Bologna v. Florence

We have now spent about two weeks in Florence, which is exactly how much time we spent in Bologna. That makes this a good time for a special edition blog post comparing our experiences of these two Italian cities. We have invented the following categories and list them in no particular order. Who will win: Bologna, or Florence?

1. Walkability.

These are two reasonably-sized cities that are both excellent for walking. In either one, you can pretty much get anywhere on foot, and spend your walk on beautiful narrow cobblestone streets passing by old churches and piazzas and adorable, inviting spots to eat and drink.

But Bologna has porticos on almost every single street. The porticos are gorgeous, every one different, and the sidewalks below them are wide. It never seemed as if there was much car traffic in Bologna: many of the downtown streets were closed for pedestrians only on weekends, and there was always lots of room for walking.

By contrast, the sidewalks in Florence are, on average, about 12 inches wide, so everyone (and by everyone, I mean a huge number of people because this city is overpacked) has to walk in single file or go into the equally narrow street, where cars and vespas and bicycles and scooters are traveling at high speed. It's harrowing.

Michelle: Bologna. Lisa: Bologna (no contest! I often come home from the Florence walks feeling traumatized!)

2. Views from high places.

Bologna is flat, and the river and canals are, for the most part, beneath the city streets. Florence has the Arno River flowing through it and a series of bridges that connect the two sides. On the outskirts along the river is a hill you can climb and look out over the entire city from the piazza on top (of course, there are tourist booths and con artists on top trying to convince you to place a bet on their shell game). You can also take a bus ride up an even bigger hill, even further away, to the town of Fiesole. Climb up to the top of the hill from there and look out over Florence in the distance and the green fields and trees and vineyards and yellow ochre homes and buildings of wider Tuscany.

Michelle: Florence. Lisa: Florence.

3. Food.

Who can complain here? The food is astonishingly good everywhere. Bologna is famous even in Italy for its food--that's why it's call the "fat" city. But the menus are extremely uniform in Bologna: pizza, pasta, prosciutto. We sometimes ate near the university where we could find more variations. In Florence, the menus are more varied and they have a number of local specialities: Florentine tripe, various kinds of bread and tomato or vegetable soups, Florentine steak, etc. This city specializes in making lots of "poor" foods delicious and takes pride in never wasting leftover food or parts of the animal.

Michelle: Florence, just barely. Lisa: Bologna (food in Florence is good, but I've also had some mediocre meals.... not so in Bologna)

4. Vibe.

Bologna has a huge university and the city was filled with students, mostly but not exclusively Italian. Every time we were on the streets we felt surrounded by Italians with a few tourists sprinkled in. It felt youthful and dynamic but also unpretentious and inviting.

In Florence, it seems as if 8 out of every 10 people on the street are tourists, and 4 out of those 8 are American. There is a university here too, and plenty of students, but mostly these seem to be American students studying abroad. Even though it's October, and beyond peak tourist season, every single street feels crowded.

Michelle: Bologna, by a mile. Lisa: Bologna (too many tourists in Florence... it's hard to find the "real" Italy)

5. Art.

There is a reason all these tourists are in Florence.

Michelle: Florence. Lisa: Florence (two words: The David)

6. Dog poop.

Sure, not the category you were expecting. In Bologna, everyone picked up after their dog. We even saw one woman pouring from her water bottle after her dog peed on the sidewalk to wash it away. In Florence, almost no one picks up after their dog, judging by the quantity of dog poop on the sidewalks.

Michelle: Bologna. Lisa: Bologna (again, no contest)

TOTALS: Bologna 7, Florence 5.