It’s starting to look a lot like Christmas
Thursday, December 20th, 2018
There are some great decorations in the center of Bologna. Let’s start with the tree.
The Chrismas tree in Piazza del Netuno. The very heart of Bologna (well, that and Piazza Maggiore)
Some decorations along a nearby sidewalk under the portico
A pedestrian side street in the very center of Bologna
Decorations along the major street in the center (Hugo Bassi)
One particular striking set of lights is along a street where Lucio Dalla lived. As a bit of background, Lucio Dalla is probably kind of the Italian equivalent of our Bob Dylan. A prolific songwriter and performer with divers inventive styles and often profound lyrics. He died of a heart attack in 2012 when in Switzerland for a concert. He is much loved in all of Italy but especially in Bologna where he lived his entire life. Along this street are banners of lights for all of the lyrics of one of his songs. He was quite a guy and if you’re interested in learning more there’s a Wikipedia page in English (much shorter than the one in Italian). Lucio Dalla
All of the lyrics to a song by Lucio Dalla
It continues
All of the lyrics continue along the street
I did find of video of him performing live. I can’t understand the lyrics but often the music and energy suffice.
” The year to come”
I was invited by my friend Renata to attend an event at the most luxurious hotel in town. The place where dignitaries and rock stars stay. I have only a photograph of the lobby.
The lobby of the Grand Hotel Majestic
I went to the store that’s part art and part jewelry (which is also art) and noted this painting on the wall with a nice thought for the new year – or at any time for that matter. I wrote a blog post about the store Terre Rare that you can find here:Â Terre Rare
A nice thought at Terre Rare “One of the blessings of old friends is that you can allow yourself to be stupid with them”
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all!
December 20th, 2018 at 7:36 am
Thank you so much for this kind thought from us and also from Consuelo Capecchi, the author of the painting. Congratulation again for your interesting blog on our city… you know it better than many bolognesi.
Best wishes,
Rosa and Elisabetta
December 22nd, 2018 at 2:43 am
Hi Joe!
The song “l’anno che verrà “, which translates as “the coming year”, was written in the 70s, during the so called “anni di piombo” (lead years), a period of internal terrorism which put the frail republic on the brink of falling into anarchy or dictatorship. Again. So Dalla wrote his worries and his hopes for changes in a letter to an unnamed friend. Ending with the thought that maybe the world wasn’t changing, but he was.
Here you can find an English translation:
https://fpb.livejournal.com/450774.html
January 4th, 2019 at 8:28 am
Thanks for the comment, Emiliano. I did find the translation although I can read Italian pretty well. I wanted to see if I was missing something sense parts of it didn’t make much sense to me. The context you provided brings it into focus. Thanks a bunch. BTW I hope that the delicate political situation here gets better. Of course I hope the same for the U.S.
Joe