Sala Borsa

In Bologna's main square, Piazza Maggiore, there are a whole lot of old, semi-famous things. There is the basilica where the coronation of the Holy Roman Empire's Charles V took place, the palazzo that became the prison of Prince Enzo, a stone eagle carved by a young Michelangelo, and the list goes on. Much newer is the Sala Borsa. Its outer shell is suitably medieval, but inside, it is a modern library that just opened in 2001. In fact, it is the largest open-shelf library in all of Italy. It is also one of my favorite places in Bologna.

When you walk into the main hall, it's a bit like walking into a train station from the late 19th century. It's one big open space, like a modern hotel atrium, ringed by walkways on three levels, all framed by elaborate ironwork. The ceiling is a combination of woodwork and colorful painting. It's hard to tear your eyes away, but the best architectural element of the Sala Borsa is actually beneath your feet. The floor is clear glass, through which you can see the ancient Roman ruins of the city. It's amazing to get such a close-up, birds-eye view. Living in a medieval city, I'm no longer impressed by anything new enough to have four digits in the date, but walking on top on Roman ruins is surreal.

The Sala Borsa is usually crowded. While that's not always ideal for my personal use, I think it's nice that people actually use the library. Bologna is a huge university town, and students flock to the Sala Borsa for their study rooms, but pretty much every age group is represented in the comfortable chairs scattered throughout the collections. In addition to all the Italian reading material, they also have a large English language collection. I only just got my library card Saturday night, but I can't wait to start using it!

Also, thanks to everyone who has sent me so much mail lately! I love it, and my blank wall is filling up, slowly but surely, with your lovely cards.

Blogging: Bigger and Better

While I may not have been blogging much here, I did manage to squeeze out a post for the SAIS Bologna admissions blog. The writing is a bit over the top. That's what happens at 2 am after a night of studying structural realism.

You can read it here.

There's also a picture of me petting a lion. That's getting to be a theme, although Ravenna is a far cry from the banks of the Zambezi.

Oh, I was also in a film a while back.

You can watch it here.

Author, film star, to what corner of internet fame will the SAIS BC admissions blog take me next?

Everyday Surprises

As a matter of expediency, I take the same route to school everyday. By now one would assume I was intimately familiar with the neighborhood, and yet it never fails to surprise me. Walking home today, for example, I saw something that I had never noticed before.

 I was stopped at a crosswalk, waiting for the light to change. The scene was familiar. Lots of concrete, a few rogue leaves blowing in the wind, cars, scooters and bikes all whizzing past rows and rows of post-war apartment blocks (sorry to ruin your romanticized image of Italy). The ground level of the apartment buildings are all taken up by shops, their names prominently displayed on canopies. I glanced across the intersection I was at. The apartment building looked better suited to mid-century Miami than medieval Bologna, and a large, cosmic mural screamed nineties. I looked away. The light was still red. I looked back. White letters spelled out "Macelleria" on a navy blue background. There was a butchery inside, fine, nothing to get excited about. I stifled a yawn. "Equina" the letters went on. "Hmm," I thought. That's unusual signage. There are macellerias and trattorias and lavaseccos and tabacchis on every corner, but equina? What could that be?

A large window display explained it. There, next to the entryway, was a life-size photo of the backside of a zebra. "Macelleria Equina" is a horse butchery.

Steak, anyone?

Pagliaccia at Pagliacci

By now, you're probably aware that when I go long periods without posting I'm not actually dead, I'm just busy. Schoolwork keeps me occupied from dawn til dusk these days (only slight hyperbole), but I left Via Belmeloro 11 before dark yesterday because I had another obligation. My roommate's boyfriend got us all tickets to the opera!

It was my first ever opera performance, and it was spectacular. I was really lucky, because there were English subtitles, played on a large screen above the stage. So even though I hadn't had time to read the synopsis beforehand, I was still able to follow along. It was a bit of a trick to balance the time I spent reading with the time I spent actually watching and enjoying the performance, but I managed well enough. Besides, I would have been just as happy to listen to the music and ignore the story entirely. There was a full orchestra, and the music alone was worth the trip.

Anyways, the performance was actually two short operas, Cavalleria Rusticana and Pagliacci, separated by an intermission. As is typical of Italian opera, they were both high on drama and tragedy. As my roommate pointed out, everyone dies in the end. And so they did, with great music. I can't wait to go back!