Lunch Break
4 novembre 2025, Italie ⋅ ☀️ 59 °F
Our admission to the clock tower included free access to the art museum housed in Palazzo d’Accursio.
Since the museum did not open until mid-afternoon, we decided to take a break … get a bite to eat. That we did a short stroll with some sightseeing along the way … well, that was the bonus.
Leaving the palazzo, we turned left instead of right off the monumental staircase to check out the courtyard. We’d passed through it previously, but it was over-crowded then. Today, there were very few people in what the sign identified as the Cortile Guido Fanti … who, amongst other positions, was the Mayor of Bologna and the President of the Emilia-Romagna Region. I was especially taken by the way the sun was spotlighting the fountain in the center of the courtyard and the orange/yellow façades of the buildings surrounding it.
We were on our way to the AirBNB to rest up when Mui asked if we could take a circuitous route. He wanted to find the company that runs the tours of the Canals of Bologna. We found Succede Solo a Bologna APS not far from Torre de Galluzza, talked to the man who was manning the desk, and got several ideas for tours for when we return to Bologna next year.
Completing that errand, we again set off for the AirBNB. Mui again asked for a detour … through Via Pescherie Vecchie. He wanted to see if we could find the fish mongers. This time we succeeded and found them on a street bisecting the one that is named for the fishmongers. Fresh fish … quite a wide variety.
Somewhere along the way, we gave up on resting at the AirBNB in lieu of food. We went to the Mercato di Mezzo (Middle Market) to get a bite. L’Antica Bottega, which we had settled on for a quick, casual lunch, was inside the market.
Dating back to the Middle Ages — specifically to the 12th century when it was known as Forum Medii — the 15th century found the market serving as a grain market. It became Bologna’s first covered market after the Unification of Italy. These days, having been renovated in 2014, the place is lined with take-away food stalls, a pizzeria, and craft breweries.
Perusing the display case, we opted to share a piadina … made with an Italian flatbread from the Romagna region. Our choice consisted of thin slices of mortadella, shavings of parmesan, and arugula … drizzled with balsamic. Because we were there before noon, we had our pick of the bistro-style communal tables where we perched to eat our meal. Fresh ingredients … fresh bread. What’s not to like. We shared the piadina and then supplemented our lunch with gelato from the Cremeria.
After lunch, we finally headed back to the AirBNB … with a short detour that I requested this time near the Due Torri. I wanted to check out a photograph I saw last week of some of the towers of Bologna … the place was closed then because it was Sunday.
Turns out that what I had spotted was a collection of historical photos of Bologna taken by Pietro Poppi, who lived in the city back in the 19th century. He apparently photographed the city to document its transformation over the years he lived here. A treasure trove of images.
It is unexpected finds like these that add to our travel pleasure.
After a short rest, we headed back to Palazzo d’Accursio and went back up to the Farnese Hall. When we stopped to have our tickets validated for our free museum admission, the woman on duty reminded us to take a quick peek at a temporary exhibit … “Shared Sacred Sites.”
It was an interesting exhibit that consisted of a series of photographs taken at religious sites to show that while these places might have been intended for a single religious group, one often finds believers of other faiths praying there as well … representing harmony. Seeing photos from places like Meryemana and Büyükada in Türkiye featured in the exhibit was a nice surprise.
(Rather than doing a separate footprint, I’m including a couple of the photos in this one.)En savoir plus
d’Accursio: Exploring the Salas
4 novembre 2025, Italie ⋅ ☀️ 57 °F
Completing our DIY clock tower climb, we returned to the Sala Farnese and began exploring the halls that are open to the public.
Palazzo d’Accursio — aka the Municipal Palace — has been the seat of government in Bologna since 1336. Before it became a government building, however, the palazzo was the home of a law professor by the name of Accursio … one of the original Glossatori of Bologna from the Middle Ages. As such it has beautifully frescoed halls and rooms … each requiring careful perusal.
The Farnese Hall is so named for the statue of Pope Paul III Farnese, which was lost after the Napoleonic invasion. The frescoes that decorate the wall consist of four main panels that represent important historic events in the city’s history … such as the “Coronation of Emperor Charles V” … in 1530. The hall and the chapel were restored on the orders of another Farnese cardinal to ensure the “… glorious times of the Papal rule over the town [Bologna]. …”
Next, we checked out the Farnese Chapel, which was behind closed doors when we arrived this morning. At the time, our attention had been caught only by the proclamations on the columned surround that is sandstone made to look like marble. One of the proclamations is by Napoleon III, the last French king and the one who played a crucial role in the unification of Italy, and the other one is by Vittorio Emanuel, the first king of Unified Italy.
The chapel, which is now deconsecrated, dates back to the mid 15th century. One of Bologna’s foremost ceremonial places, it is a large space, with the ceiling soaring high above the floor. Little more than fragments remain of the 16th century frescoes that once decorated the walls. In the antechamber, for which we had to show our museum voucher before we could enter, we found remnants of frescoes painted by Bartolomeo Cesi … brought here from a former monastic complex that became a municipal cemetery.
We continued our wander and next went to Sala d’Ercole (Hall of Hercules). Here we found a temporary mountaineering exhibit hosted by CAI … the Club Alpino Italiano (Alpine Climbing Club of Bologna). Stella mentioned yesterday that there are many CAI trails around Bologna marked with red and white stripes. We’ll look into them after we move here.
The otherwise unadorned walls and ceilings of the sala, which is in the oldest part of the palazzo, have two features that catch the eye … one of which is an oversized bronzed terracotta statue for which the hall is named. He is shown at the moment of his triumph over the Hydra in Lerna.
The other item of interest is a fragment of a fresco known as “Madonna del Terremoto” (Madonna of the Earthquake). She is shown surmounted over Bologna. The fresco was painted as an offering after the 1505 earthquake, which caused the top of Asinelli Tower to collapse. After being moved in the 17th century from its original location to a chapel, the painting was brought to its current location in the 19th century.
Noting a sign at the entrance to a door to the left of the Hercules Hall, we went over to check it out. Aha! It was the Sala del Consiglio Comunale … aka the City Council Hall.
We went inside, but noticing a group of students at the far end being given a civics lesson, we weren’t going to go beyond the balustrade that separates the visitor’s area from the rest of the chamber. A docent sitting in one of the council seats, however, motioned us to come closer. In fact, she insisted on taking photos of us seated in the council chairs, and chatted with Mui while I photographed the amazing fresco on the vaulted ceiling.
The fresco is above what the Palazzo d’Accursio brochure I found online says is the Senators’ Gallery. Painted in 1676, it is an example of Baroque art … and a typical interior decoration that made the Bologna school of art famous in the world. It consists of five allegorical scenes, referencing Bologna’s virtues.
On that note, it was time to head out and explore the courtyard and get a bite to eat before our planned afternoon visit to the museum housed in the palazzo.En savoir plus
d’Accursio: Torre dell’Orologio
4 novembre 2025, Italie ⋅ ☀️ 55 °F
A busy day of sightseeing = multiple footprints. This is the first one.
Our morning DIY tour was to the d’Accursio Tower, to which a clock and a carousel with wooden figures were added in the 15th century. The figures were unfortunately removed in 1796 … but we did get to see some of them in the museum later in the day.
We arrived at Palazzo d’Accursio with time to spare before the 10:00a time slot for climbing the tower … the first one of the day. Skipping the elevator, we used the 16th century cordonato staircase attributed to Bramante. The staircase is a brick ramp with slightly raised marble strips all along its length. The distance between the strips make for an awkward gait going up and down … for humans … not for horses. The ramp, after all, was designed for the triumphal descent of city representatives who did so on horseback!
At the top of the stairs, we joined the eight or so other people who also had tickets for the climb and waited a few minutes for the doors to Sala Farnese to open. Fittingly, the salon is also known as the Royal Hall. Definitely a WOW moment. But I will skip over that for now and go directly to the tower climb.
We’ve climbed many a-tower in our travels. Most much taller. Most reachable via uneven steps on narrow, circular staircases. This one, about 167 ft tall as measured to the tip of the cupola topping the balcony, was easy by comparison… only the last little bit up to the balcony at the top being a tight squeeze.
Set up as a museum, on each level of the climb there were panels explaining the history of the tower. In the first room, we also saw a set of five small bells of varying sizes, with signage that explained that since the 16th century, the city has maintained the distinctive tradition of ringing church bells, and that the ‘Bolognese style’ of ringing requires a minimum of four bells of different sizes and pitches … usually tuned in a major chord.
The stairs up to the next floor gave us access to an interior balcony … a chance to see remnants of the old frescoes that used to decorate the now whitewashed walls. A surprise here was a door that took us out to an outdoor terrace from which to enjoy the views overlooking Piazza Maggiore.
