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Surprises, Music, Lots Of Food In Italy's Bologna

Roberto Taddeo
/
Flickr
The Piazza Maggiore, in Bologna, at night. By day, a bustling scene of street musicians, pedestrians, tourists and diners.

Bologna, Italy, was an early home to higher education and music in Europe -- and it remains an epicenter of both. That's where we find KPLU travel expert Matthew Brumley for this week's edition of Going Places.

We reach him sitting in the Piazza Maggiore, which looks at the Basilica di San Petronio and the Palazzo d'Accursio. It's in the palazzo that you'll find one of Bologna's great surprises.

"You walk in, and the floor is glass," he said. "You look down, and you realize you're walking over Roman ruins that are over 2,000 years old -- you're looking down into an old palazzo from the first century."

The musical heritage here isn't that old, but it's still steeped in rich history. You'll find portraits here of Antonio Vivaldi, Gioachino Rossini, Giuseppe Verdi and more. The great conductor Arturo Toscanini lived nearby, in Parma. Luciano Pavarotti hailed from in Modena.

Credit Provided by Matthew Brumley
Musician Gianluca Cutaia, with Matthew Brumley in Piazza Maggiore, in Bolgona.

"Bologna has one of the most important museums of musical instruments," Brumley said. "We saw instruments from the ninth and tenth century."

The International Museum and Library of Music also has manuscripts dating back to the eleventh century and newer. 

Music is woven into the fabric of this city. And while we're talking a street musician named Gianluca Cutaia walks by and, once flagged down by Brumley, begins to play. [Listen to the audio above to hear a little.]

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"Going Places" is KPLU's weekly exploration of travel topics. Matthew Brumley is the founder of Earthbound Expeditions on Bainbridge Island, which provides small group travel to clients including KPLU.

Ed Ronco is a former KNKX producer and reporter and hosted All Things Considered for seven years.