Carlos'

Warming up to Bologna

Posted October 8th, 2009 by Carlos

I’ve just passed the one-month mark of my stay in Bologna and I must say I’m really warming up to it.

The summer is being very long this year, which means that midday and early afternoon up to the evening, we can relax in the sun. It was only a couple of days ago that I put my jumper on for the first time since I arrived, and that was only because the sun had set a few hours earlier, and last night I didn’t even have to and we stayed out until almost midnight.

One important aspect that this flat has over the one in Berlin is the amount of light that comes it. It certainly makes a difference to cook with natural light instead of that yellow overhead light. The other side-effect of being further south is the strength of the sun. If the day is sunny, it will be warm, if not outright hot. This makes it possible to have the windows and doors to the balcony open and a slow flow of air flowing during most of the day.

There are two things I still need to get used to though. The first is the opening times: most shops close too early and many close during lunch-time.

The second is the public transport: it is very limited and chaotic. Not being able to trust the departure times posted on the bus stops makes me a bit uneasy, specially if I have to plan for an arrival time. It’s not unusual to see two busses following each other doing the same route.

But this is all part of going south, so I have to get used to this and plan my day around early shop closing and unreliable transport.