Apr 2007

I give that title to Bologna because I can see many old buildings there. Almost a prehistoric city. Old church, old building, old statue, and so on.
I visited Bologna on April 28, 2007 by cheap train from Torino. It costs only 11 euro, so totally 22 euro for go and back. Bologna train station is one of the most crowded station in Italy, thanks to its position which is in the center of Italy. There was a bloody tragedy in 1980, when the bom blown in the station. When you came the waiting room of the station, you will see 'cracked stone' monument with all of the names of the people who died.
Near the station, you can see an old and big park. Unique style of Bologna is that there is always 'portico' (elegant and extensive arcades) when you walk. So, don't worry about sun shine, wet rain, or snow. The downtown of Bologna is Piazza Nettuno (Plaza of Neptune). In there you can find a basilica of San Petronio which is one of the biggest church in the world. Unfortunately, when I visited there i could not bring my camera. Also, it was forbidden to bring your bag, I don't know why?

Near that place, you can see the symbol of Bologna. The two towers, quite funny because the height is not same, one is taller than the other. Bologna university is known as the 2nd oldest university in the world. Almost all faculties were available there.

Spread in the city, you can find many old churches with very old ornament. Full painted or beautiful relief. Bologna also has a church called as San Luca which located on the top of the hill. Again with 'portico' when you climb (walk) to that that church.

City of Strasbourg is located near German's city, Offenburg. It is around one hour by Badden Wuttemburg (BW) train from Freiburg. This city is quite bigger as it is already more than 2000 years old. When you start the journey from Freiburg, German, you can go to offenburg and buy the train ticket for crossing the border to Strasbourg station. When I was there, the station was under heavily renovated. To go to the downtown, you can go straight. You will find a quite crowded streets especially after crossing the river. This river is quite nice with a pedestrian besides the river.

The main view is Strasbourg catedral which has tallest tower in the world. Frankly speaking, I was surprised at that time as that church was very very tall. It has a gothic style altough as not rich as Duomo (catedral) in Milano. I beg that you will have the same experience as me when you see it. Surround the catedral, you will see many shop with old style of houses. I heard that it is a UNESCO herritage site. For you, Tintin cartoon collector, you will happy to see many Tintin post cards which are sold by those shops. When I visited there, the weather was very nice, not to hot but also not cloudy so I could enjoy walking around the city. As the city is quite big, don't forget to look at the map to find the nice place to see or visit.

Freiburg is city in the border between Switzerland and Germany. It was the end of my destination during my trip on April 6-9, 2007. I started very early from Torino, around 6 am, and went first to Milano Centrale station. Then, I changed the train and by cis-alpino (1.30 pm), I accrossed Switzerland. In the border between Swiss-Italy, there will be passport or ID check (I forget the exact name of the station, but it was near Como). It probably because Switzerland is not yet member of Schengen country. So, prepare you document!! For me, because I am from outsite of EU, it took longer than the others. I just showed my passport (without italian resident permit at that time), but finally it was oke because I have schengen visa and multiple entry.
The ticket price of Milano to Basel is around 62 euro and it will take >5 hours to cross Swiss. But it is oke since the views are very beautiful: mountain of alpen with lake. So beautiful.
I changed again the train in Basel and continued by express train (ICE) to go to Freiburg. Something that you have to remember, when you buy ticket here, they will ask the price in Franc (CHF). They accept Euro (EU currency) buy if you have return money, they will give it in Franc, not in Euro. Don't be confuse: there are two Basel stations, Basel-SBB and Basel-Bad. Basel-SBB is Basel station in the region of Switzerland and Basel-Bad is belonging to Germany. It takes only 45 mins from Basel-SBB to Freiburg. So, it was completely dark when I arrived in Freiburg station. At night, Freiburg is nice although I can say that Torino is more crowded. Less people and quite silent.

The main view of Freiburg is Freiburg Munster (catedral). Interesting, big, and old with beutiful relief and gotic. That is the only building which was not destroyed when Alien army bombarded Freiburg during 2nd world war. People think that it was a miracle and holy place. In the yard of the church, they have a traditional market at saturday or sunday. I am not so sure whether only monday or also saturday. There are also some interesting places, such as Schwabentor (tower of Freiburg), small hill near there where you can see all the city of Freiburg, churches, e.g. Her Jesu, and modern building with artistic design and nice colour style. Nice small lake is also there. The train system (tram) is modern, not old as Torino or Milano, but more expensive.