Since the views would be the same from the top balcony, the most important reason to go out on this balcony is to see the clock face. I think many might have missed this … at least at first, as it requires standing back and looking up at the tower instead of the view.
The current clock, which replaced the original astronomical-astrological clock, dates back to 1774 and has the numbers and two hands with which we are familiar. An interesting factoid … back in the day, the clock hands followed ‘Italian time’ … meaning that they used to strike the 12th or 24th hour as calculated from sunrise to sundown. After the French took over the city towards the end of the 18th century, the hour count was changed to midday and midnight in the manner of today’s clocks.
Our climb next took us up to the room where the clock mechanism is located … housed in a glass-paneled cabinet of sorts. Here, we were asked by an attendant to sign a waiver before continuing up to the top of the tower … the reason for this became clear when we went up the last little bit of the stairs. More on that in a minute.
Having signed the waiver, we spent a few minutes checking out the mechanism that operates the clock. Interestingly, the clock was historically calibrated using a sundial … with the noon hour corresponding to the time when the sun hits the meridian line in Basilica di San Petronio … which Stella showed us yesterday.
Finally, it was time to negotiate the stairs for which we had signed the waiver. Ascent/descent traffic on the uneven wooden steps, which becomes progressively narrower at the turn, is managed by attendants at the bottom and top of the stairs. They radio each other the number of people going up or down and stop visitors from proceeding to the stairs if others are already using them.
The balcony afforded us 360-views. Laid out below us was the city’s red-tiled roofs … which give Bologna one of its nicknames … La Rossa (though the red, is also significant with respect to the city’s political leanings). Looking across the city, the scenery against a backdrop of blue skies ranged from historic buildings … easily identified by the red shade panels in the windows; to the ancient towers that still remain standing … leaning or not; to copper clad church domes; to the distant green hills of Bologna … with Il Santuario di San Luca topping one of them. We also had a good view of the Basilica di San Petronio, but the glare from the sun in that direction was quite bad.
When we were ready to go down, we followed the instructions of the attendant to take our turn. I found that negotiating the old, uneven steps was best accomplished by going down backwards and then continuing down normally the rest of the way.
By 10:45a, we were back in the Farnese Hall to continue our sightseeing … coming up in subsequent footprints.En savoir plus
Lease Signed!
3 novembre 2025, Italie ⋅ ☀️ 55 °F
Done deal!
The lease is signed; the three-month deposit is wired; the realtor fee is paid. Now we wait for the Agenzia delle Entrate to register the lease!
After our meeting, we went to Il Duca d’Amalfi for cappuccino and cornetto … except that I ordered the infused tea I had last time … Fleur de Passion. This time I remembered to take the wrapper so Mui can see if he can find it somewhere … maybe Amazon.
A quick peek inside Chiesa di San Paolo Maggiore was next. The church was built on behalf of the Catholic priests belonging to the Order of the Clerics Regular of Saint Paul — aka the Barnabites.
Leaving the church, we were on our way to the AirBNB when Mui suggested we check out Via Pescherie Vecchie. I think he was thinking he’d find a street lined with fish mongers. That was certainly the case in the olden days. Today we didn’t see a single fish stall. We did see plenty of salumerias with huge shanks of prosciutto hanging from the ceiling; meat markets; cheese shops with 100-month aged Parmigiana-Reggiano for €99.90 per kilo; and fruit and vegetable stalls with crisp and colorful produce.
Our second attempt at going home was derailed by a detour to the Bologna Welcome office in Piazza Maggiore. It was such a beautiful blue-sky day that we thought we might climb the clock tower at the municipal building. No can do today, but we now have tickets to do so tomorrow.
As we were preparing to pay for the tickets, the woman who was helping us asked if we wanted to do the English-language introductory tour of the medieval city. Turns out that the guide was about to leave since there were no takers. Hmmm! A private two-hour tour? We were sold.
Stella turned out to be a great guide. She has a private tour firm, so this is a way for her to generate additional business. There was no push for us to book with her, however, and she was generous with links to places around the city and suggestions of places to visit. She even went so far as to check with a friend of hers who teaches Italian for recommendations for classes when I told her I wanted to take lessons.
Anyway, we started the tour at the Neptune Fountain, moved onto Palazzo d’Accursio and Basilica di San Petronio … among other places. Many of the places she took us to we had already been to on our own, but without the informative narrative that added a different dimension to what we were seeing. We wrapped up at Bologna’s only remaining portico made from wood … no longer allowed because the wood deteriorates too quickly.
After resting up a bit at the AirBNB, we left to have lunch at La Montanara. Stella had mentioned that this was her go to place for tortellini in brodo (broth), so I ordered it. She was right on with her recommendation. Mui ordered Cotoletta al Bolognese … Bologna’s version of a schnitzel, if you will. He said it was excellent. A glass of red wine each, and we ended with a shared order of Zuppa Inglese for dessert.
A brief stroll after our meal and we decided to call it a day.En savoir plus
MAMbo (… Not Italiano)
2 novembre 2025, Italie ⋅ ☁️ 64 °F
MAMbo here is not a reference to the Dean Martin song … “Mambo Italiano.” Yeah, you know the one I am talking about.
Rather, MAMbo here is for the Museo d’Arte Moderna di Bologna … the museum where we spent a portion of our quiet Sunday afternoon.
After breakfast, we sat down to look at airfare to get us from the USA to Italy after we get our elective residence visa (ERV). Notice, by the way, that I said “after” and not “if.” I’m sending positive vibes out into the universe now that we are just a day away from signing the lease contract.
Anyway, we opted to buy tickets to return us to Bologna on 1 April 2026. It’s the first day United Airlines starts their seasonal non-stop route from Denver to Rome … and the date also works with the fact that it can take up to three months to receive the ERV (so says the Italian consulate website).
Thus, with another requirement for the ERV package now in the can — namely, having an airfare reservation — it was time to go out and have fun.
MAMbo is part of the Modern and Contemporary Art division of the Musei Civici Bologna. Housed in a former bakery, several of the rooms are dedicated to the Museo Morandi … a museum within a museum, if you will. Here one finds a collection of still life and flowers by Giorgio Morandi … the largest and most important collection of his paintings, watercolors, sketches, and etchings.
Frankly, very little of the work at MAMbo really appealed to us. I’m just glad that we visited today as admission was free. We can now check off this museum from our list of places to visit in the city.
The bonus of our outing to the museum was that our steps took us to a part of the city that we had not yet been to. We saw colorful buildings and another old gate into Centro Storico … Porta Lame. Fall was in the air … with colorful foliage in evidence on some of the trees … yellow, orange, red. Dried leaves on the street added interest to some of the photos I took along the way.
We returned to the AirBNB for dinner at home.En savoir plus
Casalecchio: Mui’s Shopping Recon
1 novembre 2025, Italie ⋅ ☁️ 64 °F
I considered going to Casalecchio with Mui. Just to keep Mui company on the train ride. Then, I would while away my time at the Reno Gran Mall while he browsed the aisles at Leroy Merlin, the local big-box store … like Home Depot, if you will.
But then I decided to just stay home and take it easy … catch up on my FindPenguins footprints. Just relax.
After breakfast, we purchased Mui’s train tickets on the Trenitalia website … surprised that there were no departures until after noon. That done, he set off to check out a ferramenta (hardware store) in the city to kill some time before going to Bologna Centrale. He was quick to return as the place was closed for the weekend.
Anyway, he eventually left for the train station and I sat down to process photos for Find Penguins.
Mui’s return train wasn’t until 5:30p. Once he came home, we had leftovers for dinner and he regaled me with information about what he found … quite impressed with Leroy Merlin. That this store, and IKEA and the mall are all in close proximity will make shopping in Casalecchio convenient.
Not sure what we will be doing tomorrow. We talked about getting a cappuccino and cornetto breakfast again, go for a stroll, and then return to the apartment to check out airfare options for the move to Bologna. Having airline reservations is a requirement for applying for the Elective Residence Visa (ERV), so might as well do some preliminary research.En savoir plus
Egypt in Italy
31 octobre 2025, Italie ⋅ ☁️ 59 °F
Instead of Bologna artifacts in Bologna, we saw Egyptian artifacts in Bologna.
Why? Because we followed the guidance of the woman at the ticket desk at the Museo Civico Archeologico di Bologna.
That wasn’t a bad thing, however. Apparently, the museum is best known for its Egyptian collection … the third largest in Italy … and amongst the most important in Europe.
The forecasted rain must have fallen overnight and into the morning. The streets were wet when we left the AirBNB to go to the museum. Otherwise, it was a cool but dry day for our outing.
