Matt and Lisa's Adventures

5 January 2025

It was a bad night for both of us. I tried without any sleeping pills after feeling crappy yesterday but got very little sleep which was frustrating. Lisa had a worse night as she was unwell with tummy issues so she felt terrible and got very little sleep either. Considering Lisa’s state we decided not to get up early and catch our booked train to Bologna. Instead Lisa had some more sleep (I tried but failed) after which she was feeling a bit better. I had breakfast and snuck Lisa up some toast which did help her perk up. We then went to the train station and purchased new tickets to Bologna. Despite the train being quite empty we ended up with several noisy people around us. 

We missed out on doing our walking tour this morning due to our train change. I managed to find a guided walking tour I could download on my phone. The tour was excellent and took me around a lot of the historical sports in the city

• First stop was a ruined castle. This was built by someone who wanted to bring the pope to Bologna after the pope had moved to Avignon. However he managed to piss of the people of the city and so they tore the castle down
• Bologna was never a major military or political power. Instead it was stuck between other powers and often ended up being occupied or controlled by them. These included the Papal States to the south, duchy of Milan to the north, the Venetian republic to the east and the Austrians from the north. 
• They had a lot of uprisings against the occupiers especially the Austrians. Lots of statues of remembrance were created for these rebellions and the people who died in them. Eventually they managed to free themselves and become part of Italy during the Italian Wars of Independence
• There was a statue of the general Garibaldi. He was the only successful Italian general and won a lot of battles in Europe and also in the Americas when helping people fighting for independence. He also fought for the French against the Prussians and was the only French sided general to win a battle
• There was a nice park on a hill with a (not working) fountain and lots of cool statues. When Napoleon arrived he decided the park should be more French. He seemed to have a lot of opinions this Napoleon guy…
• There were two massive cathedrals. In one there was meant to be some historic art work and chapels but it was too dark to see much. The other was huge but was made of two distant materials (top and bottom half)- no explanation was given by the guide as to why that was the case
• In the second cathedral they were preparing to do mass and there was a cardinal there. He looked very old so probably is out of the running for being the next pope. I didn’t get a very good photo of him though
• Bologna used to have a lot of canals, a little like Venice. There was a window in a walk that tourist could look through to see what the old canals looked like and I duly lined up for five minutes to get my turn. Over time the lands was drained and the canals were a bit of a hazard and so they were drained too
• Bologna is known as the red city because of its red roofs and the left leaning political sentiment
• It is also famous for its two towers which were built in the 1100’s. They were built by powerful families to take refuge in during conflict. It was also a point of pride to build the largest tower. At one stage there were over one hundred towers.  Of the two major towers remaining the smaller one is on a lean and the larger one is 97 meters tall
• There was a statue of Neptune in the main square. If you stood in the right spot then it looked like he was very well endowed, it’s the small things that are amusing throughout the ages…
• There was a building that housed all of the official recipes of the city. It contained the definitive rules on how to make the ragu (bolognese sauce) and other specialties of the city
• Each city seems to be defined by its transportation in different ways. Bologna seems to be a city of bikes and mopeds judging by the number that we saw parked around the city
• Bologna has porticos on most of its streets. It was a legal requirement that buildings had them and that they meet set dimensions. They were also beneficial as it enabled sidewalks while also giving extra space in the buildings. The porticos are now a UNESCO world heritage site
• Bologna has one of the oldest universities in the world and still has a large student population. This helps contribute to the vibrancy of the city and the nightlife

As I walked the crowds got larger. There were thousands of people out on the streets and in the squares, bars and restaurants. It was unclear to me as to why, it was a Sunday evening but not sure if this was a weekly event or if there was something special on. In any case, it gave the city a very exciting feel and I really enjoyed it. 

Lisa wasn’t feeling up to dinner and so I ventured out of my own. Since this was the home of bolognese ragu I had to have that on tortellini pasta. It was very nice however I had the audio guide guy in my head the whole time talking about how rich the food is here and how that isn’t great for the digestive system – sometimes a little ignorance is bliss! The rage was cooked in butter rather than oil surely cannot be good for me.

Overall thoughts on Bologna

• We didn’t really get to do it justice due to Lisa being unwell. She barely got to see anything of the city
• The audio tour was great but I can’t help imagining how good a proper walking tour with a human guide could have been. 
• There were lots of interesting buildings and history that would have been good to dig into. It also looked like a few good museums to have checked out too
• While our initial impressions were not very positive by the end I really enjoyed Bologna. It felt vibrant and exciting with so many people being out, the impressive architecture and everything lit up
• I’d love to come back and spend more time, maybe for a future trip…