It’s been a rather chilly, overcast Sunday so far. (You can tell it’s Sunday by the incessant tolling of bells reminding folks to go to Mass. That and of course by looking at the calendar.) It’s a household chore day here, laundry and housecleaning before we head off tomorrow to Napoli for a few days during Susan’s spring break. We then hope to get down to Siena Friday or maybe over the weekend.
Susan finished her last midterm on Thursday and on Friday we took the no. 7 bus from Piazza San Marco, just around the corner from the Accademia and our apartment, up to Fiesole, a ride of about 15 minutes or so. It was a beautiful sunny day, although a bit chilly and blustery, when we headed for the hills above Florence but it was a blast to be back there after nearly 12 years. (The last time we were there was in 1994 with Dick and Dorothy and we’re not sure if we had changed or the town had changed but some things definitely looked very different. I suppose it was the huge construction wall surrounding the main piazza that threw us off. Ugly is an understatement here.)
Perched high above Florence, the Etruscans had settled Fiesole more than two-and-a-half millennia ago and parts of their city are still there as is their amphitheater, which is still used for plays and concerts. (I mean will the Houston Astrodome be around in a couple of thousand years?)
While it was sunny the haze prevented any decent photography so we just strolled around the top of the mountain and then returned to Piazza Mino where the bus stop is and sat outside and had a bite of lunch. It was the first time we sat outside to eat since last October and it felt great to enjoy the sun at the same time we were enjoying good food and wine.
Aside from the view and the bit (very little bit really) of Etruscan ruins there is little to detain the traveler in Fiesole. The nearby cemetery looked interesting but appeared devoid of any statuary and seemed primarily packed with row upon row of headstones; in any case was closed when we were there. Still it was good to return and the bus ride was most enjoyable. We continue to experience and see more of the city. After all we are going to be here for another four months, and possibly longer.
About 8:30 Saturday morning we headed over to the Santa Maria Novella train station and caught the Eurostar to Bologna. We used the Italian railway’s website to order our tickets in advance and even though we went second class we had to buy reserved seats when using the Internet – which as it turned out was a good thing. The trains going and returning were packed and lots of folks who didn’t have seats reserved spent part of their time aboard looking for open seats after each stop.
Here let me put in a couple of unpaid plug for Trenitalia, the Italian railway system, and in particular for the Eurostar trains.
First using the internet, which we do nearly all the time now, works like a charm. Order your tickets online and you have the option of going to the station and using the ticket machines to get our purchased tickets (and it worked fine) or, depending upon the train you can just print out the email sent to you by Trenitalia and show it to the conductor on board. They then issue you a ticket. We used this latter method for this trip and it worked great as well. No muss no fuss. Oh and Trenitalia also sent text messages to my mobile phone with all the train information (including reservation number.) for each leg of our trip. Pretty slick. Second, the Eurostar trains are newer than the IR (Interregional), IC (Intercity) and most of the other types as well, and so the facilities are in better shape as well. They also make far fewer stops.
You can now access most Italian city bus systems online and download and print out maps and timetables. Some cities like Bologna for example, even provide an interactive online map. Very helpful to be sure but it also means you spend less time looking for the tourist information office which may or may not be open.
So we arrived at the train station just northwest of downtown Bologna a little after 10 am, pick up a handful of local bus tickets inside the station at the “tabacchi” and cross the street from the station to the major city bus stop and pick up the D bus which will take us to the Porta Saragozza, on the southwest side of the city. (The number 20 will also take you there as well.) When we visited Bologna before we had heard about the world’s longest portico, which climbs to a large hill overlooking the city and so that is one of the two reasons we have returned. The other is that we read about an enormous home show going on in the city and thought we would drop in and see what it was all about. More of that later.
So we got off the D bus at the Porta Saragozza, crossed under the porta -- effectively outside one of the ancient walls of the city. We see the portico directly ahead of us, cross the street and begin our “trek” to the Santuario di Madonna di San Luca. Originally designed for pilgrims who would make the climb to the top of the mountain for worship, the portico, at least, in its initial stages, is lined with shops and caffes as it runs alongside Via Saragozza. After walking for about 15 minutes or so the porotico crosses the road, or rather above the road, and then we begin the most arduous part of the trip: the steep, uphill climb to the Santuario. This is something to clearly bear in mind for this is not for the weak of limb or lazy of bones. This is a serious climb so be prepared.
After 666 arches, nearly 3.5kms (some 2 miles), stripping away half of our clothes, and what seems like four or five hundred thousand steps (well OK maybe not that many but pretty close) we arrived at the top. The views of the northwestern part of the city were pretty dramatic indeed – but the letdown was that we could not see much of the rest of the city – the really great views were in the back of the church, which was apparently inaccessible to the public. But it was a great hike and well worth doing – and I think just to walk the portico is something that should be done by the traveler looking for something different. It is the journey after all, right?
So we walked back down, crossed Via Saragozza and picked up the D bus, (both the D and number 20 busses go up and down Via Saragozza). At the train station we picked up the number 10 bus. After about 10 minutes we got off at the Bologna “Fiera” (“fair”) which is basically an enormous conference and exhibition complex. And enormous is probably an understatement here. The place consisted of some 15 or so pavilions, some larger than a football field, nearly each of which had eating areas and many had multiple stories. Man was this place big.
So we had read about this huge home show that was ending on Saturday, the 18th and thought hey let’s go back to Bologna, walk the portico and check out the home show. Well we get to the home show and the first pavilion we went to, the “Color and Decorating” pavilion, was, you guessed it, all about paint; everything you could possibly want to know about paint: how to make it, how to mix it, and on and on. The pavilion with the wrought iron was designed largely to demonstrate the machinery used in making the wrought iron. OK you get the point.
This was a home show all right, but a show for men and women involved in the trades, for those involved in the building processes and the building supplies aspect of the home construction world. I mean there was one pavilion focusing just on heavy security doors and the like; another on wood and wood processing equipment.
Once again we let our American-based assumptions get the better of us and didn’t read closely enough – I mean after the fact we said to ourselves, it was curious that in the online catalog of exhibitors not one of the appliance companies or makers of bathroom fixtures listed. We agreed we read what we wanted to read – maybe it was just a subconscious excuse maybe to return to Bologna.
Still there were some interesting things to see: the painting of women’s bodies b local artists -- although I’m still not sure what the point was here – it was of course a booth display by the paint company Arco. Of course, for Italians when it comes to women’s bodies just showing them is often the point I suppose. And there was the display of enormous one piece (?) curving staircases; the huge wrought iron grates, to mention just two. But mainly it was lots and lots of equipment and machinery used by the pros. Not an appliance or tablecloth in sight.
We needed a break so we popped into one of the eating areas, grabbed a couple of pannini and relaxed before striking out for the natural stone pavilion. I let Susan tackle that by herself and I found a place to sit and take some photos.
We then grabbed the no. 10 bus and headed back to the train station where caught the 5:46 for home.
We slept for 10 hours. Go figure.
Wish you were here,
Steve
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