Bologna's Piazza Maggiore

If you've even ever been on a guided tour in Bologna, you already know that Piazza Maggiore is where all tour guides choose to begin. If you haven't visited Bologna, then you're in for a treat - the essence of your tour begins with the palazzi that surround the Piazza Maggiore, which offer hundreds of years of history, art and power it still commands from hundreds of thousands of tourists each year. From this spot, you'll catch a glimpse of the still-unfinished yet architecturally inspiring Basilica of San Petronio and the wide, made-for-watching-over-the-city steps that surround it. The arcaded streets of the "old" Bologna, which peek through the veils of modern transportation corridors, were laid out by the Romans in 2nd century BC and still offer plenty of rugged durability - in appropriate misnomer for the Piazza Maggiore as well.

Piazza Maggiore is the lifeblood, the center, the heart of Bologna. But without a trip to the city, many never truly appreciate what the city has to offer. It is rare to find a simple place to sit and let the world play out before your eyes, yet you can do that here; in fact, you're expected to. Whether its from the Basilica steps or from the Piazza S. Martino coffee house (a new type of coffee bar that also offers cocktails and a tearoom, telephone # 262620) there's always a new stage from which to watch (and act) with new, vibrant players - the glorious Bolognese.

Guide books depicting this fabulous city often fail to capture its true flavor. They discuss its history and analyze the architecture, placing each and every building and structure more than 20 years old into categories to minimize the amount of personal analysis you'll have to subject your fellow travelers to. Yet few of these books, if any, capture the most exciting part about Bologna - its people, with a population at 412,000 strong. A rich tapestry, woven with threads created from individual personalities and the stories of Bologna natives, links generation to generation. It is this proverbial tapestry that has formed the thick blanket of welcoming that hangs ethereally, gracefully over the citizens of and visitors to Bologna. The tight-knit community embraces tourists warmly and openly into their community and offer more homestyle food, open-air markets and general joviality than anywhere else in Italy.

HOW TO GET THERE:

Bologna rests within a fertile Italian plain at the base of the Apennine Mountains. Since it rests at the center of a railroad network that linked the ancient roads of Milan, Florence, Genoa and Venice, you'll find train transportation fairly useful. If you're more interested in driving, however, then follow these directions for the most direct routes:

The main motorway connection into Bologna is the Autostrada del Sole, also known as the A1. This route links Bologna directly to and from Milan, Florence and Rome and a few other major routes.

The A1 can be entered:
From the Turin-Brescia at A21
From the Genoa-La Spezia at A15 from Parma
From the Brenner-Verona, after the A22, at Modena
From the Venice-Padua, however, the A13 road is direct, and so it the A14 from Ravenna and Ancona-Rimini.

All the autostrata exits lead into the city bypasses, and from here you'll branch into all sorts of off-roads. Be sure to pay attention to signs - they are frequent and plentiful. (Hooray!) The most direct bypass exit into Bologna is the N9; follow the signs to reach Centre and you'll hit the Viale Berti Pichat -- take a left and you're there.

For more information about Bologna, visit Area Guides.net. Photo courtesy of www.smart.it.