It had been hard to think what to write this week. Up until yesterday afternoon essentially everything was the same, I was working 2 jobs part time and learning how to teach online. A small amount of structure for my time and Al was keeping himself busy with cooking. However, the 1st school called me to confirm it was going into temporary shut down, something that is inexplicably being referred to as “furlough” in the UK. I will get 80% of my contracted hours under the Italian insurance scheme, which is 7 hours a week. The 2nd job is only for 3 hours on a Tuesday and is due to finish at the end of April. There is no news yet on what is happening with exams so I don’t know if there will be any invigilation work. To be honest I was expecting it, I thought the 1st school might have been in trouble before the virus and now we aren’t going to be attracting new students. It’s disappointing, but we know we are not alone in facing work uncertainty at the moment.
Al cooked a Lemon drizzle cake to replace the chocolate cake we finished yesterday (see main picture with strawberries and tea). I don’t have any human weighing scales so I can’t confirm how much weight I might be putting on, but I know that I put half an inch back on my waist. We are still watching movies and TV series and although we have not started Tiger King yet, I feel it’s only a matter of time. We are reading books and listening to music. I subscribed to London Review of Books on a half price deal, just before this started and so I am building a mammoth book list for when this is over as well as loading my Kindle. We both have “at home” workout routines. We take it in turns to go to the shop and do bin runs as we’re not supposed to go out together. The weather has been sunny and cold this week. The sun cream turned up yesterday, hopefully the warm weather will follow.
Gnocchi with sausage ragu and parmesan
Chicken (puff pastry) pie
Capelletti with parmesan cream
Food in the time of Corona Virus
The Future
I think it is probably natural to be looking to the future at the moment. It is difficult when we don’t know when this situation will end or how it will be brought to a conclusion. It’s hard to imagine that there will be a day when we are all let loose to return to our previous patterns of behaviour and scoot gleefully across the world again. Presumably restrictions of some sort or another will still be in place for some time to come and will depend on the downward trajectory of infection rates in various locations. The rate of new cases here has slowed but not yet started to come down. Our initial lockdown end date was today but this was extended to 14th April, although I can’t see this ending before May.
However, I am entertaining myself by planning for something that I have decided to reclaim from the Brexit mess and that is “Liberation day” – when we are all able to move freely again and the Covid-19 virus is no longer posing an immediate threat to lives. I would contribute to hear some Big Ben bongs on that day, I can tell you. I’m saving up my last hair dye and deciding which of Bologna’s many fabulous restaurants and bars will be graced with my post quarantine presence first. I cordially invite you to join me in this and repurposing Liberation Day into a day of inclusive global celebration!
Smoothie and daily crossword
Social distancing in the Supermarket queue Bologna style
New daily realities
A little help from my friends
Something that I hope we will take forward once this is all over is this spirit of community and helping each other out. I have witnessed this firsthand here in Italy and I am gratified to see examples from the UK such as the overwhelming response to the UK Government volunteer request. We watched the Frank Turner benefit for The Joiners last night and hope to watch the one for The Railway Inn in Winchester next week. There are so many people performing or working on -line, which is great to see and be part of (even if it’s just in the audience). It had become all to easy to think that we lived in a selfish time when people were only looking out for themselves, but I think the response to this situation demonstrates more what is best about people. There are plenty of us that, when the chips are down, get together (not literally in these circumstances) and work out new solutions and ways of supporting each other and staying positive. My social media might be a bubble but its one filled with beautiful people doing awe inspiring things and helping each other. Many people and businesses are suffering right now, but if we all continue to do what we can and work together as a community we can help ensure as many as possible keep going. We are amazing when we work together.
Al and I on the way to the shop, before the one person rule
When I was thinking about writing this week’s blog I was conscious that the likelihood was by the time I came to write it lockdown would be a reality for the UK too. Comparing the numbers of Corona Virus cases from Italy two weeks before the UK, it seemed a similar story was emerging. I am sorry it had to come to this, but I think it’s in everyone’s interests. Hopefully they are finding, so far, it’s ok. A great many kind people, organisations and businesses are offering services for free or on reduced rates for us to do/use while we are at home. However, as I said last week, we shouldn’t try to do too much. We are in strange days and there is a mental aspect to this as much as a physical restriction. No doubt your thoughts and feelings about being in lockdown have changed and will change. Make sure you look for and hold onto the positives of which there are many.
A change in the weather
Last week we had balmy 20 degree days. You might remember my photo of the garden, glass of wine in hand. I want to make as much use of the garden as possible at this time and I was worried for my pale blue Celtic skin so I put in an Amazon order for sun cream. The supermarket we can walk too does not have a lot of choice available as it’s not a big store. I thought getting an order would be better than travelling out to a bigger store and potentially encountering more people even if social distancing is practiced here. This week has rewarded us with a wind warning and days barely reaching the 10s so it hasn’t been garden weather, although it has been sunny. However, this morning we were greeted by snow!!! Snow and it was settling, which we were not expecting at all. A quick check of the weather forecast confirms the 20 degree days will return by Sunday, which is good because my sun cream has not arrived yet.
Winter had a last laugh
Learning new skills and being bored
This week I learned to use a new online teaching platform as well as how to set up and use groups on Skype. My lessons are spread out over the week a couple of hours, usually not more than 3, at a time. A lot of the day feels like waiting for lessons and other activities are fitted around lessons and prep. I think I pulled a muscle in my stomach doing Yoga, so I’ve been laying off that and I caution those who are planning a vigorous exercise regime during this time not to over do it. Al has been bored because he doesn’t have any work to give structure, however I will mention that tonight I will be eating a chicken pie with handmade puff pastry. The chicken filling was also several processes and days in the making. We’ve also had homemade pasta and bread this week.
Last thoughts for this post
We are a couple of weeks ahead of the UK in this weird netherworld of lockdown. There is a stoicism that says just keep going which is good and helpful but, its ok to admit this is frightening. We have never seen the like of this in our lifetimes. We have no reference data to tell us how to feel and what to do. We are in an event we have only read about in post-apocalyptic books and seen in disaster movies. By staying in and minimising our contact with others less people will die, but that’s still pretty stark. There’s a part of you that feels like this is a holiday, a part that feels like this is an inconvenience and a part of you that is terrified and it’s all correct and OK to feel. We don’t know what is going to happen, which is always true, but is scarier now because we didn’t really think this would happen. One day this week I said to Al that I had a lot of work to do but I just wanted to curl up in a ball and cry. I’m not always sleeping and I’m imagining symptoms (luckily a fever can’t be psychosomatically generated) on a consistent basis because, hey, that’s the kind of girl I am. Turns out, it’s perfectly natural. Everyone is doing it, because it’s part of a natural human reaction. Allow yourself to have these moments. It will be ok and we will get through this, but if we have the occasional tremble, or just need to pull the duvet over our heads today, so be it. Be kind to everyone, but especially yourself. We can choose what elements of this experience we hold onto and take forward and which elements of our old life we want to let go of and leave behind.
