Travel – Italy

Up until a few weeks ago, my principal experience of Bologna was rushing through the airport en route to the tiny village of Zibello where my sister-in-law is from. Little did I know that Bologna is a city of many faces and many names: “the fat one” (la grassa) in reference to its meat and cheese-heavy cuisine; “the learned one” (la dotta) in reference to its famous university; or “the red one” (la rossa), originally referring to the colour of the roofs in the historic centre, but later also connected to the city’s status as a bastion of socialism and communism after World War II.