Exploring Bologna in the early morning I see the leftovers from the night before. Couples stumbling home after pulling an all-nighter at the clubs, empty wine bottles strewn all over the alleyways, homeless people blearily waking up from their temporary bed in the archway of a portico and stray cats winding their way through the narrow lanes. All of this will be gone before 7am and the streets will be swept clean, fresh for the new day.
I enjoy this time of day before the city wakes up. It’s only me and the city workers prowling through the piazzas. The vegetable and fish markets are preparing their stalls for early morning buyers and deliveries are dropped off before the traffic is gridlock.
The homeless population is prevalent here and I tire of being asked for money while I’m sitting on the patio of the patisserie where I’m having my morning croissant and tea. Since being in Italy I’ve noticed there are quite a few immigrants and refugees but this is the first time I’ve been repeatedly asked for spare change. It doesn’t detract from the beauty of the place but I wonder why it’s different here than other parts of the country I’ve been to.
Today is all about seeing a few sights, people watching in Piazza Maggiore and having a long drawn out lunch while reading my book at Osteria Torre Alberici. And of course there will be gelato! Despite only being here for two weeks thus far, I can see a change in my mindset. I would never have a glass of wine with lunch but here it feels appropriate. I would normally never eat dinner after 6pm but I don’t give it a second thought if I eat after 8pm now. I appreciate that Italians seems to enjoy the better things in life…wine, food, and family.
I see groups of foreign young people sightseeing and I think,
They’re just kids! Their parents let them travel on their own?
And then I realize, they’re probably in their early 20’s and that’s what I looked like when I went to Australia for a year with my two friends. At least now it’s easy to keep in touch. When I went, internet was barely a thing and I would ring my mom collect once a month to let her know I was alive. I can’t imagine how nerve wracking that was for our parents. Us halfway around the world and no idea where or what we were up to (a lot of drinking and hitchhiking was involved).
A lazy afternoon of reading, blogging and editing photos. Tomorrow I’m taking a day trip to Ferrara as the architecture is supposed to be beautiful and it’s less busy than Bologna.
