Bologna

For the past 5 days, we've been attending language school in the heart of old Bologna. What an incredible city! There are miles and miles of covered walkways or porticos, generally along the front of shops, such that one could walk almost anywhere within the old city or the near surround without getting wet during a rainstorm, or without baking in the noonday sun. One of the best, and the longest, is the 4 km continuous portico built to connect the Chiesa de San Luca (church of St. Luke), symbol of the city, way up on a hill, to the basilica downtown. Each year during feragosto (remember, that's the feast of the Assumption that we ran into in Rome), a medieval icon of the Madonna and child (a very adult looking child), which is normally behind a gold screen in the church, with a just two cut-outs for the faces of the Madonna and child, is carried from the church to the basilica. The arcade, with 666 (!) arches was built to protect the icon from the elements during its transit. We walked the last 3 km of it from our apartment to the church. The stations of the cross are represented in either carved or painted tableaus at regular intervals along the arcade, and occasionally, a driveway crosses the walkway to connect a villa to the road that runs along the arcade. The church is incredibly ornate and full of people praying to the icon, going to confession, etc. We felt a bit like intruders.
Language school was a mixed bag. They make a big deal about having everyone (including those who, like David and Nina, have essentially no prior experience in Italian) take a written test in advance and then there is a short oral interview to determine your level of ability to communicate. From these they determine the classes for grammar and conversation to place you in. I would have told them to put David in Nina in the lowest, beginner level and me one level up. Instead they put Nina in the lowest, David in the second lowest, and me yet one higher. David and I were both pretty much at sea in our grammar classes. They allowed David to demote himself after the first day, but discouraged me from doing likewise. Then, when I asked in the middle of the second day for some extra help (which their blurb says they offer) to catch up on the holes in what I should have known before starting my class, they decided I should instead go down a class for grammar, but not for conversation. The grammar was much easier, although perhaps a little too easy, and the conversation continued to be very difficult because I lack the vocabulary necessary for it. Oh well, we all learned a lot, and at least I will continue studying on my own or with a teacher when I get back.
Today, since we don't have school tomorrow and thus don't have do homework before anything else, David and I went for our first and only bike ride while in Bologna. Although where we are is very urban, Google maps shows that some of the side streets very nearby, where we have seen cyclists disappearing for the last few days, lead quickly into the countryside and up into the hills. We mapped out a course, strapped on the GPS, and headed out. After a short steepish climb, we were pretty much following along a ridge with only moderate rolling, looking down on one side into built-up Bologna, and on the other at farmland. A steep down, another steep up, and we had a lovely descent back into the city. We tried to avoid the main road that we've been riding over on the bus thru the old part of the city, but one-way streets forced us onto it. Since most traffic is not allowed in that part of the city (locals and busses only), it wasn't too bad. One last gelato -- at the place David's been eyeing for days (he calls it the Gellateria of Our Lady in White) -- and back home. Dinner at the Trattoria Belle Arti - OMG!!!! the tortelloni with butter and sage and the melanazane (eggplant) stufa were fantastic. For sure, it was a net positive caloric day. And so, to bed. Tomorrow, we head to Perugia.