The three faces of Bologna: Red (la Rossa), Fat (La Grassa), Educated (la Dotta)

Bologna is undoubtedly the strategical node of Italy. Everywhere you go, from North to South and vice-versa, you have to pass through Bologna.

Here are some examples:

• South of Bologna: Florence, Tuscany, Rome, Naples, Sicily, beautiful sea & islands.

• North of Bologna: Milan, Venice, Turin, Parma, Genova, Cinque Terre, Verona, Padua, Mantua, Ravenna, Alps.

With rare exceptions, from South of Bologna to North of it, you stop in Bologna.

Over the centuries, this meant that Bologna was a crossroads of different populations, different cultures, customs and traditions, dialects and languages. This is reflected in the richness of the cuisine, in the creation of the University, in the field of art, architecture and sculpture.

Therefore, Bologna is a mix of all these features, so that it is called the town with different and complementary faces: the Red (Rossa), from the colours of the buildings and from the prevalence of the Communist Party; the Fat (Grassa) because of the rich and abundant cuisine, linked with a high level of life quality; and the Educated (Dotta), because of the University, the oldest in Europe, which dates back to 1089 AD.

There should be written many many words to describe this aspect of the town. However, surfing on the web, I found somebody who did it much better than I: Jessica's posts are definitely worth a reading. There are 3 posts about Bologna: La Grassa, La Dotta and La Rossa.

Enjoy!