An American Friend in Italy

Well, a few…

1. Brynne & I Take Bologna

Brynne and I got together twice during the semester – once when I went to visit her in Arezzo, and once when she came to see me in Bologna. Here’s the weekend we spent together, which was the first time I’d been to many of Bologna’s tourist attractions.

 

On top of the Basilica San Petronio in Piazza Maggiore -- Brynne

...and me

We spent a lot of time walking the streets and portici of Bologna, which I always forget are a novelty – after almost four months, covered sidewalks seem like an integral part of Italy. But in reality Bologna is one of the only cities in Italy with the walkways. Let me tell you – when it rains as much as it does here, they earn their keep.

Brynne had a guidebook that mentioned Bologna (which is more than I had – Rick Steves, why have you forsaken me?), so she had a good idea of what she wanted to see, and my (minimal) local knowledge supplemented.

First up was a trip to Piazza Maggiore and the Fontana Nettuno, one of Bologna’s most famous sights. At the time, they were setting up a giant stage in the piazza for a concert honoring Lucio Dalla (which I got to go to the next week – what the heck, here’s a few pictures!), so some of the things around the square were closed.

4 Marzo concert in Piazza Maggiore

We did have the good fortune of visiting a palazzo nearby that had an art collection as well as a few Bolognese historical artifacts. My personal favorites were a small, wooden model of Bologna in medieval times (I found my street!) and this painting of the death of Cleopatra, which looks suspiciously like Lena Dunham of Girls fame.

Tiny Bologna!

Spitting image. I swear.

Brynne agreed with me. I’m going to go out on a limb and say Brynne’s favorite part was the horses. It usually is.

Next up was the Torre degli Asinelli, the symbol of Bologna. When you see tourist maps with little icons next to all the cities, Bologna’s always features two towers – one that’s crooked enough to rival the Leaning Tower of Pisa, and another that’s straight and very, very tall. Together, they’re the Due Torri. And, of course, for only 3 euro you can climb that very tall, very thin tower. So.

 

Rachel, Brynne and I at the top of the tower

It’s about 500 steps, and it’s narrow and steep the whole way up. Luckily, they have landings every hundred steps or so, which helps a lot with my steep stairs thing. If you’ve never seen me try to climb a lighthouse, let me tell you: it can get bad. Usually on spiral staircases. Luckily, this tower only has a very small portion of spirals. The rest are blessedly straight and have ample handrails.

 

The view from the top... Yikes!

We also went to Santo Stefano – known as the Seven Churches. It’s pretty much exactly what it sounds like, except six of the churches are INSIDE the other church. Pretty fancy.

 

The courtyard in Santo Stefano

It was a great weekend of reminiscing with an old friend (it’s so weird that my college friends can be called ‘old’ now – I guess it’s all relative! Everyone feels old when you’re starting completely from scratch in a new country). We ate some great food, we saw the best side of Bologna, and I was pleasantly surprised by how many stories I was able to tell about the city I’ve learned to call home.

2. And finally... Copenhagen!

Joey, Olivia and I in Copenhagen

This one is a trip I had hoped for but didn’t think could possibly actually happen. My friend Olivia is spending the semester in Copenhagen, and our friend Joey was looking for a spring break trip. It turns out he knew two girls studying in Copenhagen, so he decided to make the trip over. We had talked about him coming to Italy, but it just wasn’t enough time. I, however, could justify a few days off of class to see two of my best friends from high school.

This was my first inter-country travel experience here, other than the initial London to Bologna flight. I woke up ungodly early, took a taxi to the train station, took a 3-hour train to Milan, took a bus to the airport, took a plane to Copenhagen where Joey met me at the airport, and we took the subway to downtown Copenhagen. That’s a lot in one day, let me tell you. Luckily I know my way around an airport through instinct by this point. I spent a lot of time in the Kansas City International Airport as a child. It sank in.

Everything is old and cool!

Joey and I wandered the very charming streets until Olivia was done with her class work for the day. It was a really, really great few days – the perfect solution to a little bit of homesickness. Joey and I only had a few days of overlap there, but we got to see quite a bit of each other. After some good hangout time, Joey had to go home – but I had an extra day or two with Olivia. She was kind enough to show me around all the tourist attractions that Joey had already done that week, as well as a few others.

Olivia in her natural Copenhagen habitat -- the metro

Olivia and I on a canal

How picturesque! 

When I was deciding to come to Copenhagen, the sum of my knowledge came from the Danny Kaye movie and one of the Happy Hollister books. I am, of course, referring to Hans Christian Andersen and the Little Mermaid statue in Copenhagen. I told Olivia this was my only must-see, and one very cold, windy day we set out to find it. There’s a lot of walking involved, but it was absolutely worth it.

 

The Little Mermaid!

It was a short trip, but I learned a lot about traveling – namely, that knowing someone who lives at your destination makes the stay more fun and much cheaper. I’m so glad I got to see Olivia and Joey, especially since there won’t be much if any overlap in our time at home this summer.

 

In the Glass Market, where they give out all kinds of free samples

We found some interesting souvenirs -- the one of the left says "I <3 Green Bay"

So, that’s two of my weekends down, many more to go. I just got back from a fantastic trip that I can’t wait to tell you about!