September 26th, 2002 | The lowdown by Nissa Cannon

Entering Eden.

Flying into Bologna is like stumbling upon Eden from above. The plane I take from London flies low, so that I see the roofs of each city across France, the carefully planned agriculture of countryside, the snow covered mountains and dry plains, and then, an unexpected river valley of polite hills and little red-roofed towns nestled in the foothills. One moment I see near-desert, the next a blanket of clouds, and then this paradisical land of green and red and mysterious glitterings of golden roofs or small lakes.

Finally, at the biggest of these entrancing cities we pass over, the plane begins its slow descent, over Modena, and into Bologna, coming to rest in an impossibly green field, on what looks more like a large parking lot than an airport.

Customs is very?Italian. After noticing that I?m standing at the back of an unmoving line, an official calls me over to a (previously closed window), takes my passport, and stamps it, without even bother to look and see if the picture on it matches my own. I can?t complain?I am here at last.

My first thoughts of Bologna are that it?s more modern than the medieval city I thought I was arriving in, but this begins to change as we approach the city center. Suddenly the streets are all covered by porticoes (built around the time that the University here first became crowded to provide student housing above the streets), the buildings are ancient brick, and the pair of towers lean so much I wonder if I?ve been detoured through Pisa.

As you follow the roads inward, the city grows older and older?a historical timeline in a simple stroll down a street. From the corner buildings housing Blockbuster rentals, to the Osteria in Piazza Maggiore (the center of the city) that has been there since the University?s founding in the 11th century.

Bologna?s curving streets house endless surprises, endless restaurants, endless frescoes, churches, and statues placed on street corners. It is a city worth exploring for as long as you possibly can.