The ancient Italian city of Bologna was founded as an ancient Etruscan city as far back as 1500 BC and eventually became a Roman colony. The Via Emilia is a road that has connected Bologna to Rome since it was built in in 847 BC., and still runs through the city changing its name to Strada Maggiore, Rizzoli and a few others.
It sits about eight hours north of Rome at the top of the boot-shaped country, just an hour south of Milan. This Emilia-Romagna region is full of culture – art, music, industry, wine and food.
Tall, slender towers have become a symbol of the city. The most famous and prominent are the Two Towers – the Asinelli and Garisenda. It is said that during the 12th century there were more than 180 towers creating a unique porcupine skyline when viewed from afar.
Bolognese families have a foundation of wealth, which can easily be seen in the rich clothing donned by many of the city’s citizens, men, women and children. This is particularly the case in the area surrounding the luxury shopping center of Galleria Cavour that sits at the meeting of Via Luigi Carlo Farini and Via Giuseppe Garibaldi.
In the second picture you can see two barbers people watching outside their shop in the lavish neighborhood around Via Giusseppe. Throughout the city we walked under glorious archways decorated with ornate beam designs and sometimes paintings. The most impressive were found here (the blue and pink painted ceilings in the photos).
Between the endearing architecture, fantastic post work apertivo spots, the fabulous cuisine, vino and people watching, Bologna, Italy has a wonderful feel to it. We enjoyed it greatly, and I hope to have the chance to explore and experience its culture again – and for a longer time.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
No comments:
Post a Comment