Bologna: a taste of Italy

Even though I know Bologna like the back of my hand, I still don't know where to begin a cross-section of the unique student life here. Maybe I should start with the city itself: its red roofs, its narrow lanes and its wide porticos? Or perhaps it would be better to describe the hidden churches or the little squares which open out unexpectedly among the houses…

No! Let's start with something more down-to-earth: a cornetto and cappuccino at Maurizio's, my favourite bar. Actually, the real protagonists of student life are the bars, where a day usually starts but also ends with an aperitivo or an after-dinner beer. Together with the piazzas, the (right) bars are the main meeting point. In fact, as I sit in Maurizio's my friend Carlo comes in. After having breakfast together, we decide to smoke our first cigarette of the day in the garden of the Faculty of Political Science.

Passing through high-ceilinged arcades, we arrive in a green courtyard with tall trees and an old fountain. Invisible from the outside, this is the private oasis of the students of Political Science.

After our break we have to decide where to spend our day studying. "Not at home, anyway" says Carlo, "or do you want to miss a chance to meet the man of your life?" In Bologna it is publicly acknowledged that reading rooms are the best place to pick someone up and Carlo wants to meet the beautiful blonde girl he saw two days ago in the reading room of the history department. But family planning is not the only motivation which draws students to the reading rooms. Bologna's houses can hold unpleasant surprises for the students occupying them. From the outside, their medieval structure is picturesque, but from the inside an unrenovated medieval house is just too old. On the other hand, prices are really "up-to-date" and most of the students have to share a room in order to afford the rent. And I'm sure you'll agree that there's no chance of immersing yourself in the mysteries of Macroeconomics if your roommate is a heavy metal fan...

Photo: Chiara Benassi

Italy is more than a holiday destination!

Luckily there is a wide choice of reading rooms, which can be categorized on a particular spectrum: at one extreme the ones where you are not even allowed to breathe and at the other, the ones where you can talk freely with your neighbours. The reading room where the blonde girl is supposed to be is unfortunately a serious one. But I don't mind.

No matter what students do during the day, the main part of student life comes later, between 6:30 and 9:30 pm. For the aperitivo all the students get out of the reading rooms and the lecture halls and go to the piazza or to their favourite bar. There, they meet their friends or get to know new ones, while sipping their spritz (Aperol or Campari with Prosecco) and standing in the street or under the arches of a portico. This is not only due to the need to "live the city as a social space" which is a fundamental part of the Italian life-style. In fact, the small size of the bars and the strict anti-smoking laws are also good reasons to make use of public spaces.

During the aperitivo students consider their options for the evening. Sometimes, the third spritz is fatal and the night is over as soon as you've drunk it. But today that doesn't happen to me. I have lost Carlo in the crowd but I have met others who I know pretty well, who agree with me that it is time for dinner. Shall we arrange a home-made dinner or go to a trattoria (an eating-place which is supposed to be cheaper than a proper restaurant)? Since we feel rich tonight, we decide to spend our money at Osteria dell' Orsa on some... spaghetti Bolognese? Not at all! You'll be surprised to hear that this "typical Italian dish" doesn't exist, at least in Bologna.

Instead of that we get some red wine and tagliatelle al ragù, which is the original version of the spaghetti Bolognese. Sitting at a table in this small trattoria, we wait for "the hour of the shades," chatting and drinking wine. Then the narrow lanes and piazzas become empty and silent and the porticos echo with our voices alone. Without students, Bologna turns into another city. But still a very, very charming one.