The museum is said to be one of the most prestigious in the city. It opened to the public in 1881 and is housed in the 15th century Palazzo Galvani, which was once the Ospedale della Morte … the Hospital of Death. Its Etruscan-Italic artifacts are the most important part of the museum, but as noted above, it is best known for its Egyptian collection. Other collections are from the Prehistoric, Gallic, and Roman periods of Bologna and its surroundings. Greek and Roman artifacts, as well as plaster casts of statuary from these periods add to the richness of the exhibits.
Having paid our admission — €4pp senior rate — we locked up our daypacks and jackets, and were ready to explore the museum. I took a few photos of the artifacts in the lobby … one of which turned out to be the armored torso of a statue that once honored Nero. Interestingly, I read that the head of the statue was destroyed after Nero’s death … an action that was traditionally taken when a government official was essentially deemed an enemy of the state.
I spent quite a bit of time exploring the Egyptian Collection in the basement. The displays were set up in dynastic order, from the Predynastic to the Ptolemaic period. There were limestone reliefs, vases and canopic jars, colorful sarcophagi, stelae, shabties (funerary statuettes), votives, and tomb furnishings. Of course there were mummies, too … of ibises, cats, and a shrouded human … which tomographic studies have determined was a woman 35-45 years of age.
As is often the case, Mui was done well before I was. When I rejoined him, we checked out the courtyard, and I went up to the first floor to take a quick peek at the other collections … a treasure trove of artifacts. When we move to Bologna, we plan to purchase an annual pass for the city’s attractions, so we will return then to further explore the museum.
While waiting for me, Mui had found a restaurant for lunch — the Michelin-listed Vicolo Colombina. There were no tables available inside, so we took one on the sidewalk.
The waitress was charming … a little slow, but we’ve come to expect that in most places outside the USA. We ordered our meal with an eye toward sharing — an appetizer … potato and mortadella soufflé served with a sauce made with Parmigiano Reggiano that had been aged for 24 months; and a main … traditional tagliatelle al ragù. A glass of red wine each to wash it down. We wrapped up with “Il Profiterole di Max Poggi” (named for the chef) … delicious!
From the restaurant, we went on a meandering stroll to burn off some calories and also check out what Mui thought might be a hardware store. It wasn’t, but no matter … we got our steps in. Along the way, we noticed that tents were going up in Piazza Maggiore. Someone said it was for a farm-to-table market. Opening date: TBD.
Eventually, we returned to the AirBNB for some quiet time. Dinner was tomatoes and burrata drizzled with olive oil and balsamic vinegar; and a side of mortadella. Dessert was Lindt chocolate pudding, which Mui made this afternoon.
Not sure what we will be doing tomorrow. Mui wants to check out a Home Depot type store in Casalecchio. I have no interest in going. So, we shall see.En savoir plus
Offer Signed … Contract Pending
30 octobre 2025, Italie ⋅ 🌧 57 °F
Rain! Rain! Rain! All day long.
That’s what was forecasted. That’s what we got.
The wet stuff started light while we were having breakfast. It got stronger as we made our way to the Griffoni apartment for the meeting with the owner to sign the offer. It got progressively stronger as the day progressed. More of the same is forecasted for tomorrow.
The meeting went smoothly since we’d ironed out the details in advance. We signed the offer form we had completed yesterday; Marco verified that he had received the caparra we wired and gave us a receipt. And we were done.
The lease contract will be prepared for our signature on Monday. Time TBD. And then the contract will need to be registered with the Agenzia delle Entrate (essentially the Italian Revenue Agency) to make it all official. Apparently Marco knows someone in the registry office, so they anticipate that we can get a digital copy of the signed contract by the end of the week. We need that in order to apply for the ERV.
After the meeting, we headed to Bologna Centrale to take the train to Casalecchio … or more properly Casalecchio di Reno … for its location along the Reno River.
Last night, we signed up for our FrecciaCartas for Trenitalia. Mui downloaded the app and added me as his companion. Purchasing our tickets using the app — €1.50pp each way — meant we had digital tickets … validation automatic once the train departs.
The 10:32a departure, a suburban train, left from a different part of the station. Four stops and 18 minutes later, we were detraining on the platform at Casalecchio-Palasport. No station building … just a dirt platform on the siding.
Our reason for the trip to Casalecchio was to go to IKEA … walking distance to the train platform … a little soggy on a wet day. Our plan was to browse for ideas to help us add missing furnishings when we eventually move into the apartment. We found a bunch of pieces that could work … mission accomplished.
After a quick snack at the IKEA café, we left with a new umbrella for Mui … at €3.95, we’ll see how long it lasts.
Our next stop was Media World at Reno Gran — a shopping mall across the road from IKEA. After checking out monitors (which we hope to use in lieu of a TV to avoid paying the TV tax); vacuum cleaners; irons, etc, it was time to leave the mall and return to Bologna.
Using the Trenitalia app, we purchased tickets for the 3:38p train … which was late by 5 minutes. Thank goodness for the umbrella as the tiny covered stand on the platform was already choc-a-bloc with people waiting for the train.
Back in Bologna, we walked back to the AirBNB. It was still raining, but much lighter now … something for which to be grateful.
Dinner at home … Mui made mushroom risotto with a kit he got from Coop last week. Quite tasty.
No plans for tomorrow. A museum visit perhaps if it continues to rain as forecasted.En savoir plus
We Have A Deal
29 octobre 2025, Italie ⋅ ☁️ 66 °F
It all fell into place today.
And we were able to release the breath we were holding.
A few short minutes for a quick lunch after we returned from Santuario di San Luca. And then we sat down to more closely review the email from the realtor and take action where needed.
Countering our request for a rent discount and additional furnishings at no cost to us, we were given three options … one for discounted rent; and two options with higher rent and some or all of the furnishings on our list. The discounted rent had been our goal all along, so we took that offer.
The deal breaker for us was the cancelation clause in the event we are not granted the ERV. Again, we didn’t expect that this could be added to the official lease … at least not without getting attorneys involved. We just wanted in writing what the realtor had told us verbally. That with three months notice, we could break the lease anytime. You can bet I have it already pdf’d and saved.
Next, we turned to the payment of the caparra. I had already researched Wise, which was one of the options provided by the realtor since we don’t have an Italian bank account yet. It took less than five minutes to complete the wire order. Another check mark on the contract requirements list.
Finally, we sat down to complete the offer form. The realtor will print it for us and we’ll sign on the dotted line when we go to the meeting tomorrow since we don’t have access to a printer here.
We are looking forward to getting the formalities out of the way. Just how long that will all take? Well, I guess we will find out tomorrow.
By the time we were done with our work, dinner time was approaching. So we went out to grab a pizza at Pizzeria Nettuno. The place was packed. But since no one dallies, a two-top quickly opened up. We ordered two small pizzas … mine with mushrooms; Mui’s with speck … and a Birra Morretti to share. We enjoyed our simple meal just as much tonight as we enjoyed our lunch the other day.
To burn at least a few calories, we went for a stroll that somehow took us to our favorite gelato shop! The night was warmer than we expected, the streets were quiet … people filled the dining at establishments along the way, some of the buildings were nicely lit up. We returned to the AirBNB in a roundabout way that took us through Piazza Maggiore.
A good day.
Our total steps for today is showing as 19,316 on the Apple health app … or 7.7 miles or 33 flights.
Now to keep fingers crossed that all goes smoothly tomorrow.En savoir plus
Il Santuario di San Luca
29 octobre 2025, Italie ⋅ ☀️ 63 °F
With no expectation of hearing back from the realtor, we planned today as a sightseeing day. Considered going out of town, but then decided to stay in the city and go up to the Sanctuary of San Luca … a symbol of Bologna.
Good thing we stayed close.
We were on our way to San Luca when Mui got an email from the realtor with a counter-counter offer. I will skip over that for now and write about it in a separate footprint.
After a quick stop at a café for Mui to get himself a double espresso, we continued along Via Saragozza to arrive at the Arco del Meloncello — an 18th-century Rococo arch, that serves as the entrance to the Portico di San Luca … at the point where the portico starts to climb up to Colle della Guardia, the hill atop which the sanctuary is located.
Part of the UNESCO-listed porticos of Bologna, construction of this arched passageway began in 1674. It took 65 years to complete the 2.35-mile length … which consists of 666 arches, with 15 small chapels of the Mysteries of the Rosary scattered along the way.
We started — not by design, mind you — at arch 318. This section, I read in the brochure later, is just under 1.2 miles. Double that and add the steps from the AirBNB to our start point … well, that’s a lot of steps no matter which way you look at it.