As we begin this second week in Lock down we feel that we
are getting the hang of it. Al has been making enough bread to ensure we have
some every day and has also made batches of pasta, mayonnaise and sauces to
keep us eating in style. This week Al has decided we need a lasagne as there
are another 2 weeks of lock down to go (it was announced today that this will
be extended). I continue to teach over Skype and to spend the rest of my time
reading and trying to write. We are going out every couple of days to get top
up fruit and veg or occasional meat. This is as much an exercise in getting
some exercise as it is a necessity. However, we think we will try and see if we
can get more deliveries online to limit going out further.
Here people patiently wait outside shops, a respectful metre apart, until the next customer comes out so they’re able to take their place inside. It’s hard to imagine this happening in the UK without security guards or other monitors. It seems particularly unusual when Italians are otherwise famous for their inability to queue. However, everyone understands the seriousness of the situation and there is a sense of togetherness in a crisis which maintains a calm acceptance of the present situation and the need to get through it together. This too shall pass.
Rediscovering our love of film
One of the unexpected outcomes of all this was rediscovering our love of film. Back in the early days of our relationship we spent a lot of time watching films, being early adopters of Love Film and clocking up a fair number of films per week. Love Film ate blockbusters and was eaten by Netflix in turn. While we have maintained Netflix and Amazon Prime accounts these have largely been to keep up with TV series. Al’s anti-social hours meant that the Cinema was out of the question and starting a movie at home at 11pm is not that appealing. Even on his days off he rarely had the headspace to sit through a film. Now that we are forced to be in the apartment all the time, we realise that we haven’t really watched films for about 10 years. We are enjoying reading reviews and building up a watch list as well as watching the films. While there are a couple of films that are still daunting us with their length (the Irishman is 3 hours and 40 minutes!) there will never be a better time to watch them than now.
Piazza Maggiore
Via Farini
Ring road
Quadrilatero
Jennie’s top tips
Someone asked me for some tips in case you guys all get
locked down too. I must say that I think it’s important that you do. I
genuinely believe this is the only way to minimise this virus. Here are the
tips I gave this morning plus one or two more:
Watch films, paint pictures, cook and read books. Do anything you usually don’t have time for.
Try to stick with a schedule but not your old work schedule or an unrealistic home improvement schedule
Don’t put too much pressure on yourself to achieve. This enforced free time can be used for relaxing too.
If there are local businesses you can support by buying direct from them, do it.
If you’ve had gigs or events cancelled try to wait for the reschedule instead of getting a refund. See if the band or venue has merch you can buy or a Patreon or something to keep them afloat.
Don’t be a dick, only buy what you need.
Reach out to your friends. You can’t be in each other’s company but you can still interact. If someone reaches out to you, respond.
Think creatively about how you can continue to do things you enjoy – what about logging on to a streamed gig or comedy performance? Or what about a Skype dinner party – everyone does their own cooking in their own home but with Skype on so you can talk to each other?
Stay positive. This will pass.
Don’t you wish your supermarket was stacked like mine?
The future’s so bright
The world will be different after this experience. Undoubtedly there will be another global economic downturn and many businesses will not survive. However, this has given us an opportunity to see the world, as one of my students put it “through another lens”. We see how quickly those who have jobs that facilitate, can work from home. To see how much we need and depend on the jobs that have recently been referred to by the UK Government as “low skilled”. To see how we can be our best in a crisis, turn misfortune into opportunity, working together to help each other and finding other ways to continue to operate. We can take what we learn from this period into the future and make sure we change it for the better. It is tough right now so those crowdfunding a contingency fund, offering online shopping for goods and services, turning restaurants and pubs into takeaways and any other ways you have thought of to reinvent yourself to adapt and survive I raise a glass to you. If there is anything you can do to support them, you need to get on it.
Keeping positive
Sometimes the human spirit really can surprise you in very positive and uplifting ways. Here in our uniquely Italian experience we have the 6pm music from balconies, which have been shared widely on social media; the hashtag “#iorestoacasa” (I stay at home) being used by Italians to share experiences and homemade posters in windows saying Andrà tutto bene” (Everything will be fine).
If I had written this piece last week it would be completely different. I was into the start of the second week of Skype only lessons with the school closed. Al had just been advised that the place where his restaurant is located would be closing for evenings. This was a move as related to falling demand as to public safely as people had stopped going out as much. Corona Virus was largely to the north of us in the mountains and ski resort areas. We had taken advantage of more free time by visiting a few sites we hadn’t got round to like the walk to San Luca (to be told in a future posting), finding groups of school kids excited at the unexpected holidays pretty much everywhere we went. Museums and galleries were closed so there was nothing but views to admire.
The tourist numbers had been quick to drop and the arteries of the quadrilatero (medieval centre) were no longer so clogged as to make them impassable. In fact, one of the busiest streets, Via Pescherie Vecchie was so empty of customers I thought about stopping for lunch just because it might be the only time I could get into a restaurant here. Usually the voices around the centre of town are Italian with the occasional English, American or Chinese accent being quite striking and evidently tourist, so I hadn’t appreciated how many of those voices were Italian tourists and not locals. This became apparent by the reduction of people around. We knew the fall in visitors would have a financial impact so we decided to spend our money in shops that were likely to suffer the most.
Christmas shopping in the Quadrilatero
Early morning in the Quadrilatero in better times
Late night shopping in Via D’Azeglio
A rainy weekday in November
Usually something going on – May 19
Staying informed
We are using a mixture of media to keep abreast of what is going on from the BBC, The Local.it, La Repubblica and The Commune di Bologna (local council) as well as staying up to date with current travel advice on Gov.uk. We have been surprised by the differences in the tone of reporting that we were accessing with a lot of UK news articles on social media having overtones of panic and fear. I was amazed to see an article from Sky News and other British tabloids reporting everyone returning from Italy had to put themselves in self-quarantine. A quick check of gov.uk at the time confirmed what I thought, this advice was only if you were returning from one of the hot spots or if you had any symptoms. While we knew of the international reputation (infamy) of the British Press these events have really highlighted the stark difference between keeping people informed and acting in public interests and trying to sell copy, distract and manipulate the public agenda. Unfortunately, almost without exception the British reporting has fallen into the latter rather than the former.
Even the stories from the region published in the British
press seem to be the more hysterical ones. They do not chime with my experience
at all. Is this because people like me don’t contact the UK press to provide
comment, or because our stories are not exciting enough? I have seen quiet calm and dignity. I have
heard stories of panic buying, but I haven’t seen any for myself and the shops
here have plenty of toilet roll.
I will admit that, with hindsight, we might not have thought this as serious as we perhaps should. We continued to go to our favourite bars and restaurants, although they were quieter. We continued to meet with friends and discuss the situation. We were not feeling ill and not overly concerned as although we knew the Corona Virus would eventually come here, it was not really here yet. We were even still encouraging people to come here and have a relatively crowd free experience.
Aperitivo
What a difference a week makes
Last Thursday we were advised that the schools nationwide would be closed for 10 days, so we knew our schools would not be opening here. We knew people who had been forced to take holidays as local, small businesses began taking efforts to restrict the financial impacts. After that things moved quickly. On Saturday the Red sites or hot spots were extended to include Modena 23 miles to our North and Rimini 70 miles to our south. Although we were not in lock down, we were surrounded by areas that were. On Sunday Al went to work to be told his workplace would be closing until 3rd April. As he had the night off and it was the anniversary of our arrival in Bologna we decided to go out for dinner. We went to a restaurant on Via Pescherie Vecchie. The centre was not as lively as a typical Sunday night, but it was a little livelier than we were expecting so we felt more hopeful that this time would pass soon enough. On Monday we went to the vegetable shop and bought more food than normal because Al usually eats at work but now, we would both be having our meals at home. We focused on fruit and vegetables to ensure we ate healthily and as a boost to our immune systems. Late on Monday night we got the news that all of Italy would be put into lockdown, there were no such things as red sites anymore.
Via Pescherie Vecchie into the Quadrilatero
Via Pescherie Vecchie towards Piazza Maggiore
Empty steps at the Cathedral
Empty Piazza Maggiore
Quiet in Via D’Azeglio
The Corona Virus
I have heard many things about the Corona Virus ranging from
its no worse than Flu to it’s the end of the world. I just wanted to unpack some
of the things from either end and the middle. The flu is not like a cold. If
you think it is, then be thankful you have never had the flu. I cannot count
the colds of varying severity I’ve had but I know I have had flu twice. It is a
horrible illness and I would be happy never to have it again. Flu does kill
every year and while the happy majority manage to rest it out at home, I wouldn’t
wish it on anyone. I don’t want Corona virus anymore than I want another dose
of flu thanks very much.
The odds might well be that like 80% of people (source WHO) I would not have
a bad case and that I would be able to recover at home. It’s not really me I’m
concerned about. It’s who I might come into contact with, who I might
unwittingly infect. It’s the old lady in the street who I might have exchanged pleasantries
with, it’s the shop worker who has to work so people can eat. I am more aware
than ever before of the people whose lives I touch, even if it is just in
passing. You can have this virus for up to two weeks before you develop any
symptoms. Can you remember everywhere you have been in the last fortnight?
Everyone you spoke to, everything you touched? It’s people who are coming into
contact with friends and family with asthma, with diabetes, with compromised
immune systems and any other number of health issues who would not be able to
manage an infection so nonchalantly that concern me and so we all need to take
responsibility.
We owe it to our friends, families and the wider communities
in which we live to take this seriously and make sure that we are taking the
precautions that we can. We are not able to stop the transmission of the flu
(although actually the same measures would help) but there is still time to contain
this virus and we should all make every effort to do that so that those in our
communities who are vulnerable are not put at risk by our cavalier attitudes
because we think we would be able to handle the sickness.
In Europe and the US the weather is starting to get warmer
and we can hope the increase in temperatures will help to kill off this virus
in the same way the flu is reduced in the summer months. However, we can’t know
if that’s the case and the other half of the world is in the opposite situation,
getting colder and with their flu season about to start.
Let’s all try not to panic and inflict pain and misery on others; hoarding goods we don’t need; reducing the supplies of gloves, masks, hand sanitizer, medical support and medicines from those that really need them. Let’s stop thinking only of ourselves and what the impact is, or could be, on us. Let’s demonstrate the best of humanity by washing our hands especially after we have been in public places; minimising unnecessary contact with others; minimising travel; checking in on our family, friends and neighbours and only buying what we actually need to get through this period.
Blossom in Via Degli Orefice
It’s not all doom and gloom
So here we are, in day 2 of the Italian lockdown. Food shops
are still open and people are still free to move in their towns and streets,
going to work etc. They are advised to minimise contact with other people and
of course the ubiquitous hand washing advice. We weren’t planning on going anywhere
else and we’re in the city so we don’t feel too restricted. Yesterday we went
to the butchers and I waited outside while Al ordered because they had a two
customers at a time restriction. We went to a large supermarket, where shelves
were stacked and no one appeared to be panicking. Shop staff wear masks and
gloves.
The school I work for is making plans to extend online lessons. Al is making bread and pasta. It was 19 degrees and sunny today so we had lunch in our garden while reading. I don’t know what will happen next, no one does, but I look forward to giving you an update next week.
Although I was aware of the Venice carnival, I was not aware of its connection to Lent or the fact that not only was this an Italian wide festival, but also quite a lot of the rest of Europe too. For around two weeks, certainly in Italy, there are Carnevale events culminating in a parade of some kind on Shrove Tuesday or Fat Tuesday as it is known in other places e.g. Mardi Gras in Spanish, Martedì Grosso in Italian. I had noticed carnival masks and coloured streamers going up in shops, seen signs for Carnevale as well as event specific delicacies in the Pasticceria windows. However, I was not sure what the celebration was for as it seemed too early for Easter. I asked someone who told me it was the festival before Lent. This information turned our Shrove Tuesday into the limpest of pancakes. WARNING! This is my understanding of Carnevale almost certainly containing wild inaccuracies, baseless assumptions and misunderstandings. Anyway, Carnevale is understood to be from the Italian word for meat Carne and vale which means without. This makes sense as a description for Lent or any other type of fasting. The English word Carnival is derived from this. There is something reassuringly human about that fact that around the world, in all cultures, any period of organised fast start and end with a bit of gluttony.
