Agriturismo, Ravenna, and other highlights

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So, it looks like I left off with the pipistrello in my last post, which was two whole weeks ago! The last two weeks have been absolutely jam-packed, so it’s going to be a struggle to get everything down in this one post, but I’ll try.

I’ll start off with Wednesday the 12^th. This was an amazing day. In the morning, we had a guided tour of some specific historical sites in Bologna. My personal favorite was the Teatro Anatomico, where UniBo medical students used to watch dissections take place. The room is made entirely of wood, which we were told was because it acts as a perfume that makes the room smell better after all the dead bodies. And you thought you were going to be reading about fine wines and pasta. Don't worry, you will!

Teatro Anatomico. (Photo credit to Alexandra Utter)

           After our tour of Bologna, we participated in a little “agriturismo” (agro-tourism) courtesy of our program. They bussed us up a big hill to a beautiful vineyard with the most amazing views of the countryside.

Le ragazze di Chicago (Photo Credits top and bottom to the IU-BCSP Facebook page)

Then we had a tour of the vineyard and learned how wine was made. After that, we learned to make fresh pasta of all different types, including tortellini. I finally figured out that tortelloni and tortellini are the same thing, it’s just that tortelloni are larger. Duh!

Friday was also pretty sweet. Instead of having our normal morning Italian class, we went and had a picnic at a park on hill overlooking Bologna. It was something of a hike but the views were so worth it.

Check these out: 

Dear Mom, I had this picture taken just for you! That's Bolognese Queen Anne's lace I'm holding.

Saturday was our trip to Ravenna! Ravenna is another medieval city (like Bologna) that is about an hour away by train. It is a city of great art-historical significance, because it has a number of well-preserved early Christian mosaics and architecture of Byzantine influence. I had first learned of Ravenna way back in junior-year of high school, so it was great to get to see the stuff in person.

Also, Dante is buried in Ravenna. That's right. Dante. 

            Another highlight that comes to mind is Wednesday of this past week. We didn’t have class in the morning, which meant that I got to hang out at Cindy’s apartment and watch Harry Potter dubbed in Italian on Tuesday night. In the afternoon, we went to a (truthfully, very boring) meeting for Americans studying in Bologna. After that, though, we went to the Sala Borsa library for a tour of the Sala Borsa Roman ruins.

            The Sala Borsa library is Bologna’s public library. I had gotten my library card about a week before this, but I had yet to actually set foot in the building.

            So, no big deal or anything, but the Sala Borsa library is built on top of Ancient Roman ruins. The floors on the ground floor are transparent, allowing visitors to see the ruins below their feet. You can also take a tour below ground to see the ruins up-close. 

P.S: Pictures are worth a thousand words! Here is a link to my flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/hfdavis/