The section of the portico that we walked had flat sections, ramps, and steps to negotiate the 650-foot elevation gain. We took it easy, stopping to check out the chapels and the occasional peaks at Bologna in the distance. Alas, the view served to underline the air quality issues in this part of Italy and marred the scenery a bit. While we weren’t huffing and puffing when we got up to the top of the portico, we were sweating buckets … despite having shed our layers before tackling the climb to the top.
The Basilica of the Blessed Virgin of San Luca (or Saint Luke, if you please) is a place of pilgrimage for the Catholics of the world. Construction of the original basilica began in 1678 and it was consecrated in 1765. The current basilica was built in the 18th century as a replacement.
What looks like a rather simple church from the outside hides elaborate Baroque features within its elliptical interior. Marble, gold gilding, oversized-paintings, and a frescoed dome all add to the richness on which one gazes once inside.
Visitors are allowed onto a small balcony in the main chapel behind the altar where one finds the ancona —a type of shrine — with the image of the Virgin and Child. It is to this shrine that pilgrims come to pray.
It is believed that the image, which dates back to the 12th or early 13th century, covers another image of the Madonna … one that tradition says was painted by Saint Luke. The top image is covered by a silver front panel, with gold trim and a crown. Around the rim of the opening through which one sees the face of the Virgin is a three-strand pearl necklace … one of the many valuable gifts by the faithful embedded in the panel. It is quite something to behold … though I only did so from the side of the balcony as I did not want to bother those who were praying. I said a quick prayer for mom and left from the other side of the balcony, which took me straight into the gift shop.
Returning to the back of the church, I found Mui urging me to join him. Turns out that he had purchased tickets for the climb up to the cupola and there was a lull in the visitors going up … a good time for us to climb the stairs for what is billed as the San Luca Sky Experience.
I must admit to being disappointed … even if it claims to be the highest cupola in Europe open to visitors. The 138-foot climb — 110 steps, I read — via a narrow, circular staircase took us to just one side of a small balcony outside the cupola. From the balcony, we had a distant view of the city … veiled in haze and capped with smog. The nearby scenery of the Hills of Bologna was admittedly lovely, with hints of fall foliage … but the view was hazy due to the direction of the light. Oh well … we’ll consider the price of the ticket — €3pp senior rate — a donation to the sanctuary.
Speaking of a donation, we doled out €2 to light a candle to the success of our “Italy: Ciao Bella” adventure … and prayed for the health and safety of our families. Then, we left to head down to the terrace for a look at the church itself. It really did look lovely … the church painted a shade of burnt sienna … against a backdrop of blue sky.
It was noon when we left to begin the portico walk down to the city. Even with just one or two stops along the to take a quick snapshot, it took us a little more than 40 minutes to get back to the Arch of Meloncello.
Time to go back to the AirBNB to take care of the caparra payment to seal the apartment deal.En savoir plus
Waiting Game
28 octobre 2025, Italie ⋅ ⛅ 66 °F
Our day started with us tackling the contract template for the Griffoni apartment.
Having translated the file into English first, we reviewed the clauses, and added some questions and comments. As a first step in negotiations, our response included a counter offer for rent and a list of furnishings we’d like Marco, the landlord, to consider adding to the apartment at no cost to us. Attaching the required proof of insurance and ID files, we hit the send button.
Now we were free to pursue … well, whatever. Except that it was well past noon and we wanted to be available in case the realtor had questions. We ate lunch at home; Mui took a nap … waking up to the ding of a message from the realtor.
The gist of her message was that she didn’t think Marco would go for the rent discount and the list of furnishings we were requesting … no surprise there. To give her time to discuss our offer with Marco, we moved the meeting scheduled for tomorrow to Thursday.
Which means we can do something fun tomorrow and shelve all things apartment related for a while.
(Since we didn’t go out today, I’ll share some of the mural photos I’ve taken during our ‘getting acquainted with Bologna’ strolls.)En savoir plus
Contender #2 Becomes #1
27 octobre 2025, Italie ⋅ ☀️ 61 °F
Things sometimes turn on a dime.
Or an offhand comment.
The apartment switcheroo we pulled this afternoon certainly wasn’t on our mind when we left the AirBNB this morning to meet with Mirco and the lovely couple who own the Cesare Battisti apartment.
In hindsight, however, I think the change is for the best.
Long story short, the meeting went well. But then the owners advised us of the restoration/renovation projects still pending in the building … from construction in the air shaft to roof-related repairs to stop water leaks … we had noticed the leak in the guest bedroom; to work on the staircase and possible replacement of the elevator. All of this work needs to comply with the rules governing restoration of historic buildings … even if this building is only from 1927. Hmmmm! Can you say red tape?
The clincher for reconsidering our decision came when we asked to see the cellar storage unit. OMG!!! The basement was a maze … almost like the kind one sees in horror movies … seemingly never ending and branching off in so many directions that you might have to lay a trail of crumbs to find your way back. The damp was obvious … you could smell it clear from the top of the stairs. The floors were grimy ... with at least an inch of dirt; the walls were covered in a layer of dust. When we finally got to the storage unit, it was unbelievably begrimed, like it hadn’t been touched in years. And it was filled with junk, which was not going to be removed. Not that we would want to put any of our stuff down there.
Bidding everyone a pleasant farewell, we said we would await their counteroffer. At some point during our walk back to the AirBNB I made an offhand comment … something along the lines that I wouldn’t be heartbroken if the owners didn’t come back to us with the final offer we were looking for. That stopped Mui in his tracks. He’d been thinking along the same lines.
Deciding to grab a bite to eat along the way, we stopped at La Prosciutteria, a deli/wine bar just down the street from the AirBNB. We ordered a caprese salad with burrata and a gourmet cutting board with cold cuts, cheeses, and three types of croutons (bread with different spreads on each slice). Good food … but we agreed that we liked Dal Brillo, the wine bar on Via Marsala much better.
Our discussion about the contender apartments continued as we made our way back to the AirBNB. By the time we were unlocking the door, our decision on which apartment to rent was reversed. We were going to rent the Griffoni apartment.
Mui sent off a message to Mirco, explaining our decision. We also sent a message off to Elizabeth and told her we would like to rent the Griffoni apartment and asked what the next steps were … review a copy of the contract; meet the owner, Marco to work out the details and pay the caparra (earnest money) to put a hold on future showings to other interested parties until the contract was signed. We will be meeting on Wednesday morning at 9:00a … two days hence.
We’ll review the contract tomorrow, and I will set up a Wise account to pay the caparra, deposit, and rent until we can get an Italian bank account set up. In the meantime, a quiet evening is in order.En savoir plus
Ferrara: A Day Trip from Bologna
26 octobre 2025, Italie ⋅ ☀️ 64 °F
With the power restored at the AirBNB, it was now time to figure out how we wanted to spend the rest of the day since meeting up with our friends in Rome was no longer an option.
Searching the web for photos of the nearby towns, we compromised on Ferrara versus one of the better-known places … such as Modena. That it was only ½-hour away by train clinched the decision. That it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its cultural landscape was a bonus.
We arrived at Bologna Centrale just minutes before the noon train was scheduled to depart. No matter … we still needed to figure out how to buy the tickets from the automated machine since the line at the counter was very long. An agent for Trenitalia gave us a tutorial and shortly we had tickets on the 1:10p regional train to Venezia … but only as far as Ferrara. The cost?
After finding the right binario (platform) so that we would know where to go when the time came, we checked out the train station to become familiar with the layout.
When we took the elevated monorail from the airport, the Marconi Express dropped us off in a different part of the station. There wasn’t much there, and it made us wonder how the station could be considered a main hub. Turns out that we were on the far side of the tracks then. Here was the real station, with all the hubbub that entails.
When we returned to binario 3, a Trenitalia train was already at the platform. We got on and found a couple of seats. I don’t know about the other cars — I think there were three in all — but ours had no more than 15 people ‘riding the rails’ mid-day.
Frankly, the scenery along the way wasn’t all that interesting. Nonetheless, the ride passed quickly and soon the train was making its second stop … at the Ferrara train station. With Google showing us the way, we walked through residential neighborhoods, past the stadium and Palazzo dei Bentivoglio, and arrived at Piazza del Municipio.
First up, considering it was now 2:00p, we headed to Molto Piu Che Centrale (Much More than Central) for a late lunch. We were seated at the last open table. We ordered two dishes to share: the cappelletti cacio e pepe o alla panna — a type of pasta that is shaped like a little hat … hence the name; grilled cuttlefish and shrimp skewers served with a side salad. We wrapped up with a chocolate torta, garnished with powdered sugar, and served with mascarpone. A sweet and tasty end to our meal.
Returning to the main square, we found it buzzing with activity. The cathedral was closed for siesta, so we continued toward Estense Castle — aka Castillo di San Michele — in the city center.
