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BOLOGNA, ITALY -
Bologna is more of a working city than some of our other early stops in Italy, so it wasn't as
out-and-out charming as the places that cater to tourists. This city is more interesting for its
character and its history than for any monument or building.
If you're looking for visible landmarks, try the Due Torri, the last remnants of some 200 towers that used to dot the Bolognese skyline. The shorter, leaning one (foreground) was shortened in 1500 to forestall complete collapse, but it still looks like it's well on its way.
Bologna is home to the world's oldest university, founded in 1088 (some sources said 1152, take your pick). To put that in perspective, the Universita di Bologna was already a couple hundred years old when famous alum Dante "Inferno" Alighieri attended in the late 1200s.
Many of Bologna's sidewalks are roofed to offer relief from the summer sun - and turned out
to be an excellent way to get around in the rain as well. The morning we left, we woke up
to snow on the tile rooftops, but it didn't last long on the ground.
The only place to check your email in Bologna (at least that we could find) was the Crazy Bull, an "American bar" with Springsteen on the jukebox, Bud on tap, and an energetic, clueless bartender with a red bandanna tied on his head. We had some time to kill while we waited for a computer, so we taught the bartender - who spoke no English and was busy practicing flipping shakers and bottles like Tom Cruise in "Cocktail" - how to make a whiskey sour. Sort of. He was appalled by the combination of Jack Daniels and sour mash, but I suspect bad whiskey sours will soon show up on the menu alongside Long Island Iced Teas, Irish Coffee, nachos and whatever else they think Americans eat.
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