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Published: August 21st 2006
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Bologna's famed porticoes
Bologna, it seems, has more nicknames than you'd hear down at the local footy club. 'La Grassa' - the fat, 'La Rossa' - the red, 'La Dotta' - the learned and 'Basket City'- are probably the most common Bologna nicknames thrown around it's terracotta porticoes and piazzas. Real Aussies all have nicknames. Our Prime Minister is 'Little Johnny', our most notorious and controversial ex-crim is simply 'Chopper' and the former Captain of the Aussie cricket team is 'Tugger'. Witty, ridiculous or just plain embarrassing, the theory is that the more nicknames one has, the more endeared or loved they are. Judging by this, Bologna is one popular city! Bologna, it seems, has more nicknames than you'd hear down at the local footy club. 'La Grassa' - the fat, 'La Rossa' - the red, 'La Dotta' - the learned and 'Basket City'- are probably the most common Bologna nicknames thrown around it's terracotta porticoes and piazzas.
Bologna's food is hands down the best in Italy and arguably the world. This is where ‘la Grassa' comes in! Somehow the people aren't fat (possibly due to the anaemic portion sizes), but the food is incredibly rich in flavour and delicious fatty goodness. Unfortunately, I was here in the lead up to my first bridesmaid's gig, so every mouth-watering meal was a serious risk to the waistline. The food here is so famous that (hostel staple) spaghetti alla bolognese was invented here. So was lasagne and according to local foodies, tortellini
Deliciously rich plate of Spag-bol
The food here is so famous that (hostel staple) spaghetti alla bolognese was invented here. is so revered that in the lead up to Christmas, it practically becomes legal tender. Head to Bologna's markets Christmas Eve to see desperate husbands paying exorbitant amounts to secure another portion of Tortellini so their wife can cater for that unexpected Christmas guest. Every evening, just like their parents before them, young, trendy Bolognesi socialities, hit the local bars and osterias for drinks and complementary antipasto while they engage in passionate discussion with exuberant hand actions. In Bologna, there is no one single tourist attraction - the attraction is simple 'la dolce vita' - the sweet life.
My Italian language skills are limited to what I call the 'Avanti School of Italian'. Avanti was a textbook made famous amongst Aussie high school students thanks to the antics of its characters - Dario, Giorgio, Angela, Faye and Signora Cassata. Two things most people remember from this text are its catch-cry - 'Dario è sempre ritardato' (Dario is always late) and the catchy Avanti theme song. What this means is that I can successfully order a meal, book a train ticket and ask where the toilet is. In Bologna, English is less spoken than in say Rome, so my Italian
Red Blinds, Bologna
Terracotta red is the colour of its brick buildings and covered porticoes. There is even a law that stipulates that blinds or awnings must be red. skills were put to good use. One night I was relaxing in an osteria with some English people I met and noticed that not only were we the only tourists, but we were also the only ones who hadn't been offered a plate piled high with complimentary antipasto. After I delivered a few hand waving gestures with my Italian complaint, a plate was quickly brought to our table. Unfortunately, I think it was probably pity, rather than my exceptional language skills, that convinced them to come to the party!
The town of Bologna is literally red, so it's not hard to understand why they call it 'La Rossa'. Terracotta red is the colour of its brick buildings and covered porticoes. There is even a law that stipulates that blinds or awnings must be red. Red is the colour of Bologna's red wine, which is served chilled during the heat of summer. Red is also the colour of its politics - Bologna is home to the Italian Communist Party - though now, the city is led by a right wing leader. There aren't many tourists, but Bologna barely needs them. The city is clearly rich and apparently has one of
The fabulously lazy bolognesi all ride motorbikes
Ducati, Maserati, Ferraris and Lamborghinis are all locally produced. the highest per capita incomes in Italy. Bologna wears its wealth quite prominently - visit the local bank and you'll enter via a security door resembling something on a spaceship - complete security overkill! This wealth mixed with an ambling laziness, gives way to locally produced Ducati, Maserati, Ferraris and Lamborghinis screaming past in the city streets. The Bolognesi are so notoriously lazy that the staircases in the town hall and parliamentary buildings were designed for horses!
Bologna is 'the learned' owing to its university, one of the oldest universities in Italy. Renowned for its passionate student protests, famous professors - like Umberto Eco who wrote 'the name of the Rose' and graduation antics - Bologna is a vibrant university town. Students come from all over Italy to study here. July is graduation season in Bologna and I arrived right in the thick of things. The customs surrounding graduation day are both outrageous and quaint. The student (and their family) attends a graduation appointment, a type of exit interview, with a board of professors who decide whether the student graduates. Apparently (according to the guide that ran my walking tour) family members are allowed to help the student answer
University of Bologna
Bologna is 'the learned' owing to its university, one of the oldest universities in Italy. Renowned for its passionate student protests, famous professors - like Umberto Eco who wrote 'the name of the Rose' and graduation antics - Bologna is a vibrant university town. Students come from all over Italy to study here. questions! If they successfully pass, students are presented with a Julius Caesar-esque wreath with a ribbon the colour of their major which they wear on their heads. From here, celebrations seem to move along the streets - a procession of student, family and friends - from restaurant, to restaurant - with lots of chanting and singing along the way (for medical students 'dottore', 'dottore' or 'doctor', 'doctor' - seemed to be the go)! The antics that follow are more bucks party, than graduation!
Then why 'basket city'? Believe it or not, Bologna is crazier about basketball (and politics), than they are about soccer. There's a fierce rivallary between the two local teams - Fortitudo and Virtus - who battle it out each year in a famous derby. Virtus has retained the upper hand in the most recent stoushes.
I stayed in Bologna only two nights, sleeping under a Mary and Jesus picture in a cheap albergo. Delighted to have a room to myself for the first time in 7 weeks - I was furious when the owners screaming child forced me to plug in my I-pod to sleep. This charming albergo was noisier than any hostel I'd stayed
Trevi Fountain, Roma
Throwing a few coins in to make sure I come back! in! Lucky it was time to head to Roma.
Arriving in Roma I had mixed feelings. I was excited to be back in this overwhelming, big and thrilling city - but sad and terrified to be leaving Europe behind the following day. What do you do in your last 24 hours in Europe? Eat a fabulously decadent (read carbo-rama) meal washed down with a sizeable glass of red. Revisit the Spanish Steps, throw a few coins in the Trevi Fountain, then have a crazy, fun night with other random travellers - including a group of Spanish girls from your dorm room, a young bartender my sister’s age who went to Parade (neighbouring high school back home) and a bunch of random Aussies?! Yep - a brilliant finale to my European travels - with Canada and LA still to look forward to!
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carly
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Avanti!
hey ellen, I totally remember Avanti from high school, with Dario and the gang! The only phrase I can remember now is "Cuanto costa cinque limones?" That was a great blog, made me reminisce my time in Bologna 2 years ago, when there were rainbow 'PACE' flags on every balcony and a huge student protest against Bush's war, held in the main square. Keep it up!