Wait, you're sure we're not back in Wisconsin?

This weekend's selected adventure was to the northern city of Bologna and close by Parma. The rationale was to save the "warm weather" locations (ie Cinque Terre, Genoa) for warmer months. Not a bad idea, but when you go to cold weather towns in the middle of January, it's really cold. Friday morning's train ride took us through a jagged valley full of long tunnels for the train to narrowly snake through. After pulling out of one tunnel, I thought I had returned to Wisconsin. There was snow everywhere! And when we got off the train... a balmy 20 degrees (which I'll take over the -20 they're experiencing in Appleton right now!) The cold wasn't the first parallel between these towns and my home... more on that later.

Bologna is especially known for its university, its food, its museums, and the vibrant nightlife. Rather than pick one of those great aspects to focus on, our group decided to hit all of them. After visits to the Medieval Museum and the Archaeological Museum, we made our way through a jungle of discount-promising department stores towards the center of town. Right in the middle of Bologna (directly adjacent to a McDonald's) are two very unique towers, one of which has a substantial lean to the right. The lean is even greater than that of the famous "Leaning Tower" in Pisa. I'm guessing it leans more because no tourists ever come to Bologna, and if they do, they certainly don't try to hold up the tower in cute cliche photographs. The legend states that Bologna was once home to 190 towers, similar to San Gimignano. Today, roughly 14 towers stand within the old city.



A few lessons I learned over the course of our day in Bologna:
1) There are no bathrooms in Italy. Anywhere.
2) There are no bubblers in Italy. Where can I get my daily fix of bubbles? They seem to frown upon people who tried to drink from the Neptune fountain...



3) Restaurants in Italy OPEN at 8 pm. If you're hungry before this, you have two options: Cry, or go to McDonalds and eat a Big Mac. Though the first option was tempting, that Big Mac was one of the most satisfying sandwhiches I've had in Italy.
4) Despite what travelers in your group may have heard about the food in Spain, the bread they give you with Dinner is indeed included in the price of the bill
5) Nowhere takes credit cards anymore. Cash is the new Visa.

After walking throughout the town, taking in more breathtaking churches, the girls we were with of course had to shop. Now, every store in Italy right now is adorned with a bright red sign reading "SALDI!" January is the big shopping month here- so all the fashionable crap is on sale (It really is crap- their idea of XXL sweaters wouldn't pass for a medium in the US). Anyway, I thought I'd never get out of these stores. Dante Alghieri described Hell as a series of seven circles of torment with Lucifer and Judas chillin' in the middle. In the event that I'm sent to hell (likely for voting for Obama or coveting those Pogs in 1994), it will be one of those department stores. I will see a beautiful, historically significant church on the horizon, with an enoteca on one side and a pasticerria on the other. But I'll be forced to rummage through layers of Italian shiny, puffy purple men's jackets.

For dinner, we asked for directions. Smart move, I'd say. But clearly there were some communication issues. We had asked for pasta, but were directed to the winery adjacent to the city butcher's shop. Though a plate of salami, ham, and cheese sounded quite yummy (I really need to invest in a thesaurus...), we wanted something more "Bolognese." Thankfully, there was a fantastic local place just down the road. We were without a doubt the only Americans within several miles of that restaurant. The waiter was very sympathetic to our Italian 101 speaking deficiencies (it's tough to order pasta when the only thing you can say is "Il mio compleanno e il sette gennaio."), and he recommended a fantastic ravioli dish, featuring fresh bruccioto and feta:





Following an unforgettable dinner, we walked to nearby Via Zamboni, the home of the University of Bologna. The U is the oldest college in the western wold. Today, the whole city takes on a college town feel, with students making up a large slice of the Bolognese population. Interspersed among libraries, bookstores, lecture halls, and museums are vibrant bars and nightclubs, judged by many to be the finest in all of Italy. We spent awhile in an Irish Pub (I don't know if I've been to a bar here that wasn't an Irish Pub), which felt a lot like the Great Dane back home in Madison. Walking back to the hotel on Via Zamboni, I almost felt back home in Madison.

Here are a few pictures of the Bologna campus:





This morning, following a free breakfast at the hotel (what a deal!), we boarded busses for Parma. Not knowing anything about Parma, I wasn't sure what to expect. I had heard that it was the birthplace of Parmasean cheese, so I expected every storefront to be laden with cheesewheels and various other fromages.

Not the case.

Parma is a very eloquent, wealthy city, situated on a river bank, full of parks, beautiful walkways, and purse-inhabiting dogs. The cathedral of Parma, which boasts an eclectic collection of Renaissance art dating from the post-Byzantine era to the 16th century, is one of the more visually striking places I've seen so far. The ascent to paradise that is painted on the dome's interior portrays dimensionality in such a way that one literally feels immersed in the rising.

After visiting the churches, we ended up on an hour journey through the town of Parma, trying to find a "reasonably priced" lunch. Not easy to do in one of Italy's richest towns. We stumbled on a restaurant in Parma's largest piazza, thinking the menu carried the local pasta delicacies that some of us sought. When the food turned out to be highly mediocre, we left scratching our heads. It wasn't until after a trip to the upstairs restroom that we realized that we were not at an Italian bistro, but a sushi bar, specializing in various types of raw fish and seaweed. I'm just throwing this out there: If I owned a sushi restaurant, I wouldn't give it an obviously Italian name. I would also refrain from Italian deco. Just a thought.





Perhaps my favorite moment of the day, besides purchasing a monstrous hunk of Parmagiano-Reggiana cheese, was hearing a favorite tune coming from a local musician. I don't know if he saw my Wisconsin hat (doubtful he could recognize the motion W from a distance of 200 feet), or if he saw a large group of Americans clearly of German origin. Whatever his reasons, this man, sitting on a stool outside an elegant cafe, rolled out the barrel with his accordion. And I don't mean just the chorus- he recited the whole song, as played by the UW Marching Band. Cheese, bars, university, roll out the barrel, snow on the ground... I must have been in Madison this weekend!