So, this is the first new city for me on this trip. I began this trip with eleven days in Rome, a city I have been to at least a dozen times in my life, even once on a business trip. I love Rome. I love how insignificant I feel there….how impermanent. The city is eternal, literally yet also not. It was nearly empty for a millennia. I love how I feel in Rome, sort of Okay with my faults and limitations. Rome is humbling.
Bologna, a mere 38 minutes from Florence on the high speed train yet I have never visited you? You are considered the epicurean center of Italy, Balsamico de Modena, Parmigiano Reggiano, the list goes on and on. Here I am two of three nights into my stay here and I have had a pizza, an Indian buffett, and cooked at home. But I feel okay about this. I am listening to my body. I can’t do it all. I really needed chana masala and beingan bharta (and even rogan josh!)
I will try today to get a table at an Osteria for lunch. This is always intimidating to me in a land where I only speak a few words. Especially Italy, especially on the weekends (today), and especially in cities with overflowing giant tables of young people (the oldest university in Europe is here), especially during a graduation period (apparently), and especially during the lead up to holy week (yep, next week). I feel simultaneous fear and excitement and guilt. I could have my first authentico Ragu alla Bolognese, even though that sounds pretty heavy right now. I might also cave and get a slice of pizza. I want to try to live for myself and not for others, not for the approval of some cipher who does not even ask anything of me and I have yet to meet. Who knows what I will do for lunch. I’m already a bit worn out. I really just want a big salad at home in Seattle. Can’t I “save” this day for some dark wet winter day in the future? I’ll even settle for six hours worth and you can take the entire 24 from me now.
Bologna is odd. It is a series of connected porticos with really hard marble or marble like sidewalks. Walking a couple kilometers from the train station to this AirBNB two days ago was hell on the joints. Apparently I am no longer 23!
My first impression of Bologna was that it was not for me. It is only for people who are young or at least that are surrounded by others that know them. It is almost painful. They look like they are having such fun. They look just out of reach, like in a dream. I’ll trade the rest of the day for just two hours of being able to speak Italian and being able to sit at a table with others that know me…..any omnipotent takers?
It is a medieval city, I gather one of the best preserved in Europe. That part is fascinating. It looks a thousand years old, and then there is a Nike store. There is a fascinating church complex called seven churches, because there are, well, four churches….I think they never built the last three. It was very interesting. One of the interconnected churches in that complex was a replica of the church of the holy sepulcher in Jerusalem. This one was built in the fifth century I believe so it is supposed to more closely match the original design of that from the holy land (since it has been destroyed and rebuilt many times over the centuries). What an odd design it was by modern or even gothic or baroque standards. It felt like a theatre-in-the-round.
The air quality is a bit rough here as is the noise. Those long portico corridors hold in the sound and vespa fumes. And marble isn’t the best surface for dogs to relieve themselves on. For me it is a bit tough with mild asthma and generally being a nervous person. I actually wore earplugs a few times to just get a break from the constant din. It is amazing how fragile I am! Thank God I know what I need to pull out from my tool kit to take care of myself. I wouldn’t survive a week in the wild, or even a week without contact to those who love me.
Well, turns out I wandered into a trattoria (actually several, but they were all booked, thankfully!) but this one had a free table. There was an old Italian guy shuffling around, I assume the owner. I was a bit concerned as it felt like it might be a tourist trap….but what a delicious lunch and my first Bolognese in Bologna. And I got to break bread with a really nice lady from Munich of all places (we used to live 40 minutes from there). I was waiting for them to clear my table when I noticed she was right behind me also looking for a table. Knowing that getting a table on such a day without a reservation was tough I offered to have her join me at my table. We had a great conversation and great food. It was a great day. Tomorrow I am off to Venice.
