Italia 2009 Part I

One of the greatest advantages of working at a school where the kids actually do work is that we get plenty of breaks; both religious and secular. Currently we are on a two week long mid-year break, and so it was time for me to return to Italy. I began and ended my trip in Bologna with a short trip to Florence in-between, and a bout of food poisoning (technically water poisoning) at the end. But first, a bit about Bologna. Nicknamed "Il Rosso" both for its red roofs and the Communist political leanings of its inhabitants, Bologna is one of the oldest cities in Italy and has changed hands many times with each major change in power the region has undergone. It is primarily a college town, but the students there are far more tame than their American counterparts. In the first few days I discovered that the museums are free (for the most part) and that they have no problem with people taking photographs of their greatest works, so long as you do so "senza flash."

I explored the City Art Collection in the town's City Hall building (they refer to it as the Palazzo d'Accursio after one of the more famous leaders who presided there) and found quite a few beautiful treasures, though regrettably that was the one day I forgot to bring my camera with me. I wound up returning to the other museum I visited that day because some of its collection was just too awe-inspiring to miss: the Museo Civico Archaelogico. From the bust of Nero to Grecian heroes this place had an amazing collection of marble, plus bones and other archaelogical artifacts including several very creepy skeletons (by the way, I want it on the back of my headstone that I am never to be put in a museum!) and some random items from the invasions of Celts, among other things.

Their Attic collection and the items from the Certosa necropolis were particulary amazing, with gold jewelry that was so exquisite it was hard to believe it was from the 7th century b.c.