Bologna A Medieval treat

Bologna is a special city but surprisingly it is not a magnet for tourists. It is hard to understand why when you walk around its beautiful streets and visit its piazzas and churches. It had a population of several thousand people in 88 BC when the Romans conquered it and then they set up their city which grew to be one of the biggest and most important cities in the Empire. Due to this Roman heritage, the central streets of Bologna, are largely pedestrianized, and follow the grid pattern of the Roman settlement. We are staying in a small hotel in this very old part of Bologna and this morning when we stepped out of the door it was like stepping back into ancient times with all market stalls opening up around us on these picturesque old streets which still have their original Roman names. Our street name is Via Drapperie which was the Street of the upholsterers.

The elegant and extensive arcades (or porticos), for which the city is famous enrich the city even further. There are almost 40 kms of these arcades which are great for keeping out of the sun, rain or wind. It seems strangely quiet without the noise of cars. There are buses along a couple of larger streets but they are very quiet buses, and it is the motor bikes that disturb the peace. The Piazza Maggiore is the main square and it is surrounded on all sides by buildings from the 1300’s. It is wonderfully atmospheric and sitting in the square ‘people watching’ is a great way to discover what the city is all about. You have to absorb it. Oddly it is a city of personal discovery. You just have to walk and discover things for yourself, and that had been the fun part of visiting this city for us. Every street offers something new.

Bologna is known as the ‘food capital’ of Italy, so we have been making the most of that, visiting some great restaurants but also just browsing in delicatessan shops filled with towering stacks of salamis, parmesans and pastas, and bakeries with about 200 varieties of bread, rolls and biscuits.

Today Sarah climbed up the ancient Anselli Tower with the two children. It was built in 1109, is 98 metres high and these days has a 1.3 metre lean. There are 498 steps and is like going up one of M.C.Escher's staircases as the stairs go around and up in a square. Not for us oldies though! Leo bounded out laughing, and Sarah staggered out 5 minutes later. Oh to have Leo’s young legs!