This finest city merits more than just a one-night visit. Bologna (pop. 422 000) has gardens, museums parks, fine buildings, churches and miles of shopping streets and don't forget the great food. Sometimes called "Bologna the fat" this city is a great place to indulge yourself. Other names for Bologna include "Bologna the learned" and "Bologna the red." The first refers to the presence of the oldest still existing university in Europe, founded in 1088 AD. The presence of the university is quite noticable, in terms of cultural activities, bars, and general life. "Bologna the red" officially refers to the red roofs of the city. If you climb the Torre degle Asinelli you can see it for yourself. However, the intellectual left had also a strong presence in Bologna, which could be another explanation of the name.
The city is alive and it is changing from year to year. It has known quite a turbulent past. In the fascist era, some awful buildings were planted in the city. Moreover, the area around the train station was bombed extensively during the war and some of the beautiful nineteenth century houses were lost. Fortunately, Bologna is actively restoring it past and these past twenty years have been good ones. In the year 2000 Bologna was a European Cultural Capital.