We had looked online and Bologna was holding its Carnevale dei Bambini (Carnival for children) parade on Sunday at 2.30, which was fortunate as Al had the day off. We decided to go and headed out with a plan to grab a slice of pizza or a piadina to eat while watching the parade. When we arrived, we noticed that there was a lot of confetti and streamers on the ground and we worried that we had somehow missed it. We walked up to where the parade was supposed to be and although there were loads of families with dressed up kids walking around no one seemed to be massing for an event or waiting for one or getting a good spot or any of the usual signs of imminent events happening. We walked the length of the road and at 2.15, having seen no sign of parade or parade watchers, we decided we must have made a mistake about the time and decided to get some lunch.
It can be difficult to get lunch after 2.00pm because many
restaurants close at 3 or don’t open on Sundays. I had a mild cold so I was
keen to sit down if we weren’t going to get a parade. We were close to Mercato Delle Erbe (The herb market). This usually
has vegetable stalls in the centre with cafes, shops and bars around the edge.
Because the market itself and many of the restaurants do not open on Sundays, those
that do can extend into the unused space of neighbouring restaurants for the
day.
Polpette e Crescentine is one such restaurant that doubles in size on a Sunday. It is often very busy so you might want to think about booking, which you can do through their website on this link. The staff are very friendly and the menu is available in English if you need that kind of thing. The menu also lists their suppliers and the traditional nature of the food. For the uninitiated Polpette (meatballs) and Crescentine (small roughly square bread pieces fried so they puff up and can be stuffed) are local specialities.
Affettati Miste e Crescentine
Close up of Crescentine
We ate here when we were newly arrived in Bologna and they
introduced us to the delights of Friggione a local dish of tomato and onions
that is usually served at room temperature. I’m not one for side dishes but I
will make an exception for this, it is fabulous. More recently we had our first
Crescentine here which for some reason we had not eaten before, although they
are Bolognese. We had decided to start with a selection of local cooked and
cured meats called Affettati misti (mixed
slices) and to have the Crescentine
with it. A colander of freshly fried Crescentine arrived with our meats and the idea is you break into
the puffs and fill them with bits of meat, refolding them into bite sized
pieces. They smell and taste similar to a savoury doughnut and were a delicious
accompaniment. It was a fantastic discovery and something you probably can’t
enjoy outside Bologna.
After lunch, and disappointed that we had missed the parade,
we went to an exhibition we wanted to see. This temporary exhibition is at the Bologna Museum of Modern Art (Mambo)
and was part of Bologna Art Week, which I have written about previously. It was
curated from the work of multiple international artists, but by far the stand
out piece for me was “Bonjour 2015” by Ragnar
Kjartansson. I was about to describe it and then I remembered I have the
power of photos so here it is.
“Bonjour 2015”
Yes, those are two real life people in the “set” who perform
the same set of actions on a five-minute circuit. It is both beautiful and
terrifyingly nihilistic at the same time. You are able to walk around the whole
set, so the “performers” can be seen at all times. I have to be honest I
admired their commitment to the performance although I was distracted by
wondering how many hours they performed this for.
When we left the museum, we were disappointed to see even more confetti and streamers littering the place and it became clear that we had missed the Carnevale festivities for a second time in one day! I thought I might try and catch the Fat Tuesday events before work instead but this was not to be as unfortunately, even the lavish festivities of the Venice Carnevale were cancelled due to the sudden spread into Italy of the Corona Virus. Although Venice itself had no cases, it was deemed wise to avoid mass gatherings of people. The central and regional Italian governments took a robust approach to containment with Emilia Romagna, where Bologna is situated, deciding to close all schools, museums, churches and cinemas for a week as a precaution. This meant that there was no Carnevale parade on Fat Tuesday and MamBO, along with other museums, galleries and cinemas, was closed to the public too although they have made the exhibition available on a streamed service.
As part of our ongoing mission to see more of the area surrounding Bologna whenever we can, we found ourselves on a Monday heading out in our ancient Polo to what the Bolognese call “the hills”. Probably because in my mind the hills mean softly undulating landscape, I was not prepared for the majestic sweeps, deep valleys and dramatic shapes of the Bolognese hills. It would be like calling the Peak district, the hills of Sheffield, which is an error with my understanding of the Italian word rather than undue modesty on their part. This area is part of the Apennines which separates Bologna and the north from Pisa and Florence.
Al advises me that it was interesting driving, along the twisty roads, with hairpin bends, steep inclines and unexpected drops with no power steering and it certainly looked it from the passenger seat. My ears popped on one high stretch and we knew that down was the only remaining direction available. There were many beautiful small towns in valleys and on hillsides as we snaked our way through. I don’t have photos of the drive as I was too busy taking it in. You will just have to take my word for it or visit for yourself.
Porretta Terme
One of the main streets
We had set our sights on a town called Porretta Terme . As the name suggests Terme is Italian for Thermal spa and these springs have been in use since Roman times. The town is also famous for Winter sports as it is close to a couple of resorts as well as being home to an International Soul Music festival which has been running since 1987. It was a beautiful sunny day with temperatures promising to reach 15 despite it still being February.
Walking around Porretta Terme
We enjoyed ourselves wandering around the streets looking at the architecture. However, it is us, so we had timed our visit with lunch and needed to find something to eat. Monday lunchtime is not an ideal time to visit a town as many shops and businesses close for lunch and many restaurants and cafes don’t open on Mondays. However, there is always somewhere to be found and we were more than happy to stumble on Cipensoio which is the restaurant of the Helvetia Thermal Spa hotel. It looked formal and we thought twice about going in, but we read the menu outside and decided we would go for it. It rated highly on the review sites, but we had really been looking for a sandwich. We often find ourselves in restaurants having sworn we would have a light lunch on the run.
Baccala’ mantecato “Brandacujun”
Crostini al Lardo stagionato di Pata Negra
Maltagliati con scorfano, pomodorini confit e asparagi
Maccheroni al torchio con salsiccia di cinta e porcini
Our dishes from Cipensoio
Ci Penso Io is literally translated into English as “I’ll think about it”, but it widely accepted to mean “I’ll handle that” or “I’ll deal with it”, so bear this in mind if you hear it said or say it. Certainly, in this case they could handle our lunch. The food was delicious.
