18 Aug 2021 | Bologna > boarded our Dolomite Air flight from Munich 2 Bologna + the overhead speakers were blaring «i believe i can fly» by R Kelly + we was thinking obviously they didn't get the memo about R Kelly + then we were told there was a «very bad» mechanical problem + that we needed 2 switch planes . . . fortunately there was another jet next 2 us way out in the peripheral graveyard of Munich Airport > followed the smartly dressed flight attendant across the runway 2 new plane which was also playing «i believe i can fly» so apparently this is the official Air Dolomiti theme song > we flew over the Dolomites, partly clouded but cd still see snow capped peaks + rock formations + aqua green + blue alpine lakes > landed in Bologna > not much fanfare far as checking covid requirements, maybe cuz we snuck in the back door of Dolomite Air instead of a direct US carrier > in2 insanely fast typical taxi 2 our new digs in a few minutes > Air'b'n'b guy shows up on bicycle 2 show us in, 2 our new home away from home, 4 the next month @ least

> walked around a bit 2 stretch our legs 4 exorcise + 2 orient ourselves + do sum shopping 4 immediate needs . . . still smack in the middle of ferragosto so Bologna is a veritable ghost town which is nice 4 walking around but not good 4 eating out cuz most everything is closed > managed 2 find a place open (Pescheria Aldrovandi . . . thinking we're gonna list all the restraunts we eat @ here, see if we can eat @ every (decent) 1 in Bologna over the next 150 nights), started w/ alici fritte con piadina + then had fettuccine paglia e fieno con pesto trapanese e tartare di tonno crudo which was rather delicious (of course our bedder-½ had vongole) > waitstaff not wearing masks (going in + out of kitchen + restraunt) which was weird + tables packed together

new arm of Calamari Archive in Bologna

19 Aug> sorta slept, felt more like napping + then when we got up @ 5 am our body was thinking it was time 2 go 2 sleep > walked around sum more somewhat randomly thinking we shd do a systematic walking of every street in Bologna like we did w/ DC, Rome + NYC . . . problem is, there ain't no rhyme our reason 2 the streets of Bologna, not that there is in Rome but Rome was divided up into 22 riones 2 organize our walks > like clockwork, Bologna does have 12 porte (ports, or gates), so the area w/in the city wall is a dodecagon, so perhaps we'll do 12 walks, each focused on the area around that gate du jour . . . but 4 now we were just walking randomly letting ourselves get lost > 4 folks like us NYC rats who get used 2 a type of thinking keeping track of how many right + left turns u make 2 navigate it's ez 2 get lost in Bologna as more often than not a «block» is triangular shaped (each gate has a main road leading 2 the center) so u find yourself walking in triangular circles

> Bologna also has tons of porticos or arch-lined arcades > in fact (according 2 wikipedia):

No other city in the world has as many porticoes as Bologna: all together, they cover more than 38 kilometres (24 mi) only in the historic center, but can reach up 2 53 kilometres (33 mi) if those outside the medieval city walls are also considered. On account of their cultural and artistic significance, in 2021 the porticoes of Bologna have been declared an UNESCO World Heritage Site.

. . . wish UNESCO wouldn't of declared it a World Heritage Site (they just did a few weeks ago) as now all these tourists are gonna be flocking here > so maybe wheel organize our walks around the porticos . . . tho that wd only take us a few days > then again no matter how u slice it ain't much 2 Bologna, it's more of a town (2.5 km x 2.5 dodecagon) than a city, u can see it all in un giorno

all the ad spaces in Bologna have been replaced w/ user submitted art thanks 2 this Cheap Festival campaign,
whose purpose is 2 : «to contaminate the public space w/ art / contemporary visual language»

not quite like Venice but Bologna does have a canal or 2

leaning twin towers

> weather we document these walks remains TBD, or weather we even write here in glish . . . maybe we'll resort 2 deep diving in2 Italian, inklooting journeling hear on 5cense + maybe we won't take pictures neither, we've already taken plenty of Bologna, in 2012 (when we didn't use proper nouns so didn't name Bologna by name) + more recently in 2018 (when we were scouting Bologna as a place 2 live)

> weird 2 be like a rat in a routine 4 the last 1½ years + now suddenly be in a new environment > 4 starters trying 2 figure out the ins + outs of our immediate living environment (an air'b'n'b) . . like this morning, their idea of a «coffee machine» (which they had listed as an amenity) = a bialetti . . . you'd think after 3+ years living in Italy we wd of embraced it but truth is we can't stand Italian coffee, we don't like the beans + their way of making it, it ain't coffee, it's espresso > good thing we brought our one grinds + coffee sock (which essentially is just that, a sock that u put coffee grinds in2 + pour water thru) > there's lots of space in our new place + sum weird random furniture that we're trying 2 mix + match 2 figure out the best work environment > eventually we'll settle in2 a new routine + get back 2 working on Thriver meme > magari immergendoci nell'italiano ci daremo una nuova prospettiva su come usiamo l'inglese > or as Julio Cortázar says in Hopscotch (which we just started reading, starting w/ chapter 73 of course (we tried 2 read it once in Spanish before abandoning it)): «But 2 ask one's self if we will know how 2 find the other side of habit or if it is better 2 let one's self be borne along by it's happy cybernetics, is that not literature again?»

> we ate @ Ristorante Da Cesarina, had fiori di zucca then Bolognese, our bedder-½ had tortellini en brodo . . . just cuz those are the quintessential Bologna dishes . . . it was OK, not great, nice spot tho, 1 of our favorite squares (really a triangle) in Bologna > just nice 2 be able 2 eat outside + not get eaten alive + tho it was a hot day it cools down quicker by evening (as compared 2 DC)

where we're writing from #666

Aug 21> walked 2 Santuario Madonna di San Luca, the entire way under porticos > the portico snaking up the hill 2 the sanctuary alone is 3.8 km, the longest in the world + this portico has 666 vaulted arches . . . a snake w/ 666 ribs, make of that what u will > it was a bit crowded considering we're amidst a pandemic + the portico is semi-enclosed + every1 was huffing + puffing, sum running it 4 exorcise

666 arches up San 2 Luca