This medieval castle, replete with a moat filled with water from the Po River and four towers, dates back to 1385. The current appearance is as it was in the second half of the 16th century. Elegant balconies — which replaced the original battlements — add an interesting aspect to the complex. We used one of the three drawbridges to go into the courtyard, but since time was short today, we opted not to tour the castle.
Our meander also took us to Rotonda Foschini, an oval-shaped building with the sky as its roof. Part of the Teatro Comunale of Ferrara, it was once used for visitors arriving by horse and carriage. Along the inside perimeter, there were photographs of landmarks from around the city … ideas for places to check out when we return for another visit.
On the way back to the cathedral, we stopped to check out a column with high-water markings for the Po River. Though the markings go back quite a number of years, it was interesting to note that the water had been the highest in 1951.
We found the Ferrara Cathedral — officially the Cathedral of San Giorgio — was open to visitors. It was sad to see part of the façade covered in scaffolding that was wrapped in protective cloth, but interesting to note that unlike the Basilica di San Petronio in Bologna, the entire façade was covered in marble.
Consecrated in 1177, the church has been remodeled a number of times over the centuries. Thus, it showcases a number of architectural styles from Gothic to Renaissance, to Baroque and Romanesque. The ceiling looked like it was painted in frescoes. Unfortunately, there must be bits and pieces falling down as a net has been strung from one end of the building to the other, so it was impossible to see them clearly.
After our visit to the cathedral, we headed back to the train station, taking an alternate route. The light was growing dim, so we really didn’t see much. Once we got to the train station, we still had about 45 minutes to go before our train was scheduled to arrive. But our feet had had it for the day, so we validated our tickets and made our way to the binario. Luck was with us, and we found a couple of benches where we could take a load off.
The 6:05p train arrived right around 6:00p and we hopped in the closest car. Like the other trains that had gone by while we were waiting — and quite unlike the train we took to get to Ferrara — this one was packed. We managed to find two seats together and settled down for the duration of the 31-minute ride back to Bologna.
When we detrained at Bologna Centrale, we found it sprinkling rain … very light. Knowing there would be porticos along the way to keep us dry, we decided to return to the AirBNB via the roads around the Battisti apartment … check out the nighttime ambiance. Still quiet since the main drag was still closed to vehicle traffic; well-lit; mostly couples and families walking on the streets. That’s a good thing if we are to rent this apartment.
Speaking of the apartment, we got a message from Mirco asking if we could meet with him and the owners at 11:00a tomorrow to discuss our questions. Of course, we said yes.En savoir plus
Electricity Kaput!
26 octobre 2025, Italie ⋅ ☁️ 55 °F
I was reading late last night when suddenly, around 11:45p, the apartment went pitch dark … the wall unit stopped pumping out heat.
I checked the fuse box and the switches were all flipped correctly. I looked out the kitchen window and all the apartments were dark … a meaningless indicator at that hour as everyone could have been sleeping. Nothing else to be done at that hour to rectify the problem. I woke Mui up, told him we’d lost power so he would be aware of the problem, and keeping fingers crossed that the power would be restored by this morning, I went to bed.
Alas, the electricity was still kaput when we woke up. Mui had already gone downstairs to find the main fuse cabinet for the building. He had found another fuse box for the apartment, but no matter how many times he tried, the switches wouldn’t stay in the on position. With a message sent to Camilla, the AirBNB manager, there was nothing to do but wait to hear from her or the owner.
No electricity = no way to heat water for tea or coffee; no way to get hot water for a shower. So, we decided to go out for a typically Italian breakfast of cappuccino and cornetto … a popular pastry not unlike a croissant, but softer, sweeter, and often filled with custard, chocolate, or jam.
Braving the early morning temperatures of a crisp Autumn day, we set off to find ourselves a pasticceria (pastry shop). While Mui was checking to see what might be open, I suggested we head to Piazza de’ Celestini.
It was only 8:00a when we left the AirBNB. The streets were practically deserted … only a few early birds like us; a couple of bike groups. The sky was blue; the rising sun was adding color to the façades of the building in Piazza Maggiore. We took some photos sans the crowds that we knew would be filling the square within the next few hours. That the construction panels around the Neptune Fountain had been removed was a bonus photo op.
By 8:30a, we were seated at one of the many outdoor tables at the pasticceria Il Duca d’Amalfi … where we had lunch a few days ago.There were patrons at the tables inside, but the plaza seating was empty. Not for long, however. Soon, we were being joined by locals streaming out of the apartment buildings surrounding the piazza.
We ordered our cappuccinos and cornettos, including a couple of mini sfogliattellas … a pastry that we first tasted in Napoli and which is from the Campania Region of Italy … appropriate considering the name of the place. All delicious.
Mui was anxious to get back to the apartment to follow-up on the power outage, so he left after finishing his post-breakfast espresso. I stayed on to leisurely sip the infused tea I ordered.
Leaving the pasticceria, I noticed that the door to the Chiesa di San Giovanni Battista dei Celestini was open, so I wandered inside. The church was built in 1535 on the site of a 13th century building, and its façade was renovated in 1765. Despite how dark it was inside, I enjoyed seeing the frescoes on the ceiling and the decorations on the walls and the altar.
From the church, my steps took me through some side streets and soon I was standing in Piazza Galvani, behind the Basilica di San Petronio. The sun shinning on the orange-painted buildings and the bricks of the basilica … the blue sky … not too many people around. I just had to stop and take some photos before moving on. More photo-ops followed … of the Palazzo della Mercanzia … of the Due Torri … well, anything that caught my eye.
It was 10:30a by the time I got back to the apartment to find Mui just inside the door to the building … checking out the fuse boxes and texting with Bernardo, the owner. It was then that I noticed and pointed out a bunch more fuse boxes high up in the cabinet. In the dim light, it looked like the switches were all flipped up, but one of them didn’t look right. Pointing the flash light, we realized the switches were down. We looked for labels to see if we could identify the boxes. There were none. Mui took a picture and sent it to Bernardo before flipping the switches on.
In the meantime, I headed upstairs to the apartment. Minutes later, the power came on. The culprit was indeed the unlabeled box we had spotted.En savoir plus
Cesare Battisti Still #1 Contender
25 octobre 2025, Italie ⋅ ☁️ 64 °F
This is still a preliminary decision since there are questions that need to be answered. We also need to revisit the apartment to go through our checklist, take a peek at the cellar storage unit, and see where our mail and packages will be delivered.
Why is Battisti the #1 contender? Well, we like that it is a brand new renovation in a 20th century building … with some quaint touches … such as the Madonna medallion in the foyer. And we figure that the smaller size will keep us honest in terms of purchases and such. Less housekeeping, too … which is always good.
After our mid-day breather, we put together a list of questions, translated them into Italian, and sent them off to Mirco. Now we wait. It is doubtful that we will hear from him until Monday, so we can take tomorrow off from all things move-related.
To that end, willing to take the train down for the day, we sent a note to friends who happen to be in Rome to see if they are free tomorrow. We have not heard back yet, so at 7:30p it looks like we won’t be going to Rome unless we hear from them before we go to bed tonight. No worries, we have closer options in mind as an alternative.
Our mid-day breather took us out for a bite to eat and a bit of sightseeing.
We had our bite at Dal Brillo, a wine bar on Via Marsala. The place was doing a booming business … inside and out. As it was quite cool, we opted for a tiny table in the cozy inside space.
After perusing the menu, we ordered a couple of lemon bitter and ginger spritzers. Mui was determined to finally have mortadella — one of the specialties of the region. He ordered the Cinghialino platter … a selection of wild boar truffle salami, wild boar mortadella, sausage, and wild boar salami … served with Apulian bread. I opted for a mortadella dish described as a bruschetta … nothing like the one topped with chunks of tomato that we’re used to from our previous visits to Italy. This one was piled high with thinly shaved Mortadella on a thick cut slice of bread coated with melted Calabrese provola cheese (similar to provolone) … garnished with thin slices of courgette. Incredibly tasty … but OMG, the size. In fact, Mui’s platter was large, too, so next time we know to order just one thing to share.
After our meal, we walked toward the Cesare Battisti apartment to get a sense of how busy — read for that … noisy — it might be on a Saturday. The good news? It was quiet. You see, Ugo Bassi, just down the street from the Via Cesare Battisti intersection is closed off to traffic on weekends and becomes pedestrian-only. That stretches all the way down Via Rizzoli to the Due Torri. Naturally, that limits the traffic and the crowds. Perfect.
Our meandering stroll took us next to the Piazza Malpighi area. Spotting some unusual sarcophagi on raised platforms we crossed the street to find ourselves at the Basilica di San Francesco.