We had only been able to pay for two hours parking (parking requires change which, except for small brassy denominations, seems to elude us), so we had to get back on the road. It’s still early in the year so you start to lose the light at 5pm and we had another stop planned before heading for home. There is a station, Porrettana, which runs to and from Bologna, so a train trip would probably take you through some beautiful countryside on the way. Next time I’m planning on booking in for a spa treatment.
La Scola
We drove back in the direction of Bologna but turned off onto a road that climbed the side of a large hill. This road was in part single lane and we were a little disturbed to see bus stops dotted along, as there was no room for a bus to pass. The tarmac surface did not extend by more than a cars width and to the sides were rain gullys. I didn’t notice any passing places, but I would not have wanted to reverse back to one anyway, the road was steep and twisty. La Scola is listed as a historical monument, but it is a tiny village where all the buildings are from 14th and 15th Centuries and were built by master stonemasons. Its location, perched on the side of a hill, means that the beautiful buildings are set in an incredible context against the sky and surrounding hills. As it is tiny there is no parking to speak of, no facilities and I imagine that it could get pretty busy in peak tourist season. You can also get there by train and then bus from Bologna and I recommend it as somewhere to go on the way to or from somewhere else.
As Bologna is a city with a lot of galleries and art events I was pleasantly surprised to find there was a
dedicated Bologna Art Week too. It was from 17th to the 26th
January and was a collaboration between a number of organisations including the
Municipality of Bologna, MamBO (Modern Art Museum Bologna) and Arte Fiera. This
year was the 8th Art week and saw more than 57,000 pieces exhibited[1].
There were hundreds of events across a wide variety of galleries,
non-profit, artist run and unconventional spaces and included a “White night”
on January 26th. Usually, in Italian, a white night means a night
where you are not able to sleep. However, happily this “White night” is where
galleries and museums were open until midnight. This was to allow people who struggle
to get to galleries and museums during traditional opening hours a chance to go.
I think this is a great idea and I don’t know how many galleries or museums do
this, in other places, but I will definitely be keeping my eye out.
Bologna Welcome
To find out what was happening in Art Week, we turned to our
trusty friend the Bologna Welcome
site. As we had limited time when we were both free we wanted to maximise the
bang for our buck. So, rather then go to several different events in separate
locations we decided to go to one big event at Bologna Fiera, which is a massive
conference centre on the outskirts of Bologna.
At the end of last year we decided to get Bologna Welcome
cards. This is a card provided by the Bologna Welcome centre and with it you
can access many galleries, exhibitions and attractions either for free or at a
discount. We bought annual cards but they also do short term cards for tourists
and visitors. Check out their site for full details (link above). We were
expecting to get a discount at Bologna Fiera, but on the day we were ushered
through for free just by flashing the cards.
Arte Fiera
We drove to the exhibition because we knew it was on the other side of town, but when we arrived we discovered there was a free shuttle bus from the centre, which we should have researched better. However, we arrived at the venue in time for a spot of lunch at the Eataly pop up and then went into the exhibition. There were two enormous halls hosting this exhibition so to begin with we were a little overwhelmed and unsure where to start. Both halls had exhibition spaces organised by Gallery with a sign to indicate the gallery name and location. There was a mixture of Italian and International galleries. I will shush now and let the art do the talking. As usual terrible photos by me, good ones “borrowed” from Al.
Gallery spaces and labels
Can you spot the egg
Some highlights from our visit
To get more info and photos check out their site Arte Fiera
Art Week Bologna 2021
It looks like its all systems go for the 9th
Bologna Art week in 2021 and I would recommend checking it out if your visit coincides
with Art Week or if you are lucky enough to plan your trips around art events.
[1] ‘ART CITY Bologna 2020 –
Bologna Agenda Cultura’ (Agenda.comune.bologna.it, 2020) <http://agenda.comune.bologna.it/cultura/artcity>
accessed 21 February 2020
So far in our Italian adventure we have not been able to get
a permanent apartment. Like many other cities in Europe the rate of house
building has not kept pace with the rise in population. Although work can be
found, accommodation can be more difficult. Also like many other European
cities the supply available to rent to ordinary workers and residents has been
hit by air B&B and other holiday let websites. This means we find ourselves
in a paradox, using the available holiday apartments to rent for short periods
on a strictly no residency basis, while we search to secure a permanent
apartment from which to base ourselves. The holiday apartments are more
expensive than ordinary rentals and we can’t afford to keep staying in them
forever. Add to this the fact that we have no official residency, because we
don’t have an address. The address is an incredibly important part of your
Italian identify not least as it enables to have post delivered to you. We are
not able to have post or parcels delivered, buy a car, moped, get phone
contracts, unlimited wifi etc. Many people find renting with Air B&B favourable
because as well as the increase in rental value presumably the legislative
requirements for holiday rentals, if they are declared, are considerably less
than those required for residences, and if they are not declared, fairly non-existent.
Everyone here is looking for an apartment, or that’s what it
feels like. Agencies rarely have rentals in the windows because they go too
quickly. We have been told you have to call as soon as you get the notification
to your mailbox. We have personally visited multiple agencies who have never
contacted us and had nothing to show us when we were in their offices. We have
seen notices pasted to lamp posts by people also searching for apartments. We
have joined Facebook groups and watched other people posting adverts almost
identical to ours. We have told everyone that we have met that we are looking
for apartments and they have promised to let us know if they hear anything.
Some people have told us we will not be able to rent while we are on temporary
contracts, but initial temporary contracts are standard for new jobs in Italy.
Others have said we will not be able to rent without references; how will we be
able to get references when we can’t rent. Still we are searching.
In the meantime, we have lived in 3 very different air B&B in 3 beautiful parts of Bologna. The first was just outside of porta San Malmalo. It had a good-sized entrance hall, a reasonable sized double bedroom with lots of built in storage. The living space was nicely separated into kitchen dining and lounge zones. We had a set of French doors leading onto some private outdoor tiled space. It was smaller than we were used to but, in all honesty, there are only two of us and we need to be more disciplined about use of space so it was encouraging us into good (tidier) habits. The apartment was only 30 minutes walk from the centre of Bologna (as are most places). The only downside of this apartment was that there was no guaranteed parking and we were using a public car park nearby which charged by the day. However, it became apparent that a month would not be enough time to secure a permanent apartment. We could not extend the apartment we were in as they had another booking, so we looked for another air B&B. We found a place that had a 50% discount for booking for a month and we took it.
