l'università di bologna

the university of bologna is the oldest in europe (founded in 1088). these are just a few images from the university museum with its many globes, and then also from the terrace rooftops. bologna has the prettiest red roofs and these angles really allow you to see the towers, as opposed to the bird's eye view from the towers.

san luca

on wednesday my friend nikolas came up from florence to visit me here in bologna. bologna is pretty small so we mostly just walked around and then we decided to take the hike up to the basilica della madonna di san luca, or.. just san luca for short. when i took italian last fall, i did a report on bologna so i've known about this walk for a while and wanted to walk up when i visited in february but didn't have enough time.

the trail up to the church is a 30-40 minutes walk through 666 porticos, uphill and with many steps. it was quite the work out just walking but once in a while we'd get passed by someone who was actually working out (running, speed walking, etc). i think they were pretty dedicated to the bella figura to be running up the porticos in 89 degree heat.

the porticos felt endless. every time we thought we saw the end of the porticos, we'd turn the corner and see another long stretch of porticos before us. but, we FINALLY made it. the little church was lonely and beautiful, and we felt triumphant.

bologna, first things first

when i visited bologna in february, i posted about the city here, here and here. now that i've done most of the touristy things, i'm not sure what else to say. but i think my first bologna gelato and proof of centro lame behind our apartment are good places to start.

more things

1. i am in bologna
2. it's not as hot here as it was in the philippines... yet
3. i've been here for a whole day and i haven't had gelato.. what's wrong with me?
4. oh right, my lymph nodes have been swollen for the past 3 days and hurt a lot
5. i have a cute little flat that i share with two girls: georgina and mija
6. learning latin is like doing review for greek
7. except in another language and with an alphabet that's less pretty
8. right behind our living complex there's a shopping complex called "centro lame"
9. i have been watching a lot of the world cup
10. 27 days until home
(picture via ashley from vi.sualize.us)

bologna la rossa (bologna part 3)

this weekend i went to san marino (so excited to share those photos with you!) but first i have to play catch up with bologna! heather and i climbed torre degli asinelli and saw cute, little and crooked torre degli garisenda right next to it. these photos are by far my favorite.

my first spotting of asinelli. so excited!

just a small glimpse of the expansive stairs going up

view from halfway

finally at the top!

this city is known as "bologna la grassa (the fat, for it's delicious food),

la dotta (the learned, because it is home to the oldest university in europe),

e la rossa (because of all of its red roofs!)"

our pictures of accomplishment after we went up and down the tower's

489 steps!

cara signorina robyna, (bologna part 2)

my friend heather and i were feeling a little dejected walking around on sunday since most everything was closed. however, we were determined to find the restaurant you suggested. so we wandered along via marsala, in the empty abandoned porticos with shops closed up. some guy came up to us and asked US if we know where he could get pizza by the slice (ha!).. and we told him we were looking for somewhere to eat ourselves. he said that a little ways up the road and to the left there were some restaurants, so we headed that way.

then.. lo and behold:

we found EXACTLY WHAT WE WERE LOOKING FOR!

it was destiny! robyn... thank you for telling me about Osteria dell'Orsa.

we were SO HAPPY once we got inside! it was packed- loud and cozy and authentic italian (:

here's what we had:

we started with a crostini appetizer -

melted mozzarella with arugula and pecorino. so so so good

then.. the primary reason i came to bologna: the pasta. it was short pasta with smoked bacon and pecorino- so simple but flavorful. then the RICHEST and most gigantic tortellini stuffed with ricotta and spinach and lightly covered in a 3 cheese sauce. they balanced each other out so well. the best pasta i've ever eaten :)

this is such a cozy little place (:

dear readers, if any of you ever go to bologna, please promise me you'll go here. it's.. amazing. and now our little blogging corner knows all about it thanks to robyn.

you're the best.

love,

celeste

ps - we tried to find your gelateria recommendations but everything was closed. sounds like i need to go back ;)

bologna part 1

when i started talking italian a year ago, i had no idea that in a year i'd actually be in italy. i knew next to nothing about the country or the language, but when i started italian tutoring i knew i wanted to go to bologna. this was because my amazing tutor, robyn, studied in the city for a year and after learning that it was the food capitol of italy, i knew i had to go.

and i was right.

i'm in love with this charming old city.

i'm going to dedicate my next few posts to bologna, but this first entry is general photos of things that i loved when i was there. before i went, i spoke to robyn and asked her for all of her suggestions and i'm so happy i did (you'll see why later)!

a sample of the beautiful porticos throughout the city

(such a good idea when it rains!)

robyn will have to let us know what this is...

i think these are ruins of the old city walls

stairway to the parco della montagnola

in the park

heather the mermaid

my head getting bitten by the tiger

fontana di nettuno

san petronio basillica

art!

it was actually hilarious that we found this because when we were in rome, a group of random people came up to us and gave us hugs saying "hugs for art" or "embrace art" and their exhibit was in bologna. and then we found it and several others throughout the city.

the piazza of little celestes (: