Mini Bologna Excursion

Yesterday morning a friend and I headed to Bologna for the day. We took the 8:00 am bus from Urbino, then the 9:12 train from Pesaro, and finally arrived in Bologna Centrale around 11:20. When we arrived, we were not exactly sure about what to do or where to go. We headed out of the train station, and when we spotted a McDonald’s we got way too excited; it was necessary to stop there and enjoy the NYCrispy before going on with out little adventure.
We ventured out into Bologna, and when we saw the giant arch that led into the main part of the city, we knew we were on the right track. As we were walking we noticed that there was a giant market going on, as there usually is in every town in Italy on Saturdays. We made our way into the thick crowd and eyed up everything that there was. There were the things that we normally see in the markets such as cheap clothing, socks, kitchenware, and the like, but this market also had some more interesting things that what I’ve seen in Urbino, Rimini, and Pisciotta; there were was a whole section of items that were geared towards the younger crowd and the rocker/scene/hippie/rasta crowd. Some areas even had signs that said pictures were not allowed to be taken. The items were tempting, but I knew that I shouldn’t waste my money on them. The market was a bit too crowded for my liking, and we kept getting jostled about. After navigating through the mass of Italians and other tourists, we decided to check out the other shops in the area. Being girls, we kept going into every make up, profumeria, clothing, and show store that we saw. We couldn’t help; we’d just look at one another and guiltily head into the store. Somehow we managed to escape without buying much of anything. We continued walking around Bologna, just taking random turns here and there, and somehow managed to end up back in the center where the market was. We don’t know how it happened, but we were glad it did since it was getting close to catching our train back and we weren’t sure when how we would get back. We even ran into some sort of protest that was going on! We think it was about the rights (or lack there of) of incoming immigrants from African countries. Heading towards the train station, we walked into a book sale tent. It was essentially an outdoor book store with great prices. II saw a huge book on the history of Juventus and was two seconds away from getting it when I realized that it would have really weighed down my luggage; I walked away from it sseverelyy disappointedd andd upset A few minutes later I spied a book on the Venetian dialect though that was much smaller and barely weighed anything. Since I already have books on Sicilian, the Napoletana dialect, I figured why not add to the collection? It was really good quality and only eight euro. I couldn’t resist and was happy with my purchase even though I was still a bit upset that I couldn’t buy the Juventus book.Before we went to the train station we stopped to refuel and had a pizza wrap (something more like a hot pocket than a calzone) and some coffee. When we finally got onto the train, it was packed. For the first half-hour of the trip back, we could not sit. Eventually, a few seats opened up and we were able to sit. There was an old man sitting there with us, and I found him to be a bit intriguing right away simply because when my friend sat down across from him, he asked her in Italian if she could move next to him and across from me because his legs were too long. He then spoke in English, when he realized we weren’t Italian, with quite an odd accent. We understood his Italian, but he continued to speak to us in English. She obliged and moved over to her new seat. He seemed interested in where we were from and asked us about our studies and whatnot. He went into saying how he was retired but then started working again because his company wanted him back because he’s “Specialized in Middle Eastern relations” even though he doesn’t think he is. He went on to ask more questions about our studies and languages and where we’ve been and how he’s been all over the world. We discovered that he was originally from Holland, but now lives in a town in Italy with his wife. It through me off a bit though when I told him that I had studied Swahili a while back. He looked a bit confused and asked what for? Becky went on to help me out by saying that there are many immigrants from Uganda in England who would need interpreters, but then he cut her off saying that they have nothing to say. I wasn’t quite sure how to feel about that. Afterwards, when he found out my boyfriend was Turkish, he went on to say that Istanbul is a beautiful city and he’s been there about forty times or so on business and that he would rrecommendit to anyway for a vacation. He was a very interesting man, but seemed to be very know-it-all, would try to correct the way I would say some Turkish words, even though I know for a fact that they were pronounced correctly, and just seemed like he was a person who thought highly of himself. Even so, he was an interesting old man. I’ll give him that. I wish that one day I’ll be able to travel to as many places as he has.
When my friend and I finally arrived in Pesaro, we were about a half an hour early for our bus, so we purchased some snacks and waited. I got some potato chips that were “pollo roasted,” and they tasted exactly like roasted chicken. I don’t know what I was expecting, but it was not that. I was just pleasantly surprised, I guess. After about another hour and a half, we finally arrived in Urbino, and being exhausted, passed out not too long afterwards.