Ode to Bologna


Ode to Bologna

Monday, February 24th, 2014

Well, not really an ode, or even a poem. Maybe it should be a paean (I don’t know that I’ve ever actually used that word before) that is a praise of Bologna. Now that I have a fixed schedule to go back to Bologna for two months I am becoming more and more nostalgic. I happened across two YouTube videos for Bologna. One done by the Comune di Bologna:

and the other done by the the school that I attended there A.L.C.E.:

I know so many of the sights shown in the videos that they bring tears to my eyes. Of course as much as I love Bologna I wouldn’t want to have it become like Venice or Florence, full of hordes of tourists. Part of it’s charm is that it is not heavily touristed, a fact that continually amazes me considering it’s attractions.

In any case I will be there during the months of April and May so if you perchance are going to Italy during that time look me up (by leaving a comment on a blog post) and I’ll “fare il cicerone” (be the tour guide) for you. “Cicerone” is an interesting word. It comes from Cicero, which you may recognize as a significant name in Roman history – a politician, philosopher, writer and above all a great orator. Apparently he was also an enthusiast of Rome and liked to show visitors around the city and so his name evolved into an idiomatic synonym of “guida turistica” – tour guide.

2 Responses to “Ode to Bologna”

  1. Ellie Says:

    Every scene in the videos brings tears in my eyes too.

  2. Joe Says:

    Ciao Ellie, quando tornerai a Bologna? A volte vedo qualcosa su Facebook ma spesso e’ scritto in cinese ma penso che sia sempre qualcosa su cibo ;^)

    Joe

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