Bologna, at last!

These are the words that welcomed me into the terminal at Gugliemo Marconi airport. Reading that phrase, "Bologna, at last!", I felt both relief and anxiety. Finally, after almost a year of planning, I have arrived in Italy. 

After a difficult goodbye in Buffalo, I took a small jet plane to Chicago. On the flight from O’Hare to Heathrow, I watched two movies and several episodes of Modern Family. The first movie, Salmon Fishing on the Yemen, was not as captivating as I had hoped, even though it stars Ewan McGregor. The second movie, Le Gamin au Vélo (The Kid with a Bike), was about a young foster boy who is adopted by a hairdresser. Once we landed in London, it took an hour to go through another round of security. But I was happy to be at Heathrow, because my friend Grace, from UCLA, was there to join me on the flight to Bologna!

The entire journey was pretty much hassle-free. After we settled into our apartment (where we are staying until the end of the month), we decided to take a walk through the city center. We stopped into several stores along the way to enjoy their air conditioning. We gratefully ate some pizza in a place called PizzAltero. It wasn’t the best, but it was definitely welcome after such a long day of travelling.

We finally went to bed around 9, and we both woke up in the middle of the night, thinking it was 4 in the morning. Nope, 12:45 am. Grace suggested watching a movie, so we found another one with Ewan McGregor, Brassed Off. We fell asleep again before finishing, so I’m not sure how it will turn out.

Today, we slept until 2:30, which is probably the latest I’ve ever slept in. Our next meal was something called a crescione, which was a piece of flat bread with melted cheese and tomato paste inside. It was warm and delicious. Since it was so hot outside, (99 degrees!), I had lemon and peach gelato to cool down. It only worked for about a minute.

Grace and I wandered over to the Sala Borsa on the Piazza Maggiore. It is now a three story library, but it has a rich history. It lies on top of ancient Roman ruins, which you can visit for a small donation. The woman at the entrance to the archaeological site was talking with her friend when we asked if we could go in. She was so happy that Italians were visiting! I had to say, “Davvero, non siamo italiane!” She was shocked. She told us that she likes Americans, because we are friendly and always smile. However, she wasn’t really a fan of Germans.

After the Sala Borsa, we looked for a market, but by that time, it was 6pm. We didn’t find the one we were looking for, probably because it had closed. We made our way back to the apartment, stopping in a small grocery store. For dinner, I made spaghetti with mozzarella and zucchini. Not bad for one of my first cooked meals!

Tomorrow we begin the apartment hunt…

Bolognesi buildings

The "Crescione"

Ancient Ruins

Keeping cool under the city!

Spaghetti with Mozzarella and Zucchini