Thursday May 4, 2023
We start our day with another cooked breakfast a la Carol. Very nice. Then we are out the door for about a 1.2 mile walk to the Risorgimento Museum. It is a nice stroll through a different and less central part of town. Much quieter than the middle of town. We do not know what to expect when we arrive. We did not expect to get a small guided tour of the living quarters of the Carducci family which is where the museum is situated. Giosue Carducci was an important Italian Poet. It is very nice and then we are given English guides for the museum and there are even English explanations of things in most of the rooms. We get to see some weapons and uniforms of the local guardia, as well as learn some of the history of the area. Bologna was controlled by the Austrians until they were evicted in 1848. The history then follows the times through Garibaldi and the unification of Italy. One interesting piece is a satirical print about the meal tax introduced in May of 1868 and how it was not very popular with the local populace. It finishes up with some WWI history and weapons. We both enjoyed this small but interesting museum.
We work our way back to the middle of town towards the History Museum. Along the way, we pass the Churches of San Stefano. This was a complex of seven churches of which only four remain. There are sarcophagus here which hold the first bishops of Bologna. The Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre has a round bricked dome. It has a beautiful altar and a column of black cippolino marble which symbolizes the column where Christ was whipped. The courtyard outside is known as Pilates Courtyard and contains a limestone basin which is a Lombard work dating back to 737-744. In a different courtyard there is a more modern sculpture of a man hanging from the rafters by his feet. It seems strangely out of place in this medieval complex. In the Church of the Crucifix, we can enter the crypt below. It contains the remains of St Vitale and St Agricola in two urns placed on the altar.
We leave the church complex and find the history museum. It is very well laid out over several floors and they provide us with an audio guide in English. Each room we enter explains the history of Bologna in a chronological order. It is very well presented although the number of artifacts and items is limited. When we are done, we head to Piazza Maggiore to meet Gwen and Dave. However, they have changed the plans and go to their apartment first. When they finally arrive in the square, we talk about their time in Florence and ours in Ferrara. We tell them we have a 1400 walking tour and our plans to do some museums after. They decide to forgo the museums and just hang out so we go our separate ways and plan to meet tomorrow for a walk to San Luca. We go to see the civic art museum but find that the hours we have are incorrect and it is closed until 1400 on Thursdays. This causes us to readjust our plans and we decide to visit the smaller musical museum instead. This also allows us to grab a quick bite to eat. We go to a small place for take out. Not just any take out, but two local items we thought we should try. One is Fried Tortellini with a cream cheese sauce and the other is a crescentina, a small round flat bread with the filling of your choice, which ours is prosciutto and cheese. They are not bad but neither one is something we would go out of our way for again. It goes to show that not every local specialty fits our tastes or is an out of body experience.
Back to the musical museum. We choose to visit the Collezioni Tagliavini which is located inside a former old church. The instruments here are mostly Harpsichords from the late 17th century. They are all beautifully painted on the inside of the lids and along the edges. In one room, there is an extremely old record player, actually a metal disc with holes that played the notes. The record could also be used to decapitate ones enemy similar to Odd Jobs hat in the James Bond Movie. Or it might remind one of Risky Business with Tom Cruise, Just take those old records off the shelf!!!!
We make it out of the museum and to our meeting point for our walking tour. This was free with the Welcome Card we purchased so we do not know what to expect. We have been on some very good ones (Prague), some decent ones, and a bad one or two. They start on time and we spend over an hour in various spots around the main square where we start so not much walking. Then about 45 minutes in the Basilica that we already saw. We did learn a few things, however, we find the tour guide lacking in personality and very monotone, kind of like being read to out of an encyclopedia. After the church we politely tell her we have an appointment, hand her back the audio headset and depart the tour. We probably walked three tenths of a mile in an hour and 45 minutes.
At this point, we decide to squeeze in one last museum today and return back to the Collezioni Communali D’Arte (fancy for civic art museum). It is located in The Palazzo Communale which was the residence of the Cardinal Legate. The artwork ranges from the 13th century to the early 20th century. The early works are mostly religious in nature where the later works vary from portraits, to war paintings, to Renaissance art, and more. Most of the rooms are decorated with friezes and ceilings painted between the 1500’s and 1700’s. The entry hall is very ornate with an arched ceiling and sculpture as along the walls. There are many local artists of note and a painting of Ruth by Francesco Hayez, a prominent artist that we are not familiar with, having earned degrees in the sciences rather than the arts. We also get some nice views from the upper floor of the surrounding city and streets. It is an enjoyable place to end our long day in Bologna.
Since we are hungry we decide to have dinner near the town center in a place I had read about and we checked out yesterday called Sfoglia Rina. It is open all day so we do not have to wait until 1900 to eat. It serves simple home made pasta dishes with no frills, no copper to (cover charge), and bread and water included. For those who do not know, in Italy, there is usually a cover to ranging anywhere from 1.50 Euro to 3 Euro per person that is for bread and service. Water is sold in bottles, naturale (still) or Frizzante (sparkling) at an additional charge. So, this place is a rarity to include everything with the price of the meal. At any rate, we decide on local dishes Gramigna with sausage and Tortelloni with tomato ragu. Gramigna is a hollow tube like pasta shaped like a short curlicue. Tortelloni is akin to what we call tortellini in the United States. Here tortellini are very small in size and usually served in a broth called tortellinial Brodo. The pasta comes with a small pickled salad and the winner today is hands down, the Gramigna. Not only is it served in a unique way (mason jar) but the noodles are green and the whole dish is flavorful and phenomenal. A nice early ending to our day so we can return, relax, and perhaps have a nightcap. Tomorrow we climb.
Expenses Fritto Tortellini and Crescentina Lunch 9.90E Pastries from Antico Panificio Armando Priori (Arogoste) 4.08E Pasta Dinner at Sfoglia Rina 22E Charming and Cosy Apartment 109.40E Walked 9.7 Miles
No Comments Yet