The church dates back to the 13th century. What was a Gothic building then now has elements ranging from the Romanesque to the Renaissance. It was apparently damaged quite extensively during WWII bombings, and renovated afterwards.
When we went inside today, we found restoration work underway … the main altar covered; only one chapel open for sacraments; scaffolding set up around the inside perimeter. A small sign explained that they were repairing the damages from the 2012 earthquake that shook northern Italy.
As for the sarcophagi that caught our attention to begin with … they apparently belong to the Glossatori … law professors of the University of Bologna, which gained fame in 1158. These professors were so renowned that Emperor Frederick Barbarossa is known to have consulted them on the imperial rights in Roman law … leading to his assertion of powers in Italy as the Holy Roman Emperor. The oldest of the tombs dates back to 1265.
On the way back to the AirBNB, we got some gelato from Velchi, where there was a short line. Frankly, I didn’t think it was nearly as good as the gelato we’ve gotten at either Cremeria or Vero.
On that note, time to join Mui on the couch to watch a You Tube move.En savoir plus
Last Apartment Showings
24 octobre 2025, Italie ⋅ ☀️ 68 °F
After a light breakfast, Mui called the realtor from Haus Gruppo who had scheduled today’s 10:00a appointment to get the exact address. The woman’s a bit ditsy, I think, since nothing was set up on her end. Anyway, she checked with the agent who has the Via Farini listing and we rescheduled to 11:00a, which gave us a bit of time to dawdle at home.
What can I say about the Via Farini apartment? Spectacular views of the Basilica of San Petronio; the Due Torri; the Sanctuary of San Luca; and so much more over the rooftops of the city. A wonderful terrace with awnings providing shade; a cute loft … perfect for a den. Open plan living space … small but doable. But there was one big problem … a tiny, galley-style kitchenette with a sink barely larger than a medium-sized bowl … suitable perhaps for a single person or a couple who dines out most of the time. Otherwise, the kitchen was woefully inadequate.
It broke our hearts to strike this property off our list, but it just wasn’t doable for us as a long term place. If it was being marketed as an AirBNB, we would have loved staying there a couple of weeks.
Before leaving the place, we asked Mirco, the listing agent, about the Cesare Battisti property for which his office manager had sent us a link. Turns out that it was one of his listings, but he wasn’t aware that he was supposed to show it to us today. Luckily, after a quick phone call, he was able to set up an appointment for 4:15p.
With time to kill until the showing, we headed back to the AirBNB. Along the way, Mui suggested that we take another look at the Griffoni property with the terrace … the one we had written off. Maybe we could make it work. A quick call to the realtor resulted in a 5:30p repeat showing.
Around 4:00p, we left to meet with Mirco to see the Cesare Battisti property. Admittedly, fairly compact with limited storage space. But recently renovated in an early 20th century building … on the 5th floor … with just a penthouse apartment above it; nice furnishings … an owner — at least according to Mirco — who would be willing to add a few missing pieces. Brand new, we would be the first to rent the place.
The apartment was a winner!
The apartment was now the #1 contender … pending a meeting with the owners to ask and answer questions … and a chance to see the basement storage unit linked to the apartment. Mirco will contact the owners and set up a meeting for Monday.
Although we now felt that we had made a decision, we went to see the Griffoni terrace apartment anyway since we had an appointment to do so. As we remembered, terrace was the highlight … but there was no furniture to utilize and enjoy the space. Very limited furnishings inside … we’d have to buy more stuff than we wanted to. The kitchen needed some work … acceptable, except that the grimy dishwasher had to be replaced. We walked away once again agreeing that it just wasn’t going to work for us.
We returned to the AirBNB for a quiet evening. Having had enough of apartment comparisons for today, we shelved any further discussions until tomorrow. We’ll weigh pros and cons, and make a list of questions to be answered.
It feels good to be wrapping up the hunt for a suitable apartment with two contenders … the Griffoni apartment without the terrace being #2 on our list.En savoir plus
Museo Davia Bargellini
23 octobre 2025, Italie ⋅ 🌧 61 °F
Between our disappointing apartment showing and lunch, we went to a museum I spotted yesterday … across the street from Piazzetta and Basilica dei Servi di Maria.
The Museo Davia Bargellini, is housed in a restored palazzo by the same name ... described as “… one of the most significant senatorial structures in Bologna. …” Dating back to the 17th century, the palazzo was renovated in the early 1900s and the museum was opened in 1920. It is one of the four museums that make up Bologna’s Musei Civici D’Arte Antica (Civic Museums of Ancient Art). With no admission charged, it was a good place to while away a few hours.
The seven rooms that make up the museum are filled with pieces from the Davia Bargellini gallery and a collection of applied arts.
On exhibit was everything from old keys and lock plates; to ceramic plates and jars from 17th to 19th century pharmacies; to paintings of mostly a religious nature … with some secular-themed canvases; to examples of Meissen and Murano pieces; to a marionette theater and a miniature palazzo with furnishings; to a sculpted oxen harness and a giant bellow; to a scagliola altar front and period furnishings; to an ornamental wrought iron gate and a gala carriage from the 1700.
And more, and more, and more.
In fact, there was so much to see that small as this museum is, it was overwhelming. We enjoyed it nonetheless. A return visit when we have more time is warranted.En savoir plus
Another Showing
23 octobre 2025, Italie ⋅ ☁️ 59 °F
Bummer! We had high hopes for the apartment listed with an address at Piazza Santo Stefano. But it turned out to be unacceptable.
We arrived for our noon showing a little early to wander around the neighborhood a bit, then met the realtor at the residential entrance of the Palazzo Bolognini Isolani.
Yes, we’d be checking out an apartment in the ‘attic’ of a palace … which dates back to 15th century.
Piazza Santo Stefano is a busy place, but once we entered the apartment, the first thing I noticed was that there was no noise filtering inside. No surprise, I guess. Not only is the attic apartment, with dark wood exposed beams, set away from the front of the building, there was just one tiny window in the living room! The showing went downhill from there!
The place was dark … it felt dingy. The bedrooms held a mish-mash of furnishings; one of them looked more like a storage room than a bedroom. The kitchen … well it just felt old and worn. And the two tiny terraces were literally cut out of the roof with tall walls on all four sides … the only light coming in from the open top. A couple of buckets were strategically placed under what looked like leaks in the hall ceiling.
The realtor’s attitude, which was quite abrupt, was the clincher. We crossed the property off the list there and then.
After the showing, we went to a museum I spotted yesterday. I’ll leave that part of our day to another footprint and move onto lunch.
While I was finishing up at the museum, Mui was looking for a restaurant for a late lunch … something other than the usual trattorias we’ve been patronizing. He found it in a “pesce in osteria” … a fish tavern, if you will, on Piazza Aldrovandi … named for the man considered the father of modern geology.
Pescheria Aldrovandi turned out to be a small eatery under one of the porticos … outside of which were a bunch of stalls selling everything from fresh fruits and vegetables, to sweets, to fresh fish. Thanks to our off-hour dining, we managed to yet again get seated without a reservation.
The waiter spoke English, and there was a menu in English and French, so perhaps the place was a bit touristy … but the prices were reasonable and none of the other patrons were speaking anything but Italian. It very much felt like a local establishment.
I opted for the fried seafood dish … calamari, shrimp, white fish, courgettes, and carrots. All very good. Mui ordered the grilled seafood dish … calamari, shrimp, tuna steak; prawns (head and all), and a salad. We had white wine to accompany our meal, but skipped dessert in lieu of gelato later.
By the time we left the restaurant, the rain that had been threatening all day had started to fall … with occasional thunder and lightning. After we got our gelatos, I headed to the apartment; Mui went to check out a couple of furniture stores to see what they carry.
We are quickly nearing the end of our hunt for an apartment. We’ll be seeing the last two tomorrow. One of them is a long shot; but we have high hopes for the other one.En savoir plus
Basilica Santuario di Santo Stefano
22 octobre 2025, Italie ⋅ ☁️ 59 °F
The Basilica Santuario di Santo Stefano is a complex consisting of multiple places of worship … locally known as Sette Chiese (Seven Churches).
We entered through the Church of Saint Stephen … aka the Church of the Holy Crucifix … different from other churches we have visited in that the presbytery is raised over the crypt. If there was access to the crypt, I didn’t see it … but then, services being conducted in the room behind the staircase, so I did not look too closely.
Following the “way of the visit” signs, we headed to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. The building is attached to the Church of Saint Stephen. This part — octagonal in shape and built over a temple that was dedicated to Isis — dates back to the 5th century. At the time, it was built on the orders of Bishop Petronio (later, San Petronio … the patron saint of Bologna) to resemble the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem.
