When in Bologna...

On Wednesday our whole program went to the Opera. Everyone got all dressed up, so that was special. It was called L’Italiana in Algeri and it was about… love? I don’t really know it was pretty difficult to understand what was happening. Roughly here’s what happened, this rich prince-like dude didn’t like his wife so he tried to trick her into loving a prisoner he set free and find himself a real Italian wife. But then the new Italian wife feel in love with someone else (like a servant I believe) and the prisoner fell in love with the Italian wife, or something like that. And then I thought they opened a restaurant but apparently they just went to Italy and tricked the king dude with spaghetti and all ran away with the people they truly love. Or something. For understanding almost nothing, it was amazing. It was interesting too because they had subtitles in Italian above the stage, so something tells me even Italians work to understand the plot. Anyways, the costumes were unbelievable. It really wasn’t comparable to an American musical, it was really a treat. And their voices! They don’t use any microphones and we were literally at the very top level in the very last row (we are college students after all) and we could hear everything wonderfully. I would recommend an Italian Opera to anyone visiting Italy, if you have the time, although it is long- not sure if Tommy could make it. Not going to lie I had two espressos before hand.

Bologna. Initially I wasn’t even too sure why I was going. My friends just planned a trip and I figured why not? Plus, I don’t think a city in Italy exists that doesn’t have good wine and food so I figured we had at least that going for us. Although, to be honest, I pictured a kind of grungy city that smelled like a meat processing factory- I mean come on what else do you think of when you hear Bologna? Boy, was I wrong.

So we got on a train at 8:30 leaving from our town of Sesto to Bologna. It was about an hour and 45 minute train ride. We were on the train for about 40 minutes when we went into a tunnel for roughly 20 minutes and when we got out of the tunnel we were stunned: there was snow everywhere! Some comments included, we traveled to Narnia! Are we going to Hogwarts? And O, no we woke up from our dream Italian life and are back in Wisconsin! But to be honest the snow wasn’t that bad and it was actually a beautiful landscape for snow.

I went to Bologna with 8 other people. I was really excited about the group I was going with to begin with, but slightly nervous to go with such a big group. However, not only did things work out fine it was perfect. Our group got along so well, we got to know each other a lot more, and we were all pretty much always on the same schedule and down to do the same things- a rarity with such a large group. I realized that what is really going to be the deal breaker on these trips is who I go with, that they are what make these trips. So far, so (VERY) good!

We got there with absolutely no game plan (shocking!), a concept which has honestly become my favorite way to travel. Obviously, this spontaneous way of life could go horribly but that has not been my experience. In fact, I think it has paid off immensely.

When we got there it was pretty cold and we were pretty hungry so we sat in a little caffe drinking hot chocolate, which could easily be described as pudding not hot chocolate (but we weren’t complaining). Then we wondered around. The thing about Bologna that stood out as different to me than other Italian cities (so far) is that it is a university town. The University of Bologna is the first university in all of Italy, and it definitely had a campus feel to it. So we checked out the university and were stunned by the simple truth that this is where people our age go to school. It’s crazy! It’s so beautiful and historic, yet that’s where classes are. Needless to say it was pretty cool.

Then we went to our hotel which was outside of the city but a simple euro bus ride and totally worth it. 19 euro a night for great room, amazingly hospitable and helpful concierge and free (amazing) breakfast! Anyways we got ready and went into the city for the night. We found a little restaurant (off the beaten path just like everyone tells you to do) and had a great meal. One thing we all noticed was the difference in portion sizes, much smaller when compared to American sizes. Yet, still completely satisfying. This is the first real restaurant we went to that we completely could not decipher the menu (even those in Advanced Italian). So most of us went with the House special (I did), which was an oven baked lasagna type thing but not lasagna noodles it was like oversized penne noodles. I don’t know it was just good. And we had some house wine of course. I am really beginning to enjoy and appreciate the perfect wine with a meal, the two really do pair well.