Apartment San Mamalo
The new apartment was considerably bigger than the first and this one had loads of storage. It had two large bedrooms and two bathrooms. It was on the 7th floor and offered incredible views of the city. The floors were marble everywhere except the bedrooms which were wooden parquet. The kitchen was in a separate room and there was a separate study. We were certainly living in luxury and the apartment included a garage under the apartment building. We had a balcony that could be accessed by the French doors in either the lounge or dining room areas of the open plan living space. This apartment was close to the portes of Santo Stefano or Maggiore in the Murri district, a very popular residential spot, so we had alternative walks into the city each with their own pros and cons. Maggiore, for my money, was the prettiest walk in and led directly into the main high street in Bologna. It has porticos almost the whole way along it’s length so from where we joined the road from the apartment all the way into the centre of the city. Santo Stefano has porticos from the porta into the centre and the shops were more interesting. The end of this route brought you through the square of the 7 churches or if you preferred onto the designer stores of Piazza Cavore and via Farini. We loved the area here and the walk was a similar 30 minutes in. There were more shops near to our apartment, so we were spoilt for convenience. This is a very leafy area with tree lined avenues, and it’s close to the Giardini Margherita. Sadly, as we realised that we would not be moving into a permanent home any time soon we also had to leave this apartment, knowing we would probably never live anywhere so luxurious again.
The new apartment was considerably bigger than the first and this one had loads of storage. It had two large bedrooms and two bathrooms. It was on the 7th floor and offered incredible views of the city. The floors were marble everywhere except the bedrooms which were wooden parquet. The kitchen was in a separate room and there was a separate study. We were certainly living in luxury and the apartment included a garage under the apartment building. We had a balcony that could be accessed by the French doors in either the lounge or dining room areas of the open plan living space. This apartment was close to the portes of Santo Stefano or Maggiore in the Murri district, a very popular residential spot, so we had alternative walks into the city each with their own pros and cons. Maggiore, for my money, was the prettiest walk in and led directly into the main high street in Bologna. It has porticos almost the whole way along it’s length so from where we joined the road from the apartment all the way into the centre of the city. Santo Stefano has porticos from the porta into the centre and the shops were more interesting. The end of this route brought you through the square of the 7 churches or if you preferred onto the designer stores of Piazza Cavore and via Farini. We loved the area here and the walk was a similar 30 minutes in. There were more shops near to our apartment, so we were spoilt for convenience. This is a very leafy area with tree lined avenues, and it’s close to the Giardini Margherita. Sadly, as we realised that we would not be moving into a permanent home any time soon we also had to leave this apartment, knowing we would probably never live anywhere so luxurious again.
The third and current Air B&B is in a very exclusive location. Located outside the porta Castiglione, which is between San Mamalo and San Stefano. The area is known as Colli, which means hills, and the road to San Luca (an important local site) runs up from porta Castiglione. The apartment buildings here are generally old and can be entirely private homes. I like to see how many mailbox names are listed as this indicates the number of households’ resident in the building. All the apartment buildings here are accessed by gates, usually automated. It is leafy and private. The apartment building, we are in has 7 households in the main building accessed through an imposing front door. We are down the gravel track around the back of the building in an apartment next to the garages. Many apartment buildings here include a custodian flat where the custodian’s family would live, looking after the maintenance of the building and grounds. We believe our apartment is the converted custodian flat. We have beautiful big windows and high ceilings. The owner has converted it tastefully with carefully selected antique furniture and light fittings. We have a private outside seating area and look out over the garden of the apartment building which itself looks over the tennis court of a neighbouring building. It is small so we are back to self-discipline and space management, but it is a truly beautiful apartment and location. Once again, we are 30 minutes’ walk from the centre along a new route, with new shops and sights to learn. We have been incredibly lucky and there is virtually no chance that we will be able to find or afford an apartment in any of the locations that we have stayed in so far. We have been very privileged to be able to stay in these places and have these experiences and we are just trying to relax and enjoy them while we can.
After our arrival late on Friday we had to go back to Campogalliano on Saturday to retrieve the remainder of our possessions. Once the van was emptied, we thanked Massimo, wished him luck for the repairs and headed back to Bologna. We parked up at the air B&B again and ran in and out with our belongings.
Our bedroom
The living space
Al’s domain
Our outside space
When we returned to the car park, we found it was full and backed up the road with entry on a one in one out system. We drove around and found some on street parking nearby. This had all taken longer than we had anticipated so we walked into town to grab some lunch in the centre and then headed for the Irish pub so we could watch 6 nations rugby. We found a good table at the Cluricaune, which was advertising that it was showing the rugby, but it was currently showing English premier league football and we were not sure if the Rugby would be put on after. A group of annoying English people came in and sat at a table nearby. From their ever so audible conversation they clearly lived and worked in Bologna. To be fair only one of them was really annoying but she was loud and ignorant and seemed to think we all wanted to know. We anxiously looked around as it was only 5 minutes to the start of the six nations match but the TV was still showing football. We were relieved when the barman changed the channel, but he didn’t turn the volume up. We heard Rugby pre-amble coming from another part of the bar and on investigating we were delighted to discover in the next section that a projector screen had been pulled down and the room was full of rugby fans. We managed to get a space at a table but we felt frustrated that when we arrived this had not been set up so we had sat by another screen, however, now we knew this was the place to be. The atmosphere was great, we couldn’t hear the annoying English girl anymore and we were rewarded with a win.
Good result for Wales!
It has occurred to me that I have not really explained what Bologna is like. One of the names by which Bologna is known is “the red one”. This is for two reasons, the first is because it was communist until quite recently in an otherwise conservative right-wing region, the other is because the local building materials give the old buildings a red colour. It is known for its many miles of porticos which line most of the streets. Bologna, like many other Italian towns, used to have a canal network through the centre and many of the roads cover the old canals. It is presumable that some of the upper stories were originally built to “overhang” the canals, being extended and supported by pillars once the canals were built over, but we have also been told that there used to be a building tax that covered everything built at street level, which meant that people built bigger at the second floor and then just had supports built on the street below. There are probably a lot of reasons, but the result is pavements protected from the worst of the weather and with various levels of ornate support structures for most of the centre of town.
Bologna has a number of gates or “porte” which used to provide access to the old city and prevent marauders from attacking. One of the questions you get asked is if you are staying inside the gates or outside. Our apartment was just outside the gate of San Mamalo. Bologna has one of the oldest universities in the world so there are many campus buildings and hoards of students kicking around all the time. When we first arrived, it was graduation season, so we kept seeing groups of students with one of their number with a literal laurel wreath on their head (the graduation season is called “Festival of laurels”).