The next church we found ourselves in was dedicated to Saints Vitale and Agricola, the first two martyrs from Bologna (305 AD) … their sarcophagi on either side of the altar. It is said to be the oldest part of the complex. Fragments of frescoes on the columns and remnants of the mosaic floor from Roman times were some of the interesting elements we noted.
The Courtyard of Pilate would have been next, except that it is presently surrounded by a construction fence.
So, we moved on to the Church of the Trinity … aka the Church of the Martyrium. This church was left incomplete by Bishop Petronio. In the late 19th century, it was rebuilt in the neo-Romanesque style. Adding interest here were fragments of frescoes, including one of a rarely seen pregnant Madonna, and a memorial to the Bersaglieri, the elite infantry corps of the Italian army, recognized by the hat worn by its members … wide-brimmed and adorned with black feathers.
We concluded the first part of our visit at the Benedictine cloister … with a well in the center of the courtyard, and zoomorphic and anthropomorphic columns rimming the perimeter.
We returned to complete our exploration after lunch … by which time the museum was open to visitors. Consisting of just a couple of rooms, the museum exhibits an eclectic collection of artifacts ranging from artworks, to ceiling shingles, to frescoes, to reliquaries and religious vestments; to the “Urn of the 40 Martyrs” … which dates back to 1568; and more.
Our unplanned visit to the Basilica Santuario di Santo Stefano is one of the highlights of our time in Bologna thus far. I am looking forward to returning after we are settled in Bologna next year. Perhaps take a tour … and learn more about the ancient traditions involving the prostitutes of Bologna and the pregnant women in the city.En savoir plus
Exploring Santo Stefano
22 octobre 2025, Italie ⋅ ☁️ 59 °F
With no showings on the calendar for today, we took it easy this morning … meaning that we stayed in and did our chores … laundry, cleaning the apartment. You get the idea.
Around 11:00a, our chores completed, I suggested that we go out for a walk and check out the location of the Piazza Santo Stefano apartment that we’ll be seeing tomorrow. Along the way, we detoured to check out the AirBNB we’ll be moving to for the last few days of our Bologna stay.
Our meandering walk eventually took us to Basilica Santuario di Santo Stefano. We decided to check it out … but I’ll write about it separately.
We ended up splitting our basilica visit into two parts due to timing. In between, we grabbed lunch at Trattoria Leonida … on a quiet side street not too far from Piazza Santo Stefano … a nice, intimate, white-tablecloths-on-the-table kind of place that felt like it was eons away from the hub-bub of the busy piazza. The menu was in Italian only … the price of the tagliatelle al ragù consistent with the ‘local-eatery’ pricing. Perfect.
I had a ragù of sorts … the house specialty … Cordonetti a la Leonida. Google described it as a dish consisting of “short, narrow tagliatelle with a Parma ham ragù.” It was delicious. Mui was equally pleased with the Polpettone di vitello con salsa verde that he ordered — a veal meatloaf with a green sauce … for want of a better description. This trattoria is known for only serving vegetables that are in season … artichokes boiled with spices was on the menu today, so we added that to our order … an excellent choice.
To kill time until the museum opened, we headed to Cremeria la Vecchia Stalla for gelato. OMG! No wonder there seems to always be long lines here. Our timing was good, however, and we beat the group that showed up after us.
Once we completed the museum portion of our basilica visit, we returned to the AirBNB for a relaxing afternoon and evening.
We have a showing tomorrow morning and a free afternoon to do a bit more sightseeing. Maybe a museum? We’ll see.En savoir plus
Thumbs Down on Alessandrini
21 octobre 2025, Italie ⋅ ☁️ 55 °F
With our next apartment showing scheduled for later in the day, we spent the morning at home.
One of the things we needed to do was to either extend our stay at the current AirBNB or find another property for the last 10 days of our stay in Bologna. Turns out that the property manager could give us until 6 November … which we accepted. And then we browsed the AirBNB website to find ourselves another place for the remainder of our time here. Good to know we won’t be sleeping on the street!
Today’s apartment showing was for the place Mui found a while back that is available as of 1 November. Our impression of the neighborhood didn’t change from when we first checked it out a few days ago. Basically, not ideal. The apartment itself proved clean and well-maintained … newly repainted after the last tenant moved out. But the place was cramped … very cramped. When we learned that the building overlooking the narrow balcony was a university dormitory … well, it sealed our decision … a BIG NO!
After that disappointing showing, it was time for some fun.
We walked to Piazza Maggiore under a misting of rain. At the Biblioteca Salaborsa, we headed inside to check out the archaeological dig … hidden under the glass-tiled floor of the library. I had to laugh when we got home later and I read an article warning women visiting the library about wearing short skirts since looking up into the library from the ruins, people could be looking straight up their skirt. Actually, I doubt one would see much … the glass is thick and it has become quite badly scratched up over the years.
The ruins in question are from the period of the ancient Roman city of Bononia … around 189 BC. We followed the catwalk that goes through the ruins, reading the signage explaining what we were looking at … parts of the remains of the civil basilica of Bononia, foundations of medieval houses, sewer lines, cisterns and wells. I understand that one can take a tour led by a librarian, which might go into areas that are not open to the public. Something to look into later.
Leaving the ruins, we decided to get a bite to eat. Pizza sounded good since we have not yet had any on this trip. Mui found a hole-in-the-wall place called Pizzeria Nettuno on Via Fossalta … a small place with five tiny two-top tables and a bistro table that can accommodate six. I scored one of the two remaining tables while Mui ordered us a medium, thin crust pizza with mushrooms … shaped like a heart. Very good … and comparatively inexpensive.
We had a quiet afternoon at the apartment. I did some writing and photo processing. Mui took a nap and then cooked the eggplant he bought yesterday so we’re all set with dinner for a night or two.En savoir plus
![Alfonso Lombardi’s “Compianto su Cristo morto” [Lamentation of Christ] ... at the cathedral.](http://media.fp-files.com/footprint/69900cdc3205a2-39856333/6ebgv6a9xf3sj_m_s.jpg)
![Alfonso Lombardi’s “Compianto su Cristo morto” [Lamentation of Christ] ... at the cathedral.](http://media.fp-files.com/footprint/69900cdc3205a2-39856333/9npcuvurbv8te_m_s.jpg)
We Have A Contender
20 octobre 2025, Italie ⋅ ☁️ 63 °F
That we have our first contender for an apartment is good news.
That my throat is scratchy and my eyes are burning is not. I was hoping that it was just allergies, but I think that was just wishful thinking.
The Haus Gruppo agent Mui reached out to yesterday responded this morning and we have a couple more showings scheduled for later this week. She suggested another property as well … on a busy street it looks like, but we’ve added it to the list, too.
Our day getting off to a good start, we left to meet the realtor from yesterday to see the second apartment she wanted to show us. Wow! What a difference from the first place. Bright and airy; quite spacious with two bedrooms and two baths; a dryer as well as a washer … the former is a luxury for sure. The furnishings are in good condition, too. The only downside … no terrace or balcony. Nonetheless, we are keeping it on the contender list.
It was after noon by the time we bid the realtor ciao. We had earlier spotted a place called Il Duca d’Amalfi … around the corner on Piazza de’ Celestini. Figuring that we should check it out as it might become our neighborhood café/patisserie, we headed there for lunch.
As the temp had been falling and a light drizzle was adding to the chill factor, we opted to sit inside instead of dining al fresco. We both ordered the tagliatelle al ragù and wrapped up our meal with a fresh-filled cannolo that was excellent.
It was still drizzling when we left Il Duca. We were prepared for the rain, however … and also took advantage of the porticos to stay dry where we could.
With our ‘work’ completed, it was time to do some sightseeing. First, we went to Cattedrale di San Pietro. It wasn’t easy to get to as we entered Via dell’Independenza on the wrong side of the construction work for laying tram rails. No matter, we walked until we found a break in the construction barrier. The bonus was that coming the way we did, we were able to check out a big supermarket located adjacent to the cathedral.
The current cathedral, which dates back to the 17th century, with some parts a century older, was built on the site of a former cathedral from 1028 … destroyed by a fire; rebuilt; radically remodeled to the extent that it caused the dome to collapse; and rebuilt again from scratch.
The lights were off, but we managed to see bits and pieces, including Alfonso Lombardi’s “Compianto su Cristo morto” (Lamentation of Christ) from the 16t century, and some beautiful frescoes in the side aisles.
Our next stop took us into Biblioteca Salaborsa, a modern multimedia public library. Located in a wing of the massive Palazzo d’Accursio — the historic seat of the Bologna municipal government — it is the city’s main library.
