The City Beneath the Arches
That’s Bologna. A city unlike Florence, Venice, or Rome, offering a more intimate glimpse into everyday Italian life.
We first visited in 2024 and found ourselves drawn back for another month-long stay. This time, we rented the same apartment just steps from Piazza Maggiore, but unlike our first visit, we already felt at home in the neighborhood. What struck us immediately wasn’t a famous landmark or museum. It was the rhythm of daily life unfolding beneath Bologna’s endless porticos. Students hurried to class and nightlife, friends lingered over coffee and aperitivos, shoppers strolled beneath the arches, and diners gathered long after sunset.
We actually felt like we lived there. And Bologna felt lived in—a city where locals still outnumber visitors and where one of Europe’s oldest universities keeps the streets buzzing with energy.
Bologna is famous for its food and serves as an excellent base for exploring the rest of Italy by train. But it was the city’s atmosphere that stayed with us. Everywhere we looked, elegant porticos framed daily life, sheltering residents from the sun and rain while creating spaces where the city naturally comes together. On weekends, the main streets in the center of the city are limited to pedestrians only…. but watch out for those bikes!
Life Under the Porticos
Following are some of our favorite moments from a month spent beneath the arches. Every morning, we would stroll the 1/2 mile to our favorite pasticceria ( coffee house) where I would order two cappuccinos and two brioche - all in Italian. Occasionally one of the workers would correct me but they would almost always understand me. The two cappuccinos would be served at a separate bar inside and always accompanied with a shot of water - sometimes still, sometimes sparkling.
We would sit outside under the porticos and watch locals and tourists stroll by. Many times the porticos would be loaded with young students - usually 5-10 years old and many times numbering 25 or more making their way to the Piazza Maggiore.
Yes, the porticos are elegant but as you can see from the photos, they all vary in terms of style and beauty. I could never pass an upcoming portico without taking a photo - sometimes with people and sometimes just vacant. We quickly realized that the weather mattered very little in Bologna. Whether it was raining or sunny, the porticos made it possible to walk almost anywhere comfortably.
The thing that always caught my eye was the play between light and shadow - sometimes dramatic and other times just plain beautiful. The porticos are everywhere, unlike any other city. The longest is the portico to San Luca - it’s one of the longest in the world at roughly 2.5 miles - amazing!
Why Bologna is Italy’s Food Capital
And what about the pasta? Just amazing. Of course, every major restaurant offers Tagliatelle Bolognese on the menu and no, you cannot have the Bolognese ragu with spaghetti - only tagliatelle in Bologna. We enjoyed that so many times and regularly compared one version in one restaurant to another. They all, however, were exceptional. We never had one bad meal during the entire month.
Bologna is known for so many delicious foods. One of our favorite lunch spots was a Salumeria that offered the best mortadella in Bologna. We sat on high stools in a very busy narrow street and enjoyed a platter of various meats headlined with mortadella. It was always jam packed and you could always see what your neighbors were having and smell the aromas. The platter is shown above and the lunch spot without the crowds. Look how close the tables are!
The very cool thing is that you can see fresh pasta in store windows in many of the small streets off the Piazza Maggiore. There are many types visible in the shop windows but the most prevalent are tagliatelle and tortellini - tortellini in brodo is delicious. One restaurant in particular was a big hit for us. The restaurant named Diana is a very established gem serviced by wait staff dressed formally. Their tagliatelle is delicious and we usually followed that with one of their veal specialities. We learned in Bologna to split dishes as much as possible - there’s always a lot of food. The city, and this restaurant in particular is famous for its Amarena cherries preserved in a sweet syrup and scooped over rich, creamy gelato. What a treat!
And the tiramisu at Osteria Da Fortunata was the best we’ve ever tasted. We ordered it three times!
A Brief Escape to Florence
The trains in Italy are wonderful. We had our regimen fairly well orchestrated until we took the train to Florence. We inadvertently took the wrong train. One must always examine the train number and not just the train direction and platform. There were two trains at the same platform both heading in the same direction and we chose the wrong one. A simple 30 minute train ride to Florence turned into a 3.5 hour ride to Rome and back. Luckily a very kind and engaging high school student helped us correct our situation and obtain new tickets. He was fluent in English and extremely helpful.
After experiencing our small train mishap, we made it to Florence for just two nights. Florence is just so different from Bologna. It’s certainly a little bit more elegant than Bologna but very crowded with tourists. We’ve been to Florence many times so we didn’t focus on seeing many of the historical sights. Rather, we just enjoyed the wonderful ambience that Florence offers and spent two lovely days in the center of the city.
Our hotel was very close to the Arno River so I was able to capture many photos both day and night. It’s just such a beautiful city.
Venice, One More Time
Toward the end of our month in Bologna, we once again spent two nights in Venice. Venice to me is always such a beautiful and mysterious city with its many narrow streets and numerous canals and bridges. It’s perfect for stunning photography as long as one stays away from the heavily touristed areas. We were able to do just that because our hotel was on the other side of the Grand Canal opposite Piazza San Marco. It was easy to catch a Vaporetto - basically a water bus - from our hotel to other parts of the city.
Speaking of the vaporetto, I had a very scary incident on our last night in Venice on one of the late night vaporettos. We noticed some very suspicious looking guys waiting for the vaporetto with us. We boarded the boat which was jammed with people back to back. Right before our stop, I felt something in my back pocket and actually grabbed the hand of one of the suspicious men - his hand was in my pocket. Very scary and I was lucky that I had my wallet in my front pocket.
Aside from that incident, everything was wonderful in Venice. We spent our last dinner night at the St. Regis next to the canal and had a wonderful table right next to the water. The photo shows us at our table.
Final Reflections
This time, our experience in Bologna was somewhat different. We knew our way around extremely well and knew many of the establishments. One of our favorite pizza restaurants was directly across the street from our apartment and the wait staff knew and recognized us from our previous stay in 2024. Not only there, but also in our favorite aperitivo spot in the Piazza de’ Celestini, the staff recognized us as part of the family. There’s a photo showing Rich in the location. We went there almost every evening at about 5pm.
By the end of the month, we weren’t checking maps, looking for restaurants, or planning our next destination. We were simply living our daily routine in Bologna. That’s what made Bologna so different from Venice and Florence. It’s also why we continue to reflect on our time there long after returning home.
WANT TO SEE MORE OF ITALY THROUGH THE LENS?
View the full, high-resolution Bologna Photo Gallery on my photography site.