Welcome to Bologna! Bologna houses the oldest university in the world, founded in 1088 I believe. As such, this city has a very obvious and fun loving university atmosphere. The first thing that I noticed upon arriving in the city (after a day spent taking the wrong train in the opposite direction to Torino) is the porticos. There are porticos and covered walkways just about everywhere that you go in Bologna. It’s so gorgeous. It’s refreshing not to have to bolt in and out of doorways and bus stops when it’s raining like people do here in Paris. Lord knows rain is toxic, stains your clothing, and negatively alters your mood. I don’t see why people have such issues with rain. But I digress.

Wandering around the porticos, cobblestone streets, weaving around some very old school cathedrals, and smelling food around every corner was pretty freaking nice. Our first day was rainy but that did not make the city any less amusing. Alyssa, my sweet tarte de pomme friend from Denver who is studying abroad in Bologna for the year, was kind enough to escort us around her city. She lead us around the enormous outdoor market, a hand basket full various pretty locations, the best meat and cheese shops, which as you can imagine, had me drooling. Bologna is considered the food capital of Italy and as such I was proudly incapable of finding anything negative to say about what I ate. I had the best apple I’ve ever eaten, no question. I also had the best gelato which was the richest, creamiest, finest chocolate and hazelnut infusion which kissed my mouth, messaged my throat, and bear hugged my stomach = orgasmic. Now I’m drooling again. And the pizza, well, the pizza was glorious. I’m sure Alyssa’s palate is that of a gourmet critic at this point. Nommm nom.

After meeting a number of Alyssa’s friends in what ressembles an Auberge Espanole type of housing situation, I began noticing how drunk the city is with students. There were Germans, Frenchies, Spaniards, Austrians, Americans, Italians, Dutch, and tons more from all brands of life. As many universities and institutions that Paris has, she has no where near what I would call a thriving student life like the one in Bologna. Yes, there are students everywhere and student bars and cafés, but I still don’t get that student vibe. Perhaps Paris is too diverse to notice or maybe my own bar hopping agenda has lead me astray from the student life. In Bologna, it was obvious and it was cool. And yes, one of these pictures does say “Canabis Protectio.” God bless the original university town, right?