Beautiful BOLOGNA

20th September 2024

Beautiful Bologna

We had had our eye on visiting the city for several years and finally we managed to nail down a few days. In the past I remember a brief change of trains – just shortly before the terrible bombing that took place at the station in 1980 – and sitting forlornly in the early hours on the old station platform, waiting for the next train heading north, just watching the rats scamper about amongst the rails.

Our arrival at Bologna station made a curious introduction because the trains pull in well below ground (platforms 16-19) and it feels like a huge, underground (and hot) parking lot, inspired it would seem by the rat runs that mark the train interchange at Berlin Alexanderplatz (somewhere to avoid if you are in Berlin). The complex, of course, has been rebuilt since the devastating bomb attack but it doesn’t feel particularly user friendly and is in stark architectural contrast to the amazing buildings that await the visitor in the old city. I felt we should leave at least half an hour spare on our return journey to negotiate the seemingly miles of walkway in order to ensure making our train to Milan on time.

I have also been reading the Daniel Leicester series by Tom Benjamin, firmly set in the city and a perfect choice for literary tourism and it was these novels that nudged me into sorting out a trip.

Bologna is the city of Porticos, there are 40km of them and have been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Everywhere you turn the pavements are covered at above head height, buildings above extended, and they provide terrific cover from the heat of the Summer sun and any snow or rain that might  fall in the Winter months. I first came across this architectural form in Bolzano (the city in the Alto Adige, which is in Italy, where the inhabitants curiously speak German). Subsequently I have seen them in Turin. In Bologna they are often a wonderful rich orange colour, which just adds a vibrant glow to the city, even when it is overcast.

The city is quite small and it is easy to cross from one side to the other of the historical centre.

Once in the city, all memories of brutalist railway design fade and the warm, earthy colours of the buildings accost the senses. This is a city full of history, with the oldest University in the World, housing the wonderful Teatro Anatomico Archiginnasio (notices advise visitors that you should pre-book your ticket but we only had a 20 minute wait to enter, although booking, I believe, is mandatory on weekends and holidays). A small information board reveals that the theatre was actually bombed by the US Air Force during WW2 but you would have no idea of that from visiting, creaking old wooden floorboards under foot and incredible carvings across the ceiling and spanning the walls. The entry ticket also enables a visit to a lecture room and you can view through the grilles of a heavily secured door all the books stored in aisle after aisle.

We, of course, took the opportunity to meet up with Tom and we had a good long chat over some delicious food. He has just completed the sixth instalment of the Bologna-set series – The Bologna Vendetta – which will be published in the UK next May. When his English detective, Daniel Leicester, comes across the long lost bicycle belonging to his late wife, it sets him on a course that leads him to suspect her accidental death may not have been an accident at all… I am really looking forward to reading this when it comes out, and see what difference it makes knowing the city just a little a better. He also has some further writing ideas up his sleeve, watch this space!

Together we went over to the Santo Stefano complex, which is an amalgam of seven churches from different periods, built atop a pagan temple from the Roman era. It is free to enter, with a small museum and it has an incredibly strong, spiritual feel. The piazza beyond is beautiful and full of places to sit and chill over a coffee or Aperol, as indeed many people were doing when we were there.

If you are a fan of la Passegiatta, then taking a seat on the Via delle Moline and watching the world go by, is an absolute early evening pleasure (you can even sit over a good ice cream at the Gelateria Delle Moline at one end of the street and watch the passing hoards).

And of course Bologna has its very own wonky tower, pictured left.

Once you are down on the Piazza Maggiore, where you can peek inside the amazing Basilica of San Petronio, you can head for foodie heaven at Via delle Pescherie Vecchie, which is crammed with shops selling only Parmesan and fresh pasta and so much more.

There are plenty of gelaterie to choose from and here is a list of great restaurants. The menus are heavily meat based but I can highly recommend the following restaurants that cover all preferences:

Pane e Panelle which has a nice outdoor terrace. I had a wonderful risotto, topped by blackberries

Banco 32

Bartolini 

Sale Grosso (Michelin Guide)

Vinoteca Bologna which has a wonderfully modern interior, with a curiously complex and illustrated menu, but offers top notch food, although small portions.

Casa Azzoguidi – we stopped off here for an Aperol – as you do – but, instead, the serve the Venetian speciality “Select” which was a revelation, very tasty!

And that is just a tiny overview of the city and all it has to offer. If you want to peruse our full list of books set in the city, just click on the link.

Tina for the TripFiction Team 

Catch Tom on Twitter X @Tombenjaminsays and Instagram @tombenjaminsays 

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