Monday, May 9, 2011

Monday 9th May

If you work hard enough you can get Bologna to reveal a lot of secret places and sights that they don't tell you about. I think the Bolognese like to keep some things for themselves.
We had heard about the "Mercato Delle Erbe" in via Ugo Bassi, one of Bologna's main streets. But it was described as a market. We did not have its name. Supposedly this place houses a large undercover food market of  fruit and veg., meats, fish, oils, balsamic vinegar, breads, pastries and cheese of all types and styles. But we had walked this thoroughfare perhaps half a dozen times and you would think a market of this alleged size would stick out. But this one was secreted away in this main street at the back of an arcade and unless you knew its name you would bypass it. See entrance photo below.

It was full of all of those foods that we were told about and not another tourist in sight. We are only here in Bologna for another 4 days so we had to curtail Ann's food buying gene a little but we still had to take our purchases home before doing more discoveries.

An aisle in the market

I love plain olives

Ann in cheese, salami and other deli products buying mode.

We were then off to reveal other Bolognese secrets and although we claim some as new discoveries I am sure others have been before us. We found more churches with elaborate paintings and archways and columns, and one which we couldn't get into but with a 10th century facade nearly eroded away by time, we found rivers running under the town and its houses, we found historic houses with their porticos supported by ancient oak beams and we discovered coconut gelati - what a delight.

Columns and paintings inside the Bologna Cathedral


Eroded 10th Century facade


River running through the town and under houses


Ancient oak beam portico supports

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