottesville, Kappa Sigma is eponymously (current word of the communication
world) named because of its connection to the City of Books and Letters
(Kirjath Sepher). This would be Bologna.
The University of Bologna is believed to be the oldest
university still in operation dating back to 1088. Its popularity beckoned
students from all over the known world. The down side being that the local
governor and his minions had a feeding frenzy on the money and wares of the
foreign visitors. It became necessary to find a way to defend oneself. Safety
in numbers and an ad hoc brotherhood generated the formation of a secret
society dedicated to such protection.
It was the banner of this society that a select group of
Charlottesville students discovered back in the nineteenth century upon a visit
to Bologna. An invocation of the related history bonded the students to a
dedication to the secret society’s ideals symbolized by “a poor blind student”
being safe to pursue academia.
Fraternity ritual (most of which is still secretly guarded)
embraced the Bologna roots. Pledges (prospective members) were issued the
Bononia Docet book that was to be learned and memorized before initiation.
Front and foremost was the visual of the two towers of the medieval city. Lo
and behold our AirBnB reservation took us to within a few blocks of the
structures:
In a
previous excursion to Bologna, Chris and several of his fraternity brothers
separated themselves from the grand troupe heading for Venice to bask in the
shadows of these two puppies.
Chris’ fraternity experience is linked to Lowell, MA;
textile capital as the world ushered in the twentieth century. Interesting
enough Bologna had been the previously flourishing site for this business
before shifting to America.
(Both cities boast canals as the skeletal machine serving
the populace. And of course both
are proud of their academic presence. Currently Bologna serves 100,000 students
among its 23 schools.)
The other part of the context is
that touring would not be the focus. Yes, there might be a day trip to a nearby
attraction but the main agenda was that when in Bologna do as the Bolognesi do.
The train station had just been expanded with three lower
levels and was quite the trek to the surface. Our hosts would be Francesco and
Cristiana. Communications had been ongoing and the directions were rather good.
The arcades were exited (more about them later) and the small side street
presented itself:
Thanks to the magic of digital photography a virtual
sequence of discovery follows:
The front door:
A push of the buzzer yielded:
Once again, as in Turino and Chatillon, we would be seeking
the upper altitudes:
Francesco had come down to help with Gini’s suitcase.
Gravity had also come by but did not offer any assistance. The top of the
stairs was finally reached:
This door opened on to a comfortable living space that, we
were soon coming to realize, we would share with Cristiana and Francesco:
The outside terrace was a treat as it floated amongst the
Bologna rooftops.
Our expectations had been influenced by AirBnB’s
accommodators in Venezia and Turino who rented out an entire apartment. This
was not really a big adjustment just a bit of a surprise. Within the hour we
had sat and chatted with the host couple and found them likable and very
interesting. The guest area of the apartment had a private bath and bedroom
that also opened up onto the neighborhood. It was hot but breezy. Va bene. This
would do.
On a recommendation from Cristiana and Francesco it was
decided that dinner awaited just two blocks from the apartment on the main
street with the arcades. It was fabulous. The setting was a courtyard and the
food presentation was exquisite. A signature appetizer was panelle; described
as Sicilian fritters from gram flour but that just does not do it justice.
The return to the apartment was without incident as the
issued key worked fine and no major seizures on the climb up. However the guest
room was quite warm and the air conditioner did not work – whoops.
Gini had not been feeling well now for several weeks with a
chronic cough and stuffiness. She felt that if she did not have air
conditioning breathing would be a problem. The discussion of this led to the
possibility that another location would be needed for the next three nights.
Yikes!
Thankfully Cristiana’s sister was also there and after
consulting her the air conditioner came on. Bravo! It did quit half way through
the night but the initial lowering of the temperature and circulation allowed
natural ventilation and the cooling night to take over for the rest of the
stay. Whew! Too much drama for a vacation.
Francesco had made bread and a healthy breakfast was waiting
on the terrace the next morning. Chris had come with a supply of decaffeinated
tea which was complemented by some wonderful honey from the kitchen. Both Chris
and Gini felt sufficiently nourished to go out and about.
Turino is very similar with its streets covered by arcades.
However they seemed to be everywhere in the old city section of Bologna. An
interesting observation was that Chris, who by this point was automatically
donning a hat, noticed that no one was wearing one throughout the city. Duh –
with every street covered to protect one from the sun and the rain who needed
it?
Just a small sampling of the arcades:
Of course there must be music:
The astute among you would know that Chris’ mom’s family
name is Rienzo. If one were to separate that into “Ri” and “enzo”, a reference
to King Enzo might be made for an ironic twist:
Enzo’s lineage is a bit questionable since he was the eldest
illegitimate son of Emperor Frederick II. He did have some glory as a short
term ruler of Sardinia but spent the last 23 years of his life a prisoner in
Bologna in the Palazzo Re Enzo:
Notice the honor guard out front.
This city is also your basic modern metropolis:
However this is a bank:
In the midst of some Renaissance flexing:
This statue of Nettuno (Neptune) and the Palazzo Re Enzo are
part of the big square (Piazza Maggiore). City business can be taken care of at
the Palazzo Communale (or take in some art):
Similar to Miami Beach, the town would like big screen
movies to be available to one and all. At least once a week the outdoor theater
has public offerings which includes live music (orchestra doing music from
Hitchcock films), a huge screen and many seats that will all get filled:
We wouldn’t be in Italy unless you were amidst legions of
scooters:
Incidental artifacts:
As previously mentioned there was a little touring. This
transpired as a day trip to nearby Ferrara. This will have to be described
through another blog posting.
There is one more place, however, to celebrate and that is
Camera a Sud (vino e cibo). One does pride one’s self on which urban hangout is
to be selected to aesthetically provide physical context, be hip and personal.
In Cambridge there was Casablanca, in Lowell there was Pollard’s, the Worthen
and a plethora of repositories of coolness. Well in Bologna that designation
would go to Camera a Sud. It is in the Ghetto section (formerly Jewish) of the
city tucked away amongst the alleys and narrow streets.
Upon crossing the threshold you are met with:
Yes, a nice bar with a very comfortable ambiance. As you
continued to peruse the place many charming details leapt out. Pictures,
postcards, books, vinyl albums (vinyl albums!!), and…wait…that can’t be…
Patti Smith!! Her photo was tucked in a corner of an archway….but
wait it says something on the archway:
It’s a quote in Italian by Frank Zappa…be still my sang
froid. A word for word attempt was meager in understanding so the iPhone had to
be consulted…Oh yeah, that quote: “Jazz isn’t dead. It just smells funny.”
There were several rooms of mismatched comfortable couches,
tables, chairs and eclectic furniture. An interior room was filled with what
was obviously college students and some of their instructors. Wine was flowing
quite freely and assessments were going well.
The food was quite good. The second time we went back we
indulged our Spritz mania. Just so cool…
We felt quite pleased to be able to tell our hosts about our
discovery (for us) as we knew they were quite familiar with it.
And here are our wonderful hosts from their AirBnB site:
She is a “libraia” who formerly ran her own bookstore while
he was a librarian at the university before moving over to web design. The
economy has had a serious effect on their careers and provided some interesting
exchanges amongst us. The most fun, however, was talking about film. It is a
passion of all four but especially Francesco and Chris. “I love that film!”; “I
hate that film!”; “Have you seen…?”; “Did you know…?”. They were quite gracious
to conduct almost all of this in very good English.
Currently the barn in Alexandria, NH is being offered as a B
and B. These two will be our role models. Let us hope we can do as well. Ciao.
