Our next post has a name, it's B-O-L-O-G-N-A

Assuming we have any devoted readers, we apologize for our painfully long hiatus. We hope to get back on track and somehow caught up. For now, enjoy our upcoming posts describing the holidays in Europe

Bologna

Our sole surviving photo from Bologna from our stolen camera. Robin on the world's longest arcade.

After a month of being settled in Altamura, it was time to get back on the move. We were offered a ride by our new Italian compadre Lorenzo out of town, but after waiting to hear back from him, it turned out not only could he not give us a ride, but he didn't actually have a car. We priced out an escape plan to return to revisit Edgar and Eva via Bologna, Verona and Venice. 

We took our first overnight train of the trip, but were well prepared and got a decent night's sleep. Then we had a predawn stroll through Bologna's entire old town to get to our hotel, getting to see a side of the city that few tourists - and apparently hardly any locals - see. We paraded down countless arcades past boarded-up Christmas markets, a sleeping ice rink, and Bologna's Two Towers lit up with Christmas lights. Then we reached the main squares, Piazza del Nuttuno and Piazza Maggiore, where we were greeted by our very first European Christmas tree...and a giant Neptune statue for good measure.

Later that morning, we got to see the city in daylight. And it quickly became one of our favorite stops of the trip. After the whitewashed limestone city of Altamura, Bologna was a feast for the eyes in reds, oranges, and yellows. Brick buildings and colorfully painted arcades line every street. Although the city did have its share of true "sights," what we loved most was just soaking in the city itself, Western Europe's oldest "university town."

Being a college town, Bologna also boasts Italy's only Apple store, so we gladly extended our stay to get David's Macbook fixed. Moot point now, sure, but at the time it was a delight.

Best Sights:

Archiginnasio: The first building of Bologna's university (1563), the oldest in Western Europe. Coats of arms of students and professors are grafitti'ed (in the original sense of the word) on the walls. And the anatomical lecture hall was complete with stadium seating, skinless wooden statues, a dissection slab, and an ornate carved wooden ceiling.

Best Times: 

Our first urban hike up to the Basilica Madonna di San Lucia, via the longest arcade in the world. After a 40 minute climb, David turned the corner into the church's courtyard, spotted a fountain, and said the words that now live on in infamy because of his mean and mocking travel partner: "Oh, cool. Water." New catchphrase: check.

David's palace haircut: the Palazzo Benzy was having a Christmas market, with a hairdressing fundraiser in one of the rooms. For 10 euros, David got the royal treatment.

Best Laughs:

We read about a free Christmas concert just down the street from our hotel, and spent a half hour looking for it before we realized we had the right street address, just the wrong city. It was a few towns away from Bologna. Bah humbug.

Best Eats:

For the city that invented tortellini, lasagna and bolognese sauce, Bologna's top rated budget restaurants seemed to fall a little flat. Perhaps we'd built up our expectations a bit too much, or had grown too accustomed to home cooked Pugliese cuisine (and pricing). But we ended up enjoying the ambience almost more than the food at the places we stopped