Porta(l) Maggiore
We spent Sunday settling in and unpacking. Al set up the stereo, speakers and printer. We unpacked our suitcases and toiletries and ventured out to local shops to get basic food and drink. There is a fresh homemade pasta shop at the end of our road, but we did not have the confidence in our language skills to brave it. We had signed up to an intensive language course for the next week and we wanted to get settled in and have an early night ready for that.
Monday morning saw us struggling to get up. We had put our own bedding on the bed to make the environment more familiar, but we had difficulty acclimatising. We ensured we left early enough to get a coffee in Aroma before our 9am start at Madre Lingua school. Usually we like to have their speciality coffees but today we needed the pure coffee fix. We arrived at the school, paid the balance for our courses and bought a text book. Several teachers came and introduced themselves, in Italian. (Boring factual bit – language is measured by 6 levels, A1 – complete beginner, A2 – Beginner, B1 – Intermediate, B2 – advanced intermediate (can understand a news story), C1 – fluent speaker, C2 – Native speaker). We had been sent and completed an online test before we set off and told we would be tested again when we arrived. We were pleased to discover that we were not to be tested again, we were going in to a B1 class as we expected and in line with our level of reading and writing. However, being fully immersed in a class where only Italian is spoken and where all the other students have been learning at the school for at least one or two weeks, it quickly became clear our listening and speaking skills left a lot to be desired.
Our class consisted of two retired teachers from Germany, two Brazilian students, an American student who seemed to have lost all trace of her accent, an American man whose wife was an Evangelical missionary in the more advanced class with their daughter and a priest from Benin, who was working for the local diocese. We found the actual assignments ok and once we managed to work out what we were being asked to do, knew the grammar, but we struggled to understand what we were being asked or to respond to questions. The others were better at listening and speaking but had less grasp of the grammar.
Our school days were laid out as 2 hours of grammar, followed by a coffee break (organised in a local coffee shop by the teachers and with the idea of the school all socialising together in Italian), followed by 1 hour of conversation. For most of the school that was the end of the day, however as we were booked in for the intensive course, we had only 30 minutes for lunch followed by 2 hours of conversation class. This group was for all the people doing the intensive course, so it was mixed ability, but this meant us, one of the Brazilian students, the American student and an American woman from the advanced class whose grasp of Italian was good but who seemed to be completely unaware of her heavy New York accent. There was no trace of an attempt to say any of the Italian words in an Italian accent. She used the word “Cellulare” which is an Italian name for a mobile phone, but when she said it, I thought it was two separate words “Cellu-laaarrray”.
While in school we kept being asked if we had struggled to
get an apartment and this had led to many discussions about how hard it was to
find somewhere. This alarmed us a little as we had not thought about whether
this might be an issue and while we were in an air B&B for the month our
plan had been to get an apartment after that. We decided that we had better start
looking sooner rather than later although we didn’t have jobs yet.
We were completely exhausted after our first day so we went to the nearby Mercato di Mezzo to get a drink and do our homework, but we ended up eating our dinner out too as we couldn’t decide what to buy. The Mezzo is an old market building, off the Piazza Maggiore (main square). It is an indoor food stall complex with a central bank of chairs and tables. You can go to the beer stand to get beer, the pizza stand to get pizza and the sit at a table and eat. There is seating upstairs and some of the stands have additional seating for their customers. It is good if you all want to eat and drink different things and still sit together. It also has a bread stand, a cheese stand and a butchers so you can get your shopping in too. We ate at a restaurant in one of the nearby lanes, where we both had the lasagne, a regional dish for Bologna. We went home and suffered from a night of broken dreams and Italian words spinning around our heads.
On Tuesday we had our classes and went through our homework. We had not received a call about the van, so Al sent an email to Massimo asking for an update. Al and I spent the week with one or both of us completely unable to understand what was going on in class. On Tuesday I was more on the ball, On Wednesday it was Al etc. We had signed up to a visit to a local Enoteca (wine shop) after classes, poor us, but we were really exhausted. The visit to the Enoteca was good as we were a small group with no Italian teachers, so the Italian only rule was quickly thrown out the window. We met someone from the WI we could talk about Brexit with and an amazing woman of 23 who had lived in 5 countries and spoke about 7 languages. It is difficult to understate how the on-going non-movement and lack of clarity on Brexit was punctuating our experience and exacerbating our fears for the future but more to come on the Brexit effect in future posts. The Enoteca was one we had stumbled on by accident in our last visit. They sell only biological wines. These differ from organic wines as the whole process must meet certain standards as opposed to solely organic grapes being used. The Proprietor told us about each glass of wine while she was pouring them and brought us what they call “tagliere”. This means slices of meats and cheeses. You get them everywhere here, served on slate or wood boards. Mortadella, Parma ham, parmesan and pecorino are all local products. Parma (for the ham and cheese) is nearby (where we stopped for a break just before the van broke down). This area is a centre for pork and pork products. Each cured meat being made in traditional ways from various parts of the animal.
On Wednesday we heard from the AA that Massimo thought that the van was saveable and needed a part, so they asked us to approve the quote. It was around £400 so we were quite relieved and agreed. After school we went to the herb market to get our dinner and returned home with our purchases. 5pm is quite early for Italians to be around about and looking for food as they generally take a longer lunch and work later so we went home to refresh ourselves and do homework before heading back into town looking for Aperitivo. We found a place that was recommended and although it served great wine, we were disappointed to be served “only” crisps and nuts as complimentary snacks instead of the finger foods synonymous with the Aperitivo experience we were looking for. We knew at this point that we were going to need more Italian schooling, so over drinks we agreed to sign up for an extra week. Unfortunately, I was committed to two more weeks at work so we would not be able to attend more classes until April.
Thursday morning brought us to another coffee shop near the school. For those not acquainted with Italian coffee bars, these are usually fairly small with counters and high stools. Coffee is served in a tiny cup and most Italians drink them at the “bar” served with a small glass or water, sometimes fizzy. These shops often sell a range of “brioche” which is a classic Italian breakfast, these consist of croissants with sugar sticky outsides and cream of pistachio, almond, chocolate or custard inside, or fruit jam for the health conscious or there are a multitude of cakes. Terzi sells incredible coffee in exquisite tiny cups, with a tempting range of breakfast pastries. In a beautiful counterpoint to Starbucks which failed to find a foothold here, genuine coffee professionals sell you beautifully made coffee in real cups to drink in for 1 euro 10 cents and this is a high-end retailer. We were beyond exhausted by this point so burned the coffee off in no time. After class we went to a pub to do our homework before heading home to make ourselves some dinner.
