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  • Matt Padula

The Epiphany and throwback to our Last Maskless Trip

Saluti to everyone from Italy! Well, I woke up this morning and suddenly out of nowhere, it just dawned on me—today is the Epiphany! [see what I did there?] As I mentioned in my last post, Italians take their holidays seriously, and January 6 is La Epifania. Virus aside, everything is closed today for sure. But it's not a high profile holiday, so we had to do some digging to find out how this important day (the 12th day of Christmas) is celebrated.

La Befana - Bringing joy and shredding it on air guitar

Turns out it's all about La Befana, the grandmother/witch/hag (choose your interpretation) who, according to legend, travels around Italy, and get this—comes down the chimney and puts gifts in children's stockings (if they are nice; naughty ones get a lump of coal)! Sound familiar? The only difference is, unlike Santa, La Befana tidies up a little before she leaves—ah the misogyny!


Most schools here start back up tomorrow on the 7th, although we don't start until Monday the 11th. In any other year, a three-week break would have been most welcomed, but this year it just means more jigsaw puzzles and binging episodes of "Chuck" on Hulu [btw, not a bad show from the early 2010's!]


We're eager to see things start to open up again, but we're doing a little dance with the yellow/orange/red zones these days—it's gotten so confusing, I am relying on Barbara's research to make sense of it all. Here's her take on the latest:

OK, how about some travel stuff?

Oh to be a 'zona bianca' some day! Well in the meantime, who wants to engage in a little "suspension of disbelief" and pretend we can travel like we used to? Barbara and I were just reminiscing about the last trip we took in the "before times," our last trip without a mask, a long weekend in Bologna. Bologna is Italy's 7th largest city and the capital of the Emilia-Romagna region. Most notably, it is a foodie paradise city amidst a foodie paradise region in the middle of an entire foodie paradise country. Check out the map—Bologna is one star in a constellation of "home of the world's best" cities like Parma (prosciutto ham), Modena (balsamic vinegar, not to mention Ferrari and Maserati), and Reggio-Emilia (parmesan cheese). Since we took the very efficient train from Torino through Milano (only 2.5 hours), we missed these towns, but their culinary influence is felt everywhere in Bologna.

Piazza Maggiore photo and video

Neptune commands the oceans; sculptor having some fun?


Bologna is the perfect destination for a long weekend city-break in Italy. Easy to get to, high-energy, young people vibe, and not expensive at all. It's welcoming to tourists, but not very touristy. If you've never heard of Bologna, here are some key facts to know:

Santuario di Santa Maria della Vita
A rare glimpse of a long-ago era (italiannotes.com)
  • For centuries, Bologna was such an important trading center (major silk manufacturing, proximity to major agricultural centers) it had a network of canals and locks running through the city. We were excited to explore these waterways, but apparently almost all of them have been covered up over the years. They're still there, but you can only catch glimpses here and there.


The character of Bologna is revealed in its nickname... "La Dotta, La Grassa, La Rossa":

  • "La Dotta" - The Learned: Bologna is home to the western world's oldest University, the Università di Bologna, founded in 1088. Today, c. 85,000 students give this large city a real college-town vibe;

  • "La Grassa" - The Fat: Bologna lays claim to being the birthplace (is that what you would call it?) of (1) Bolognese sauce—a staple dish in Britain when served over spaghetti, but called 'Ragu' in Italy, and served over tagliatelle; (2) the sausage known as "mortadella" (a favorite among the chubbier characters in 'The Sopranos'), and...(3) tortellini—just like a Domino's stuffed-crust pizza, they put the cheese on the INSIDE!!

Tortellini, Mortadella, Ragu (served over tagliatelle, for sure): We owe it all to you, Bologna!!

Beautiful arcades all over town (wikipedia picture)
  • "La Rossa" - The Red: Two visuals that jump out at you when you arrive in Bologna: (1) It's got an extensive system of arcades all over town, even more so than I've noted about Torino or Genoa. A very effective way to shield the sun or the rain/snow! (2) The color palette is remarkably consistent here. Considering it was widely damaged by Allied bombing in 1943, you would expect Bologna to have a hodgepodge of architectural styles/colors. But they seem to have recreated its earlier form—the dominant colors are various shades of red/rose and ochre/siena—see the photos for examples of a very soothing palette.

Views of and from the two towers (le due torri): Garisenda 48m, and Asinelli 97m

Looking back on this trip, it's amazing how different life was for all of us, as recently as last February. Look how innocent we were, not even thinking about masks and quarantines...Our biggest challenge that weekend, besides having too many choices for places to eat, was a train strike on the way home that delayed us an hour. What would I give to have that be our biggest concern today!


Oh well, hang in there folks! We just may be turning a corner...pray for "bianca" and arrivederci!







.

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