A Northern Adventure - San Marino & Bologna

Last Saturday, the 2nd of January, I jumped in my friend's car for my first Italian road trip. In the car was my colleague Valentina and her boyfriend Giordano. The plan was to stay with Valentina's parents at their house in San Matteo della Decima, about 30km from Bologna, and use it as a base to visit a few cities in northern Italy. Everything went according to plan.

Valentina is a project manager at PantaService Group, speaks three languages fluently, and as the next few days would show, knows just about everything interesting having to do with anything relevant in the cities we would visit. Giordano is also a project manager who knew less about the cities but had a GPS. He is also a minor celebrity in Italy as one of the founding members and lead guitar player for the band Io e i Gomma Gommas, Italy's answer to America's Me First and the Gimme Gimmies.


Rockstars Vale and Giordano in front of the Castello Estense di Ferrara

The four day trip through the region of Emilia-Romagna was full of castles, cathedrals, and pork products spread over seven cities and two countries. Along the way I was introduced to gnocco fritto and tigelle, two kinds of fried bread (eaten with prosciutto, cheese and other toppings) which are typical of the region and delicious, and ciccioli and zampone (see also: 'pork products' above) which are also from the region and a bit less delicious.

Highlights from each portion of the trip include:

San Marino - it's a city and a country! And a castle to boot. The castle was built in the 13th century proving that while a bit politically incorrect, slave labor does have its advantages. It's hard to fathom how structures like this were built without, or in spite of, having today's tools, machines and technologies.


This castle brought to you in 1253 by your local, friendly Serf!
San Marino survives by being a tax-shelter for businesses. The citizens enjoy a variety of tax benefits so attractive that it is illegal to move to or live there unless you are married to a citizen. There is also a thriving souvenir business whose primary products seem to be swords, knives and crossbows. It's an amazing city/country planted on top of the tallest hill in the area with commanding views, fairy tale cliché buildings and sharp swords.

Bologna - the capital of Emilia-Romagna boasts two leaning towers to Pisa's one. Take that Pisa! There used to be seven total (or maybe it was eleven) but the rest fell over as a result of using the lowest bidder, or maybe spiteful Serfs. In a food obsessed country, Bologna is called by some the food capital of Italy. I had a piece of chocolate cake that was capital in my book.


The throbbing, slightly constricted culinary pulse of Bologna.
Valentina went to university in Bologna and knows everything about it. It is nearly 2500 years old and saw it's proudest moments in the 12th century, which is also about the time Portland was being founded I think. The city has over 40km of covered arcades which were built so additional rooms could be added to the second floor houses above the streets to be rented to students and additionally, are nice for walking around on a cold winter afternoon when it's raining and snowing. (I suppose they are also nice for walking around on a sunny, summer morning too.)


For an arcade, there wasn't a single video game visible.
There are a little over 300,000 people who live in Bologna and nearly 100,000 of them are students at the university (this town parties!) all living in tiny rooms above the arcades built especially for them hundreds of years ago. Fine urban planning. Bologna is known for the red bricks used to construct many of its fine buildings, was a center of fierce partisan resistance during WWII, and is dominated by the Communist political party.


These are red brick buildings in the main square, not Communists.
The main duomo (big church), Cattedrale di San Petronio was built using donations from the city's residents. Construction lasted several centuries and at one point there was a plan to expand the church to outdo even St. Peter's in Rome. The Pope didn't think much of that idea though and put a stop to it. As a result, the facade is only half covered in marble and there are no side churches to form the shape of the Latin cross like you would normally find. These fun facts all brought to you by Valentina. There was a quiz.


Half-covered but fully complete. This is what happens when you make a Pope mad.
Dinner in San Matteo della Decima with some of Vale's high school friends concluded the day. It was at this dinner that I was introduced to Lambrusco (sparkling red wine - yes please!) and the above mentioned fried bread and ciccioli. Ciccioli is a sausage made by taking all the left-over pork bits (like a hotdog!) squeezing them and then drying it out (not like a hotdog!). Not my favorite.

This was the end of our first day and the end of this blog post. I've posted some additional pictures in an online photo album (click here) and I'll write about the rest of our adventures (with photos) in subsequent posts including the moment where I learn I'm eating dinner with a table full of actual Communists. Pass the Lambrusco!