Bologna

t

Bologna, Italy

January 27-28, 2012

Italy's food capital did not disappoint!

I stayed here for three nights and one day. Three nights because this was where I went home to after whole day excursions in Verona and Rome. Hehe. All the pictures you'll see here is from the one and only day I spent exploring the city.

But while Rome had its Ruins and Verona had its Romance, Bologna had a charm all its own. My friend JM said it was one of Italy's best insider's secrets. 

This one big university town is my idea of a perfect medieval setting- complete with crumbling buildings, beautiful porticoes, ancient Mordor-like towers, mosaic pathways, frescoes and orange facades. And the best part of all-- it didn't have so many tourists. 

It felt surreal walking along its streets because of the Anne Rice Gothic feel of the surroundings. It must have been a very interesting city in its heyday, with a history that dates back all the way to one millennium before Christ. Some of the frescoes were made during early Byzantine times, which absolutely delighted the history gnork within me. 

And If the fact that the whole city is the oldest university in the world isn't enough to amaze you, then the literary geek in you would be quivering to know that the University of Bologna's president is none other than Umberto Eco himself. (My insides were squirming when I found out).

And! Their pizza is divine and their coffee is heavenly.