The first thing that struck me was the amazing ceiling over the central area, which is known as Piazza Coperta. I went up to the third floor for a bird’s eye view of the interior and got a closer look at the ceiling. The floor of the piazza is a much-mentioned feature. Made of glass tiles, it allow people to see down into the ruins that have been excavated under the building … ruins that date back to Roman times … some to Etruscan times. We’ll return another day to take a peek at the ruins.
After we left the library, I opted to go back to the apartment since my throat was getting scratchier by the minute. Mui went off to run a few errands … withdraw Euros using our fee-free Schwab ATM card; check out options for cell phone and internet providers; replenish the larder as we have hardly anything left in the fridge … except for the leftovers from lunch.
Our time in Bologna is proving to be fruitful. We are making good progress with our search for an apartment and getting to know the city while we are at it. Since the wheels of bureaucracy tend to turn slowly, we would like to decide on which property to rent by Monday. That will leave us with two weeks to get the lease signed and registered with the authorities.
Keeping fingers crossed all goes to plan.En savoir plus
First Showing!
19 octobre 2025, Italie ⋅ ☁️ 64 °F
We spent most of the day at home.
But it wasn’t to rest. Nor was it to do chores.
Rather, hoping to start viewing apartments next week, I wanted to create a quick-glance spreadsheet to help us compare properties. Once I had a basic template, I added the details for the six properties on our list.
We also looked at the photos of the properties on Mui’s laptop … the larger format uncovering some oddities that weren’t apparent when we were looking at them on the phone. One thing is for sure … furnished doesn’t seem to mean the same in Italy as it does to us in the USA.
While I worked on the spreadsheet, Mui sent messages to the real estate agents for the apartments … all but one have a different agent. We hit pay dirt with one agent who responded almost immediately. Turns out that she could show us the apartment this afternoon.
We found the apartment on a quiet street … just 15-minutes walking distance from Piazza Maggiore. At first glance, the second-floor apartment — with a large terrace — seemed perfect. Unfortunately, a closer inspection of the furnishings — what little there was — showed them to be less-than-gently used. Overall, the place just felt worn.
Ultimately, we decided to pass on the terrace apartment, but agreed to see another one in the adjacent building tomorrow. That this other property will be available effective 1 January is a bonus, so fingers crossed we can keep it as a contender.En savoir plus
Continuing the Neighborhood Recon
18 octobre 2025, Italie ⋅ ☀️ 66 °F
Up early again!
As we sipped our morning beverages, we chatted about our plan for finding an apartment. We also took a look at a map of Bologna, which shows the main quarters of the city and the neighborhoods within them. Now that we know the city better, we feel more confident about getting a real estate agent involved in our search sooner rather than later.
When we left the apartment for today’s neighborhood tour, we headed out to find the building that’s been on Mui’s list almost since we decided to pursue expat life in Bologna. The building looked good, but we didn’t like the vibe of the neighborhood. We’ll still check it out when the agent calls us back, however … just to see how it compares to other properties.
We then took a meandering walk to see some other apartments Mui found on the real estate website. They were all in quiet neighborhoods, even though they were close to the hubbub of Piazza Maggiore. One of them was great because it would be available on January 1st, so we wouldn’t have to pay rent for it to sit empty in the interim. Another was great because it was a duplex penthouse with a big terrace and amazing views. Some properties didn’t make the cut for a variety of reasons. Anyway, we now have a list of potential apartments for which to schedule showings.
With the ‘work’ part of our day done, we were free to do whatever we wanted, if only we could decide what that was.
Since it was Saturday, it seemed like all of Bologna was out on the streets. Looking down Via Rizzoli from near the Due Torri end of the street, it looked like there was a sea of people walking down the street. Feeling like salmon swimming against the currents, we decided to seek out a trattoria on a back street, grab a bite to eat, do some people watching, and talk about what to do with the rest of our day.
Finding a table on a Saturday was quite the challenge! We finally decided to try sidewalk dining at Bella Pasta on Via Altabella. It looked a bit touristy, but it had a rating of 4.5, so we figured we’d give it a shot. The food was delicious—I had tagliatelle al ragù, and Mui enjoyed the Polpetti Bolognese (Bolognese-style meatballs). The table wine we ordered to go with our meal was very smooth. Sadly, the cozy atmosphere of a trattoria was missing.
Volleying ideas back and forth as we ate, we settled on Giardini Margherita for today’s ’fun after work’ sightseeing. Plus, it would give us a chance to walk off the calories from lunch. The gardens — more like a park really — are said to be a favorite among the Bolognese. It felt peaceful, even with all the people enjoying the warm afternoon sun. We walked along the paths, took a stroll around the pond, and stopped to admire the fountains. The trees were starting to show some fall colors, making the scenery beautiful.
After resting our feet on a bench in the shade, we started our walk back to the apartment.
An easy day is called for tomorrow. Well-deserved, But also because we have some computer work to do, showings to schedule, and one more apartment location to check out. After that, we’ll just see where the day takes us.En savoir plus
Let the Recon Begin!
17 octobre 2025, Italie ⋅ ☀️ 66 °F
After a relaxing day yesterday, we kicked off our apartment hunt today by wandering through the neighborhoods around the Centro Storico. You see, having a signed and registered lease is a must for applying for an ERV (elective residence visa).
First up was Bolognina, a neighborhood mentioned to us by the Bolognese guy on our flight to Bologna. Naturally, there were plenty of photo ops and sightseeing along the way.
We started by taking a little detour from our apartment, just to shake things up a bit, and popped into the Basilica Parrocchia di San Martino for a quick peek inside. Then, we retraced the route we took to the apartment from the train station on the 15th. The buildings along the canal were another great spot for photos, with reflections and pigeons splashing around in the puddles.
As we walked past Piazza dell’8 Agosto, we checked out La Piazzola, a historic market that’s open on Fridays and Saturdays. Then, crossing the street, we made our way to Montagnola Park, Bologna’s oldest urban green space … which has been open to the public since 1664. We followed the path along the park’s edge and exited through the monumental staircase, which offered a nice view of the ruins of the 14th-century Castello di Galliera.
After crossing the bridge over the train tracks at Bologna Centrale, we decided to make a couple of stops. First, we snapped a photo in front of the Teatro Testoni Ragazzi, which I discovered online is all about young people’s culture. Then, we quickly peeked inside the Chiesa del Sacro Cuore di Gesù (The Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus). This huge parish church, with its copper dome and brick decorations that blend into the walls, is quite impressive—almost monumental, you might say.
Around 11:15a, we arrived in Bolognina, one of Bologna’s youngest and most cosmopolitan neighborhoods. Young people = working, and at that hour, the tree-lined streets were surprisingly quiet. I think we only saw about 10 people the whole time we were wandering around.
There were older buildings mixed with modern high-rises, but the latter only had apartments for sale. A quick check on the real estate website Mui had been looking at showed only a few apartments for rent near the stadium. No thanks. Maybe a realtor will have some options for us to check out. In the meantime, we moved Bolognina to the bottom of our list and retraced our steps back towards the train station.
After stopping at a candy store to buy some Baratti & Milano chocolates — from the company that has been around in Turin since 1858 — we arrived at Porta Galliera, one of the 10 gates of Bologna that still stands today
By this time, it was well past noon, so we turned our attention to food. Again, wanting an out-of-the-way trattoria, Mui searched Google and found Valerio, which started as a grocery store in an old salt warehouse back in 1898. The restaurant, which serves traditional Bolognese cuisine, has been in the same family for over 100 years, though the current location isn’t where it all began.
Since sidewalk dining wasn’t an option, we settled inside … fortunate to snag a table since we had no reservation. We really appreciated the cozy, old-world feel of the little place as we shared a caprese salad, tortelloni stuffed with ricotta and served with sage-infused butter, and a pork cutlet cooked Bolognese style with ham and melted cheese. It was all absolutely delicious!
After lunch, Mui suggested we take a walk to the Porto-Saragozza district, where he had recently stumbled upon what looked like a lovely penthouse apartment … walking distance to Centro Storico.
We wandered down some side streets, stopping along the way … to peek inside a small church, get some delicious gelato from Vero, and snap photos of the murals we saw.
Of course, we couldn’t see the apartment itself — it’s by appointment only — but we got a good sense of the peaceful neighborhood. We liked what we saw, so we’re planning to try to get in to see the apartment next week. But we have one concern. The listing says that it is unfurnished. If that’s true, it would be a deal breaker. Maybe the realtor will have furnished properties he can show us in this area, since we liked the neighborhood.
After heading over to Porta Saragozza, another one of Bologna’s last remaining gates, we strolled back to Piazza Maggiore — about 20 minutes away — by way of a road lined with colorful buildings and porticos.
We wrapped up our day shortly after 4:00p by taking a different route back to the apartment, passing salumerias and prosciutterias that had us salivating. We’ll have to go back for a tasting.En savoir plus