Short trip to Bologna

Italy – August 2019

My friend Selina and I like to go on very spontaneous, very unplanned trips during our summer holiday. In 2018, the cheap flight prices to Vienna made us visit Bratislava. For 2019, we once again book our short trip a few days before a long weekend and as we don’t want to fly, our options are limited. Finally, the few hours-long bus ride and relatively cheap accommodation make us settle for Bologna. And so, we board the early morning Flixbus to Milano on a warm Thursday morning. A 3-hour nap and a quick border crossing later, we arrive in northern Italy’s metropolis. Here, we take advantage of the 2-hour layover and Lampugnano bus station’s good connection to central Milano. A short Metro ride later, we (and our backpacks) are strolling around the Piazza del Duomo and enjoying a breakfast of coffee and croissant in the luxurious Galleria Vittorio Emmanuele II. (Read more about some of my favorite places in the Milano region here).

Back at the bus station, we wait for the Italian bus headed to Rimini. As it’s Ferragosto and the peak holiday season for Italians, the platform is packed with local tourists escaping to the coast. And unsurprisingly, the bus is full, too. The 3-hour ride flies by nevertheless, and we arrive in Bologna on time for lunch. But first, we have to find our Airbnb. Cheap accommodation in the student’s town is notoriously hard to come by, but we landed a bargain. It’s basically a dorm in a small flat and the owner has a questionable Whatsapp profile picture, but it’s cheap and located in a residential neighbourhood close to the train station and within walking distance from the historic town centre. We leave our bags and head back out into the summer heat, on the hunt for some dearly awaited Italian delicacies.

As always when visiting Italy in August, we are met by numerous businesses closed for the whole month. But we still find a restaurant that serves Lasagna alla Bolognese. With the first must-eat-dish out of the way, we wander the streets of the historic centre. Fortunately, there are plenty of arcades covering the side walks, which provide some shade from the strong summer sun. We take notes of inviting-looking restaurants and stop at a gelateria for a mid-afternoon snack. After snapping some pictures of the Fontana del Nettuno, and continuing our posing with statues tradition, we walk down one of the main boulevards. When we see the great drink offers, we can‘t keep ourselves from sitting down at one of the arcade-covered restaurants. We order a 6€ Aperol Spritz each – which is already a great deal for Swiss standards – and are served 2 plates of salty snacks with it. Hooked on the aperitivo culture, we continue bar hopping for the rest of the evening.

The next day begins with a late start and a delicious brunch. Feeling like living the city might help with the intense summer heat, we quickly look up close by nature spots and come across Santuario della Madonna di San Luca. That‘s a gorgeous cathedral located on top of a hill, which is easily accessible by bus from the southern end of the city centre. So we follow the arcades and patiently wait for the small local bus. Apart from us, there is only one old lady heading out of town. Once we leave the last stone buildings behind us, we drive up a windy road lined with pine trees. The views are straight out of a film, and we are almost sad when we reach our destination. That doesn‘t last for long, though. After a quick look at the cathedral, we slowly walk back down to the other side of the hill. There is a looong stairway – of course, covered by yet more arcades – leading all the way down to the town center.

The countless small alcoves make for amazing picture spots, a place to take a break from the exhausting walk in the heat or stop for a snack. Whenever we cross other tourists walking uphill, we can‘t help but pity them and congratulate ourselves on the decision to “splurge” on the cheap bus ride. Once we‘re finally back in town, it‘s already aperitivo-time again. So we find a cute restaurant we liked the day before and order the first of many Mojitos. Every two drinks or so, we start to feel bad about taking advantage of the free food. So we change locations and do the same thing over again. Our favorite bar is a few side-streets away from the main boulevard leading from Fontana dell Nettuno to the towers. It‘s situated in a beautiful old town building and houses countless plants in all colors and sizes. The veranda is covered in cute mismatching wooden furniture and the string lights add the final touch. Their drinks are strong, and what‘s best: there is a whole BUFFET of aperitivo snacks. Once you order a drink, you are free to take whichever dishes you crave: Bruschetta, Ciabatta with ham and cheese, Macaroni salad, Olives, and more.

After yet another long evening, we again wake up late again. In an effort to change things up, we take a different route to the city centre and walk past the Parco della Montagnola towards the botanic gardens of Bologna. To our surprise, they are open to the public and completely free. So we find a bench in the shadow of a big tree and chat about anything and nothing for a good hour or so. After, we find a cute café for brunch and slowly make our way to the one sightseeing attraction we have neglected so far. Le due Torri: Garisenda e degli Asinelli. The (slightly) leaning towers of Bologna are located right in the city centre and accessible to adventurous (and sporty) people. Due to the summer heat, we skip the climb up the steep stairs and instead head towards Piazza Santo Stefano. There are several Palazzos and pretty churches located just off the grand square, and we find a nice courtyard with a bunch of statues. We spend the afternoon occupying ourselves with picture-taking and people-watching before indulging again in our favorite hobby: aperitivo-bar-hopping.

On the last morning in Bologna, we get up earlier than usual and head to a popular brunch place. As it’s Sunday, it’s pretty crowded, but fortunately, we catch one of the last tables. Stuffed, we walk back to our Airbnb to pick up our luggage and head to the bus terminal. There we wait for the ever-unpunctual Flixbus in the 30 °C August heat for a good hour. Fortunately, it‘s a direct bus to Zurich, so we don‘t have to worry about missing a connection in Milano. As usual, on bus rides towards Switzerland, they are a lot less crowded than the ones leaving the country. So we get the whole last row to ourselves and spread out our belongings. A comfortable nap later, we wake up in Ticino, not even having had to step out at the border. It‘s only shortly before Lucerne that we finally end up in the post-vacation traffic jam we dreaded. But by now, we‘re too relaxed to be bothered and already reminiscing on all the delicious food we‘ve enjoyed over the past few days.