Why Bologna
Bologna wraps you with its warmth and colors, fascinates you with its history, amazes you with the glory of its university, cheers you up with its youth, delights you with its food, touches you with arts and music.
It offers great living conditions and many lovely moments: the locals love to sip their coffee in the bar, taste traditional food and spend an evening at the theatre.
People are communicative and love talking to others.
All this makes Bologna attractive, life here will be surprising. Tourists are rare, therefore the atmosphere is original and real.
Food in Bologna
Did you know that tortellini, tortelloni, mortadella, lasagne, ragu’ all come from Bologna? It’s difficult to stay slim in this city! 🙂
Thanks to the care for the ingredients and to the respect for the tradition, the cuisine of Bologna has become world famous. The city is full of groceries, restaurants, taverns that offer local dishes.
In the suburbs it is easy to find markets with local producers, so you can buy really fresh products.
Families eat mainly at home as people of every generation likes to cook.
What to do in Bologna
It is easy to find an activity in Bologna. It is a city rich of cultural events during the whole year. Night life is sparkling because of the presence of the university and the great quantity of restaurants and cafe’s.
Arts in Bologna
Art in Bologna is discreetly present in every corner of its perfectly preserved center. There are many incredible treasures still unknown to the majority of people. The medieval structure of the city is enriched by suggestive arcades. They are distinctively characterizing the city from the early Middle Ages till 1900. They extend for more than 40 km in the city core.
The arcades are not only beautiful, but very useful indeed: in summer they offer a refreshing shadow and protect the pedestrians from the rain any time of the year.
It is a pleasure to walk in the narrow streets, contemplate in the wonderful squares, enter the churches and the historic palaces where we can find important works of several artists, such as Michelangelo, Francesco Francia, Nicolo’ Pisani, the Carracci and several others.
What’s more, there is the university with its incredible history and its buildings. From the Middle Ages Bologna has been an important cultural centre and attracted students and great thinkers form all over Europe.
It is possible to climb the stairs of many towers and from the top we can admire the skyline of the city and the nearby hills. From this point of view one can notice a great amount of historic buildings and squares and perceive the historic weight of this city, part of the papal state and university center. Many noble families have lived here and many important battles have been fought.
Bologna will amaze you with its magic atmosphere.
Music and theater
The great composer Mozart studied in Bologna, but Rossini, Donizetti and other famous composers also lived in this city. Padre Martini wrote the first work on the history of music. As a natural consequence Bologna hosts the well-known International Museum of Music.
Jazz is likewise important with its own yearly festival with the presence of renowned international guests.
Classical music is highly appreciated with great opera productions and quality programs.
There are many small theaters, churches and oratory that regularly offer free performances, and in summer open concerts in different squares are a daily reality.
For the most devoted nightlife lovers there are choices of disco’s and night clubs with live music.
Cinema
The “ Cineteca di Bologna”, the film library of Bologna, is a European reality not only for its 46.000 reels and many relevant documents, but also for the restoration of roll-films.
Thanks to this institution the city proposes every year many events like the “ Future Film Festival”, the “ Biografilm Festival”, the “ Festival del Cinema Ritrovato” ( the rediscovered cinema), and the “Cinema sotto le stelle” (cinema under the stars).
Local citizens love the “Cinema sotto le stelle” because they can enjoy more than 60 evenings of free cinema on the biggest screen in Europe set up in Piazza Maggiore. It is a wonderful experience to sit in this square in a cool summer evening and enjoy a great film.
Excursions
Bologna is surrounded by smooth hills where you can walk through evocative paths surrounded by nature. The city is quite close to the Adriatic Sea and Venice, Florence and Verona are one or two hours by train. Close to the center there are several public parks.