Via Cavour and Piazza Cavour are the elegant face of Bologna, the part of the city where the nineteenth century left a more formal imprint. After Italian unification, the city's rulers cut broad, straight streets through the medieval maze, built palaces in a grander style and created squares where the aristocracy and the newly rich could stroll. Today the area around Via Cavour, close to Piazza Maggiore, is lined with shops selling jewellery, fashion and fine food, beneath the same continuous arcades that cover most of the city.
The contrast with the old centre is part of the pleasure. A few steps from the narrow lanes of the Quadrilatero, where market stalls sell cheese, fresh pasta and cured meats, you reach quiet streets of tall, shuttered buildings and well-dressed pedestrians, with cafés where an espresso comes in a small white cup and a pastry on a saucer. In the evening, the aperitivo hour brings crowds to the bars, with small plates of snacks served alongside a glass of wine or a spritz.
On a bike, the centre is largely off limits or tightly controlled, as in most Italian historic cores, and the cobbles and tram-like sprawl of buses make the streets unpleasant to ride. The best approach is to find a parking spot for motorcycles, which are plentiful in marked bays near the old walls, then walk. Take care with the one-way system and the cycle lanes, which cut through the streets in unexpected places.
The city is generous with services. With over three hundred and sixty thousand inhabitants, it has fuel stations on the ring road, supermarkets and large hotels, and Ponticella, a small place nearby, can supply the basics. The best coffee is drunk standing at the bar, and the best ice cream is made in small workshops with seasonal flavours, rather than in the big, brightly lit shops.
Bologna's reputation for left-leaning politics, student life and gastronomy is deserved, and the mix creates a city that feels lived in, not preserved. Early autumn is a wonderful time, when the heat softens, truffles and mushrooms appear on menus and the arcades fill with students returning for the new year.