When I realized I was lost in Bologna Italy, I wasn’t surprised. A medieval city that has modulated with the times, every bend in the road is a collage of the eras the city has lived though. I went to explore during a free afternoon on a business trip and found myself in a part of town that while beautiful, had very few people walking around, and I don’t speak Italian and could not find Wifi. This is every traveler’s dream.
At first that was sarcastic, but then, it really did become a dream. The lighting was surreal with dusk approaching. I had a vague sense that I had to go west to get to central plaza, Piazza Maggiore, and get my bearings again. But, with the medieval towers casting uneven shadows on top of one another, it was a challenge to identify which direction was west.
As I walked, I noticed that more of buildings looked like they had recently been restored – new stucco, steel bars to reinforce centuries-old columns, and original medieval bricks with new mortar joints.
The decorative masonry arches on the facade of buildings jumped onto the road to create arched pedestrian walkways, the quintessential arcades of central Bologna.
After a couple odd turns, I walked straight into an open space and was greeted by none other than Neptune himself, in statue form of course. This was the Neptune fountain of the Piazza Maggiore: I had made it.
fin.
Bologna, September 2014. Original photography and writing by Katherine Chan.