Five Pictures of Bologna

In case you were under the impression that we only ate at Da Cesari while in Bologna, well, you’d be mostly right. Which is a shame, because it’s a very worthwhile city, with loads of intriguing and fantastic art, an individual style and architecture, and sweet shops. We did have one partial afternoon and evening to wander a bit, however. The follow five pictures (much like the Florence post below) take you along our walk with us. After checking in the Hotel Porta San Mamolo (which should be your hotel when you visit Bologna) and getting some good advice, we headed to San Luca, a church we didn’t see because we were so enthralled with the Christmas market taking place in the arcade beside it (we actually went for the market):

These arcade walkways are very particular to Bologna, and are in place in much of the city. They don’t only add personality, but are practical, too (when it rains, as it did our first trip, they’re so handy). From the market, we went to one of our favorites from visit #1, the Anatomical Theater. Bologna (if you didn’t know) is home to the first university in Europe (which is still in place—it’s a college town at heart), and not far off the duomo is an amazing room that was used for medical students to view dissections starting in 1637. It’s all in various shades of wood, with carvings of past professors, various figures, Apollo, and more throughout the room. The pulpit where the processor would stand is the starkest carving though, of two skinless men:

From the Anatomy Theater, we walked through the market district south of the Duomo, slipping in here and there, and stopping at Gilberto. Gilberto is a very small shop on Via Drapperie, but very well packed, with everything from family-named wine to chocolates to sweets to homemade liqueurs. In the back (going down the one small aisle) is also the world’s smallest (or at least Bologna’s smallest) bar, with two small stools and a small table. We stopped in to have a nocino and prosecco:

We then headed back to the hotel, walking down the via d’Azeglio, a main avenue packed with shops both fashionable and homey, and also packed with people browsing and strolling and doing their pre-dinner meandering under the holiday lights:

Lastly is a close up of a door lock that I found especially compelling, because it points to the artistry of the city (even within a small thing like a door lock), and because he looks a bit hungry, as we were as this time, before heading to Cesari for our delish dinner: