Today I visited the city of Modena, home of Luciano Pavoratti! The trip is just thirty minutes by train and costs just three euros. I arrived having no idea how to get into the city so I just followed the crowd. At each intersection they divided, so I followed the larger group. I would up at a carousel! So much for the wisdom of crowds! To be fair, it was near the city center.From there, I was able to locate the cathedral, which was begun in 1099 but not completed for a couple of hundred years. It's a gorgeous gothic structure. They were holding services when I entered the church, so I sat for a while and soaked up the experience. By comparison, the University of Modena is a relatively recent addition (1175).
The cathedral was part of a tour for local school children. Many of the boys - they were around ten years of age - were very excited about a carving on the church's facade. For a moment, just a moment, I gave the Italians undue credit for raising boys of such sensitivity. My skepticism got the better of me and I checked out the carving myself: note man hitting other man with stick. Boys will be boys.I then hopped the train back to Bologna where I found a small door to an osteria off a side street on the way to my office. I was shocked to find a capacious interior filled with elderly German tourists -- at least forty in all. When I checked the Internet guide books, I found that they all describe this place as a "hip student hangout" that only the locals know about. Pizza was good nonetheless -- okay great. I love this hot olive oil concept.
Tuesday must be earring day on the corner by the towers. Funny thing though, all of the earring vendors use umbrellas and camera tripods to display their wares. Pretty ironic that I had just been teaching recombination and innovation to my students who come more to life each day.Umbrella + tripod = earring stand. QED.
For dinner, I went to a small trattoria hidden down below a fancy place one block from the fish alley. I had bean soup and some polenta. Very nice. Nicer still was that the place is run by a cute husband wife team. They work very hard but seem to find joy in one another. As I read a book, I watched the ebb and flow of love and tension, support and laughter between these two. I was happy to give them the opportunity to shar
e a laugh at the expense of the book reading American who ate two appetizers for dinner, didn't finish his wine, neglected to make a reservation, and paid with a credit card that shows a picture of his wife and children (is it real?). This same American learned earlier today that I should not run through the streets of Bologna. I should walk to the park and then run in the park. That is the purpose of the park. It is not the purpose of the city. The city is the place to walk. I was not admonished. I was simply told. I can now say (with almost a straight face) that learning to navigate the Italian culture isn't a walk in the park.