It was a little early to go out to a bar after dinner so we decided to hang out at this little cute wine bar for a little bit. However, a little bit turned into a long bit. We had great, lively conversation and, of course, great wine. Literally wine is cheaper than water here- that is not a joke or an exaggeration. Unlike in America you have to pay for water here, so it obviously more reasonable to bypass the water and go straight to the wine (haha!). Seriously, that should be Italy’s slogan- “Where wine is cheaper than water”

Then we fully immersed ourselves in the Bologna night life. I really felt like we experienced a typical Italian college student night out, so obviously it was a blast. Highlights include: bonding with an Italian bar tender who knew a surprising amount of English and thoroughly entertained us (as I think we did him), get evilly stared down by intense Italian woman because I accidentally bumped her (I thought she was going to kill me), hanging out at an Irish Pub, and get late night Kababs (seriously unbelievable). I feel like the Kababs need further explanation. In Italy (or atleast every city I’ve so far been to) you either eat Italian food (Pizza, pasta, or Paninis) or Kababs. So ya we aren’t entirely sure what Kababs are but they are definitely on to something. It is very similar to a Gyro except then they throw crazy things in there like coleslaw, fries and these crazy sauces- whatever it is the combination is like a firework in your mouth, an explosion of flavor if you will.

Then Saturday we had a fabulous breakfast at our hotel (yes, I have yet to have a bad meal even a hotel breakfast is amazing). Originally our plan for Saturday was to go to Verona for the day, which was an hour and half train ride away but we decided that was just too much and we wanted to see more of Bologna. So, our hotel offered a free guided walking tour (Sat-tour-day) of Bologna that we tried to sign up for but it was full. However, that definitely ended up being a positive.

The highlight of the day was stumbling upon an art project that was happening in Piazza Maggiore. There was a group doing participating in an art contest based in Milan. I believe the contest was to make the largest piece of art. As we strolled into the piazza we saw people in jumpsuits rolling out big white sheets of paper. As we asked some of the people in jumpsuits what was going on (luckily they spoke English) they explained the project and handed us paint brushes. Literally, we were the first ones handed paint brushes. So we just started painting. We were slightly intimidated… I mean where do you start? Most of us wrote our name, did some design, and we traced one of our friends. More and more people started to join in and there were tons of news crews and photographers around. Some people got really into, painting beautiful images. We stayed for awhile and took a look at some pieces and then left to wonder around the rest of Bologna. After about an hour we decided to come back and check out the progress of the project. Every inch of the paper was filled. Tons of more people had contributed, it was outstanding. It was interesting too to see where people had added on their own touch to an image that was already there. I got a great picture of an adorable little Italian girl splattering the paper. And my favorite was the people running the project had wrote really big “Make the Sky Bloom” I thought it was incredibly fitting. Hence, the genius that is spontaneity.

Then I had a crepe. It was awesome. It had Nutella and strawberries. Dad and Tommy you will be very happy to know that Italians LOVE their Nutella. It is everywhere. In some caffe fronts they just have GIANT jars of Nutella in the windows. At our hotel they had little packets of Nutella like jelly.

Yes, what you are supposed to do in Bologna is eat (obviously). So that night we decided to eat at a typical Bolognese restaurant. It was awesome. I had ravoli with Bolognese sauce. OBVIOUSLY, outstanding and indescribable. Everything everyone ate (even if they weren’t exactly sure what it was) was outstanding. It’s fun eating out with a big group and having little bites of everyones food. And again we had the house wine. I had a little wine before dinner and was a little iffy about the wine, BUT then I started eating and the wine just got better. I totally get it now.

Then we went out again. And again it was a blast. No kababs this night though.

I am so happy I have kept up with life like this, because honestly on moment of happiness is beginning to blend into the next. Aunt Kathy asked me today what my favorite thing has been and honestly it’s probably whatever the last thing I did was. It was just a day in Florence, then Siena, then wine tasting, then the Uffizi, then Ponte Vecchio, then riding bikes in Lucca, then the Opera, and now it’s Bologna… is this seriously my life? Literally sometimes I want to cry of happiness and I find myself having to stop often and asking myself if this is my real life. I feel as if I have a very similar paragraph to this one in my last blog which really makes me wonder if this feeling is ever going to go away.

The thing is too though (yes, to just go off on one more tangent) is that every aspect is perfect. It’s not just that we go to cool places and see cool things, it’s not just that I’m with awesome people, or that I’m going out and having a lot of fun- it’s the utterly perfect, indescribable combination of all of these things.

Yes, my blogs are long. I don’t care. This is how a write, it fits into my schedule to just post one long blog a week, and there’s a lot in my life to write about. So again, I don’t care. You don’t have to read it. BUT for those of you that do, THANKS and I hope you are enjoying reading about my life as much as I am enjoying reading it.

Again, thank you mother and father I love and miss you dearly.

Ciao!