Well or allora, as we say here in Italy, I have been back in Bologna almost 3 weeks and struggling to write a cohesive blog. Not sure why, but it could be that I have spent so much time planning what I am going to do that I haven’t taken the time to reflect as much. My trip here was a little more hectic than usual.  As I have mentioned previously, finding long-term apartments in this AirBnB age of short-term tourist rentals is a challenge.  Bologna also hosts very popular trade fairs in the spring and fall and places are often rented on an annual basis. So I could not find an affordable apartment, affordable the key operative, that was available until early October. I arrived here mid-September, stored one of my suitcases and then flew off to Barcelona for a Rick Steves tour.  After the tour I flew to Rome for 4 days before finally arriving here in Bologna. I hit the ground running as the day I arrived was the feast day of San Petronius, the patron saint of Bologna. It is a holiday and lots going on including a tortellini sampling. Then the annual Enologica, or wine exposition, for the local wines was hosted here for the weekend and who can resist tasting wine.

Comacchio

Also that weekend was the annual festival of the eel or anguilla in Comacchio, a place I have been wanting to visit for sometime. A quiet fishing town on the Po Delta, once controlled by Venice, Comacchio has small canals and bridges to wander and during the festival lots of food to taste, especially its prodigious eel. I went with some friends who took a boat ride while I spent several hours in the new Museum of the Ancient Delta that I highly recommend for history and archaeology buffs like myself.

Comacchio stroll

Three bridges in Comacchio

Settling in

After this I needed sometime to just settle in and acclimate once again and develop a new routine. I am in the heart of the city rather than my quiet neighborhood near the park that I had called home for my 3 prior visits.  I miss not having my local cafe where I was warmly greeted and my order of a cappuccino anticipated. Or the markets I had shopped in where I knew where everything was and easily made my selections and the bus routes that I was familiar with. Although I stayed in this area my first 2 long-term stays here, it is constantly changing as it adapts to the influx of tourists. My old cafe that I still visited when in the area has closed and replaced by a modern bistro serving American style cocktails in the evening. Last week was a new event- cocktail week- featuring different mixologists vying for recognition of their creations. Cocktails are not the norm in Italy. One observation- beards seem to be very popular within this group, as opposed to the population here in general.

Other new places have popped up, one of them being a vegan cafe in the heart of the old quarter.  It’s an interesting juxtaposition to wander the markets from the medieval times with their prosciutto and other meats proudly hanging in the shops and then to stroll upon a very modern looking vegan eatery.

Vegan cafe in Bologna

BagBnB

Another phenomenon of the AirBnB monopoly is the appearance of another upstart called BagBnB.  One of the drawbacks to using AirBnB is that if you arrive early or your travel plans are late in the day you have no place to store your luggage as you can in hotels or even regular B&B’s.  Local cafes or bike shops who often have extended hours sign-up to become “angels” who will hold your bag for usually 5 Euros a day per bag. These places are certified before becoming part of the service and remain anonymous until you book online.  You can see the general location of these bag depositories and once you book the location is revealed.  All transactions are handled online and I found them very responsive to my questions. I used this to store my luggage while on tour as there was a BagBnB less than 5 minutes from my apartment.  They are popping up in a number of cities in Europe and elsewhere and I would definitely check them out for your travels. They have a phone app to facilitate easy reservations. I have a day in Florence after an overnight stay at a B&B that does not hold luggage and I will just leave my bag with an ‘angel’.

BagBnB phone app

Mobike

Another service that has become quite popular is Mobike.  A number of cities have made bikes available to people to rent on a short-term basis.  But these required docking stations to locate for pick-up and return as well as cash on hand. Mobikes are free spirits, left in locations by their prior users to be discovered and unlocked via a phone app.

Mobike rental

You create an account and make a deposit via a credit card. When you need a bike the app will locate one near you. Once you locate it you scan the code on the bike to unlock it and start your ride.

Scan and ride Mobike

Once finished you can leave the bike curbside or preferably in a bike rack and lock it with your app. Prices vary but in Bologna it costs 0,60 Euro for 30 minutes. The bikes are bright orange and hard to miss and I see them everywhere, especially on weekends.

Mobikes on Parade

I have noticed people having some difficulty biking with them and read reviews that say they are heavy to handle, have no gears and the airless tires are not great on uneven pavement.  Developed by the Chinese, it appears that the seat height is not attuned to larger Europeans though I understand that is being addressed. It will be interesting to track the success of these bikes. They pulled them out of Manhattan and Dallas as they did not have enough bikes there to be profitable.

Planning ahead

So I said I was busy with lots of planning.  This is my favorite time to be here as there are so many festivals going on that you have to pick and choose what interests you the most. Just to give you an idea of what’s happening all within a train ride of one or two hours:

• White truffle (tartufa) festivals in Italy late October- mid November
• Chocolate show in Bologna as well as Eurochocolate in Perugia
• Urban trekking where you take free topical tours of the city
• Bologna’s annual Jazz festival in November, this year with a bus to take you around to all the venues.
• Olive oil pressings and associated festival in Brisighella
• Bologna’s mortadella festival
• Torrone festival in Cremona
• The Verdi Opera festival in October in nearby Parma
• Festival of Fish in Cesenatico
• CHRISTMAS MARKETS!!!!!!

I am sure I have left some out but this gives you a general sense of the activities going on.  And I have a little over 6 weeks to cram them all in!  And that does not include the many art shows going on such as the Andy Warhol exhibit.

Banner for Warhol

So I may just be gearing up now but I will be in full-speed soon with my final hurrah in Basel, Switzerland as a base for traveling the Christmas Markets there as well as in Alsace-Lorraine and the Black Forest!  Stay tuned. I post photos often on my Facebook page and Instagram account under SamplingItaly.