Lit up like a Street Lamp at Midnight

Contrary to my expectations of mid-march, every day in Bologna, I’m still amazed. By what? Here are some minor details of the city that I love:

  • The crooked, open, wood window shutters that line the alleys of Bologna in between baskets of flowers outside the window. 
  • Everyday I walk to class alone in the city of Bologna, yet I am alongside 100,000 other students.
  • There’s a beautiful park and garden where I can relax, run, and stick out as an American with my t-shirts, norts, and nike sneaks…
  • The opera singer that lives a floor above me. She practices every other day around 10 a.m. At first it bothered me- it was so strange. But now I think- Only in Italy would I have the opportunity to hear her soprano trills from the comfort of my apartment- I should pop some popcorn (oh wait, I’m not in America) and enjoy the show!… YGG!”
  • Caffè Per Noi! This bar is a stone’s throw way from most of my classes, and they have a discount for an espresso/cappuccino + brioche (like a chocolate croissant!) for 1.60 euro. At any other bar, it would be about 2.50! I go there 2 or 3 days a week, and have become friends with one of the most precious baristas. The tragedy is that in my Culture of Food and the Italian Identity class, I learned (after I’ve gone to Caffe Per Noi at least 5 times) that it is unacceptable to drink cappuccino’s after 11a.m. Nonetheless, I will probably continue ordering one, because I’ve made it this far without being banned from the bar. 
  • The fresh produce. The mercato opens up at the end of a street with tents and delightfully fresh fruits and vegetables! It’s thrilling. I also love seeing the oranges, because they are orange and bright and every single one of them comes with a leaf on them, as if they were just picked off the tree this morning. Then, when you open them, they are blood orange and so sweet. They are my favorite right now.

I’ve also walked through some really cool places…

My trip to Padova with my Art and Society class was amazing. We saw the affreschi of Giotto in the Chapel of Enrico Scrovegni. It was so stunning to see the bright blue volta-a-botte! We also went through the amazing Basilica of Saint Anthony. As the patron saint of lost things, there are thousands of pictures of missing people and lost loves all over the his tomb in the basilica.

At the Teatro del Comune di Bologna, I saw my first opera, Tosca, and I loved all 3.5 hours of it! It was in Italian, but they had the Italian subtitles flashing above the stage to help the audience. The opera went through every emotion, and at the end I yelled “Bravo! Bravissima!”, along with other viewers who were standing on their feet, and I felt a little more Italian. [Sorry to my spotify followers who keep having the Tosca soundtrack pop up… I just can’t get enough!]

I also went to Verona with Kiki and Alyssa! I don’t have Friday classes, so I planned this day trip. Verona has a distinct aura, with a lot more space to enjoy what you are seeing and the alleys you are walking though. In Verona we went to the courtyard to admire the most famous balcony from Shakespeare’s play “Romeo and Juliet”. The house and court was owned by the Dal Capello (like Capulet!) family before the city of Verona bought it in 1905. We then made our way through the giardini and the shops, we stopped for gelato, crossed some bridges, and hiked up a hill to see a grand panorama of the city! We returned to the main giardini and had a lunch which consisted of sharing salami and Veronese cheese, and the delicious pack of Chiacchiere.

March 8th is also International Festa delle Donne! (Women’s Day!). Since America doesn’t celebrate this (but whyyy???) I was confused when I woke up to a text from my male roommate saying “happy woman day beauty [insert rose emoji here]”. It was nice that he took the time to look up how to send me “auguri” in English and called me beauty in lieu of bella, but nonetheless, I was a little creeped out because I was unaware that the holiday existed. That changed in the afternoon when I walked through Piazza Maggiore and found all the women being celebrated with yellow flowers and big smiles! I began to walk with pride as Kiki, Alyssa, and I went to Bologna’s famous Giardini Margherita for the first time. We got in the Word and I picked flowers to put in my hair. We spontaneously decided to celebrate ourselves all day, so we met with other Americans from the program, went grocery shopping, and tried* to make chocolate chip cookies and brownies! We blame the nonexistence of the necessary brown sugar and the never-fully-functioning ovens here in Italy for the outcome: delicious, but more like sugar bread. No matter what it looked like, it tasted good, so we ate it until we got tummy aches, then split up to get ready for the night. Two hours later, we were all back together around a table of 5 wine bottles in little black dresses, ready to go out for a special night to celebrate our very own holiday! One of the dinner clubs was hosting us for a 4 course dinner, a spettacolo, and an after party at their discoteca. I returned early-morning and loved that I celebrated Festa delle Donne right.