On the lengthy winter afternoons, I especially long for that special time, you know, when you just curl up on the sofa with dim light, a book and some mellow music. I obviously have all of this at home, especially some pretty amazing books that are looking at me with disdain from shelves and tabletops, yet somehow I always end up spending my “me time” in some disarticulated manner that usually involves scrolling on my phone, or re-watching some series on my laptop, while I wander around the house “doing things”. And that soft, perfect image of me on the sofa like a nouvelle Jo March, so easy in theory, for some reason seems impossible to achieve at home.
Luckily, I’ve found this new place just round the corner where I’ve just spent an hour finally fulfilling this simple-yet-unachievable fantasy of mine. Capire (meaning “to understand”) opened a couple of months ago, after Antonio, Bernardo, Federico and Petra took a former baker laboratory and turned it into the cutest members’ club there could be: with 20 euros a year you have unlimited access to its two rooms (living room and reading room, plus a see through kitchen). There’s all you need: quaint atmosphere, big wooden table, a piano, some bookshelves with quirky readings, armchairs and all.
The location is interesting too. Via Borgonuovo, just a few steps from Piazza Santo Stefano, is a small secluded street linking Strada Maggiore to Via Santo Stefano. It makes me “think of night” because, once upon a time, here there used to be a weird pub, with an upside-down Christmas tree hanging from the ceiling, that stayed open while everything else was closed and everyone inside was drunk, and the very bakery lab that was operating on the premises now occupied by Capire was only open late at night, up until sunrise, for the hardcore party goers that would gently knock to a little grey door, wishing to close the night on the comforting taste of a warm croissant. And oh, just in front of it, next to a yoga studio, there’s the house where poet, filmmaker and intellectual Pierpaolo Pasolini was born. This is the spirit of the street.
The weekly programming of Capire, spamming from tarot reading to vintage card games, astrology and literature, mostly runs in the evenings, leaving patrons plenty of time to just be, and indulge, during the day. The weekends also offer brunch (upon reservation), but the little reading room is still available at all hours. When I arrived to it this afternoon, both of the two armchairs by the window were occupied (one by a student with laptop and headphones, the other by an elderly woman with crosswords), so I sat on a chair sharing a table with a guy intent on drawing.
Once I got over with a couple of texts I had to reply to, a story I wanted to post, some photos I had to retouch, I finally managed to toss the phone in my bag. The room was silent, with echoes of the music from the next one (a bland of Nico, Mazzy Star and some less memorable Italian classics). I didn’t have any book with me so I helped myself first with a big tome on American illustrators from the early Twentieth century, then passed to an illustrated book on dog breeds. Now, this is exactly what I picture myself reading when I conjure up my naive fantasy of sofa + book + dim light + soft music. Indeed, I was happy and yes, I do feel better after browsing though Nineteenth century’s illustrations of borzois (Russian Hunting Sighthounds), Irish wolfhounds, fox terriers and quite an array of hunting dogs and lap dogs. Why, wouldn’t you?
Even if you’re not as obsessed with dogs* and illustrators as I am, you’ll find plenty to do, and read, in this place, that promises to become one of the best secrets of Bologna at least for the months to come. So, please, do not spread the word too much, because places are limited, but do pay a visit (and get yourself a membership) to this gem of a club. You won’t regret it.
*And cats, obviously. Actually, the very first time I visited the place was for a storytelling night whose theme was animal tales. I arrived late, only to find two cats gracing the reading room, a red one by the window and a very young one on Petra’s lap. They both listened intently until Petra’s husband Bernardo came to bring them home, while she moved to the piano and started playing. How could I not fall instantly in love with the place?
CAPIRE
Via Borgonuovo 3/C
Wednesday to Saturday: 11 AM to 10 PM
Every other Sunday: 11 AM to 15 PM
Flaneur in Bologna 