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 Bologna, a warm, friendly city,a well-preserved
old town surrounded by green hills, an old tradition in art and
culture, the world oldest university, world famous cooking, an
international communication crossroads. Sometimes called "Bologna
the fat", this city is a great place to indulge yourself: Many
consider it to be the gastronomic capital of Italy.
Local specialties include tagliatelle, the Bolognese meat sauce
called ragu and handmade tortellini. And, yes, the bologna in the
sandwiches of your youth was a descendant of a local delicacy,
mortadella. In between meals, tour the city.
Visit the Basilica of San Petronio, while its unfinished facade may
not thrill, the enormous interior is worth exploring (don't leave
without getting an explanation of the brass meridian line in the
floor).
Bologna is also home to Europe's oldest university, where Dante and
Petrarch, amongst other notables, studied. Our favorite thing to see
there is the old, wooden Anatomical Theater, where medical students
observed dissections. While in the area, visit the Pinacoteca
Nazionale, which has an excellent collection of Italian Renaissance
art.
For a little bit of nature, head to the Giardini Margarita, the
city's much-used public park. Porticoes line just about every street
in the city. If you're feeling adventurous, you can follow the
longest arcaded walkway in the world up into the hills outside
Bologna to the Shrine of the Madonna di San Luca. If you go both
ways on foot, you'll have walked about 6 mi/10 km. Perhaps because
of the university, Bologna is a convivial city and has much to offer
in the way of nightlife.
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