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First impressions last, we’re told and I surely hope it to be true. Bologna delivered right out of the gate. Granted, we have merely scratched the surface what with only having stepped off the train a few hours ago, but this is, again, about first impressions. In a nutshell, this city has a pulse that defies its relative obscurity. With a plethora of heavily frequented pedestrian areas, it has a historic district that has strolling, socializing and eating and drinking out in its DNA. While I love the city from which we hail, Vancouver, with its majestic surroundings, mild climate etc., it currently cannot compare to Bologna in terms of getting people out onto the streets. Yes, it’s Saturday night here and it’s expected to be busier than, say, Wednesday morning, but it is energizing to see this many people casually milling about. I see many hours and beverages slipping away on patios. Add a day trip or so and I don’t expect us having any problems spending a week here.

Where we did not spend any time (and a small part of me think we did it this way on purpose) was Pisa. We weren’t able to fly directly from Cagliari on Sardinia to Bologna so we flew into Pisa. And when you go to Pisa you have to go and see… Well, we didn’t. If it was on principle or if it was because we had been up since 5am and had very little desire to either hump our luggage through town or better, stash them in some locker at the train station, we will never know. We skipped it to get to our destination instead as quickly as Trenitalia would carry us, which was about 300km/h. Since Bologna has (a rather rustic-looking, admittedly) leaning tower as well, I think we’re good on that front now.

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Meredith at Via dell’Indipendenza in Bologna.

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