città
Owning a bike is integral to life in Bologna and each bicycle lives many lives. They say you get a new bike once a year as you will certainly get your bike stolen. Though the bike will then be sold to another person, I can assure you, they will love it as much as you did…until it is again stolen from them and the cycle continues. Bikes are people's pride and their passion for them shows in the countless bike workshops operating throughout the city, thanks to which even the most ancient of bikes still run and populate the city streets. Which adds immensely to the charm.
On the most ordinary of days Bologna maintains a cinematic quality but especially so during the annual “Cinema Sotto le Stelle” (Cinema Under the Stars) Festival in Piazza Maggiore. The event brings all the Bolognesi out nightly for the entirety of July and August to watch incredible movies from all eras. The huge screen unites all the film fanatics, which almost everyone is, given the incredible relationship Italy has with cinema. It was easy to feel like you were in scene from Cinema Paradiso.
But Bologna can offer intimate moments too. Be it musicians playing on the corner of an alley or secret dancing in Piazza Maggiore. One night I stumbled upon a crowd, dancing in couples with their eyes closed, to beautiful traditional Mazurka music. The soft steps of the dance were quiet and the town was deserted. The whole scene seemed fleeting and magical.
Another secret of Bologna I came across was a little known Renaissance sculpture found in Santa Maria della Vita oratory by Niccolò dell'Arca. Depicting the Lamentation of Christ, the sculpture is unusual for its time showing vivid intimacy of emotion. The figure of Mary Magdalene is especially poignant as it conveys a sobering pain, her gown ruffles in the wind as she runs to be beside the fallen body of Christ.
Though only the 7th largest city in Italy the variety of events taking place makes Bologna especially attractive to people from all walks of life. During my stay I was lucky enough to meet and make friends with artists, gallery owners, a Paralympian, a philosopher, actors, gay activists, bike activists, and many others from all over the world. I was never sitting at home expecting the world outside to stay the same. I don't know where I got the energy, whether it was the people, place, or combination of both. But I am very happy that I soaked up as much of it as I could and brought it back with me to Bristol.
BY MIRIAM SADOWSKA