It was finally Friday and we decided to treat ourselves to dinner out. The AA had called again to say that the part would arrive today or on Monday, but we had not heard anymore so we knew we were not going to be going to collect the van today. We finished at 4 and even after we completed our homework it was too early in the Italian evening for dinner. We didn’t want to walk back to our apartment and come out again, although in hindsight we should have, so we lingered about looking for Aperitivo. We were a little demoralised by our school week. We knew we had improved but it had been unbelievably hard. We felt self-conscious going into bars and restaurants. As I wrote when we made our victorious arrival against the odds, Bologna is alive in the evening and especially at weekends. Every restaurant was heaving with people and we felt like outsiders. We were exhausted and could not think clearly or decide what we wanted to eat. We ended up choosing at random and had a good meal, it is still Bologna, but felt a little disappointed that we were not in the swing of things yet.
Something that we had been vaguely aware of about ourselves was becoming more apparent: we are not very patient. We are not patient with ourselves, we are not patient about how long it takes to learn a language, not patient about how long it takes to learn the ropes, not patient about how long it takes to find an apartment or jobs etc. However, one of the reasons we chose Italy and Bologna was for a different pace of life here, for a different attitude to time. Patience is something that we have come here to learn, and it won’t be quick, and it won’t be immediate, and we will find it hard at times, but we will learn.
“Have patience with all things, but, first of all with yourself”
Up early with the hotel breakfast, we planned not to stop for lunch as we wanted to be in Bologna for 2pm. We went straight onto the toll roads, heading inland to the Tuscan countryside where it was gratifyingly less mountainous so no bridges or tunnels. We decided to have a quick break in Parma as we were making good time. We stretched our legs and enjoyed a drink sitting outside a restaurant in a little piazza not far from the Cathedral. The car park in Parma was a little way from the centre and so by the time we returned we were worried we would arrive in Bologna later than we intended. I sent a text the Air B&B owner in Bologna to say we expected to arrive at about 2.30. They replied with the instructions we needed to get the key, so it did not matter what time we arrived, which turned out to be very fortunate.
Parma
At a few minutes after two, just after joining the road to Bologna, we noticed a strange noise coming from the engine, followed almost immediately by a flapping sound. Al took the next available turn and we struggled off that Motorway onto another one losing power and issuing an increasing amount of smoke. We managed to make it onto the hatchings just after the junction before coming to a stop.
Uh oh! Yes, that’s diesel sprayed up into the hood, and everywhere else
We got out of the smoking car and were able to pop the hood, but not before I noticed that the engine bay around the catch was coated in something oily. I had been able to smell the diesel from inside the van. Al took the emergency pack and placed the break down triangle behind the van. I looked at the fuel explosion under the bonnet. It was still smoking slightly. We called the AA Euro recovery number and stepped over the barrier onto a grassy slope away from the traffic noise and fumes. The only buildings near us were some apparently abandoned farm buildings. Our phones batteries were half full and we had a small bottle of water. It was hot and the traffic was racing past at speed.
The AA said that the recovery vehicle would take between 1 and 2 hours to get to us. We were trying to see the brighter picture and hoped there was still a chance the engine could be repaired at the roadside and we could be on our way. A police car stopped to see what was happening and after hearing our pidgin Italian explanation they were satisfied and moved on. After a while a highways worker also stopped to see what we were doing. He looked under the bonnet and if we still had any hope, his expression put the dampeners on it. As he was leaving we heard a whistle from the slow traffic in the lane travelling in the other direction, it was our recovery truck. Once the driver managed to get off at the next junction and return to us he took a quick look at the engine. “Bad problem” he said. Without any further pre-amble he started getting the van ready to go onto his truck. Within 5 minutes we were on our way to Campogalliano, sitting up in the truck cab.
“Let me embrace thee, sour adversity, for wise men say it is the wisest course”
William Shakespeare
At the GMC garage we met the owner Massimo who spoke little English. We communicated with hand gestures, google translate, a smattering of French and Massimo patiently speaking very slowly. He explained that he thought the van could be fixed, possibly, but would not be able to look at it until Monday. We explained that the van was really full, that it contained our whole house. He valiantly took to the phone to find us a van to hire immediately and we checked the internet to see where the nearest car hire place was. He couldn’t get us a hire van and offered to rent us his own car. We had managed to get onto Avis in Moderna and booked a car online. The staff at GMC ordered us a taxi to Modena as we explained our plan to come back from Modena in the hire car and take what we could from the van, then to return on Saturday morning to get the rest. They were open until 7 that night so although it would be tight it was possible and they opened 8 until 12 the following morning. It was all agreed and our taxi arrived.
While in the taxi the AA called to check that the recovery had happened and confirmed to Al that the taxi and hire car would be covered, which was a relief. At Avis we were talked into upgrading to a Ford Kuga, especially as it was an automatic (no having to change gear with the “wrong” hand), and managed to get the whole thing done in about 5 minutes. We returned to Campogalliano and grabbed whatever we could fit into the car before finally setting off for Bologna. We drove past the spot where we had been stood forlornly alongside our smoking van only 4 hours earlier.
In Bologna our Air B&B had no onsite parking but we just pulled up out front, got the key from the key safe, and started unloading. The apartment was beautiful, and on the 1st floor, with lots of windows and an outside space. We piled everything in and took the car to the nearby carpark the Air B&B owners had recommended. We went straight from the car park into the centre of Bologna for something to eat as we were starving. We walked around the Piazza Maggiore reminding ourselves where things were from our last visit and ended up in the old market lanes. It was very busy because it was Friday night and we walked around a bit before feeling brave enough to approach a restaurant. We finally picked a place and wanted to eat outside (all the bars on this road have patio heaters outside) so we spoke to the waiter and took a table, sitting on high stools around a barrel. I looked up and saw that we were at Tamburini, the same place we had our first meal on our first visit.
Out of focus meats and cheeses
After everything we were finally here in Bologna, sitting at a restaurant, eating meats and cheeses followed by pasta and drinking good wine, while the people of Bologna went about their usual weekend activities, with families filling the streets and enjoying the evening. It was 10pm and the city was buzzing. We had made it, we were in our new home.
