I finally managed just a few of days out of Venice…one of which I spent in Bologna, indulging in Mimma’s cooking, and running a few errands in the center, something I never have time for a Venezia. Mary Tolaro-Noyes, (http://www.noyesfamily.com) who’s been compiling a Bologna guide, is there for the fall, and she came for the meal and the wandering both. She asked if I’d seen the recent library relocation and renovation, and I had not…what a treat!

Since December 2001, the Bologna’s central library has been housed in the Sala Borsa, just off Piazza Maggiore at the Neptune statue, opposite Palazzo Re Enzo. It’s a beautiful renovation, and an excellent example of how Italian architecture regularly succeeds in integrating ancient history with contemporary purpose. Once inside, with the purchase of a tessera (pre-paid card) you can use the banks of computers for Internet access, or if you have a laptop, even connect wirelessly from anywhere on the upper two floors. There are also retail shops and two cafes, making it all the more inviting if the weather’s intemperate.

Mary lent me her camera to snap these photos, and here’s an excerpt from Time and Again in Piazza Maggiore in her guide (yet to be published - any takers?):

“The Sala itself has a long and remarkable history, evidenced first by the ruins of the ancient city visible through the transparent flooring in the library’s stunning piazza coperta. On a tour of the excavations below (get information there or at the tourist office on Piazza Maggiore), you can experience the elements of the Roman Bononia, the wall of its ancient basilica, the imprint of wheel-tracks on the stony pavement from the age of Augustus, and the remains of even later medieval streets and structures. There are underpinnings of the colossal, cruciform tub of the Orto dei Semplici (Garden of Medicinal Herbs), cultivated there from the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries. Prior to that, the building had served as the stable for the Papal Legate’s quarters, but the its current name comes from its use as a commodities trading center in the nineteenth century. It metamorphosized yet again in the 1960s as Bologna’s first basketball court!”

Bologna, a contemporary city in medieval setting, is too often overlooked by travelers in my opinion. Although it is well-marked and well-organized, it is not designed just for the tourist, and as such, it might be a more adventurous traveler who enjoys it most. However, I can’t imagine any regrets…the food alone would be worth a stopover.