On Saturday morning, we packed up and left Rome, taking our second high speed train north to Bologna. We arrived at midday and picked up a rental car, checked into our apartment, and prepared to go into the old city to eat lunch and see the sights. We were starving and Bologna is known as "fat city" for all of its wonderful pasta, meat, and cheese. But all of the historic Italian cities have ZTLs (zona trafico limitando) covering their central districts, areas where only residents can drive. We were prepared to walk the 25 minutes in, but when we opened the doors, there was a thunderstorm crackling overhead and rain pouring down. Clearly not weather to walk any distance in, and especially not with children who were still traumatized by the sprint home in Rome under lightning strikes. So since the buses were not convenient, we called a taxi (which took longer than expected to figure out - various apps did not work, etc etc., but we finally made it.)
We had a terrific pasta lunch of some local specialties - lasagna, tortellini in brodo, cheese tortelloni, and tagliatelle with ragu. And then we set off on foot to explore - the rain had stopped while we ate, and in any case Bologna's old buildings all have amazing porticos covering the entire length of the sidewalk. You can walk most of the main streets in the old city under uninterrupted cover, which we would find delightful in both blazing sun and rain. We loved peeking into the many food markets and specialty stores with fish, meat and cheese, truffles, mushrooms, olives, and of course freshly made pasta.
Bologna's main piazza is huge, with imposing buildings on every side and a Neptune fountain in the middle. The cathedral forms one side of the square and is enormous and unfinished - it was intended to be one of the largest in the world, but they ran out of either money or political will, or both, and it presents a strange appearance both inside and out.
Our next stop was St. Stephen's church, for obvious namesake reasons and because the church is not one building or structure but seven separate churches, separately constructed in an odd nested arrangement, on one site. You wander into one and then out and into another, each with its own name and purpose. But the real highlight for me of Bologna's old town was the beauty of the buildings -- their warm color, the ornately decorated covered walkways, the angles and curves of the entryways -- it was a photographer's dream. I had a lot of fun playing with angles and shots.
Of course, it wouldn't be an Avery/Raab city visit without a climb up a tower, and Bologna's ancient tower is very tall - 498 steps to the top. It was so steep and unrelenting, straight up inside on old wooden steps, but then we could enjoy beautiful views of the surrounding hills and the city. Sebastian loved seeing the road beneath us run off forever into the distance, in both directions. There is another tower, directly next to the one we went up, that leans, just like its more famous counterpart in Pisa. Having earned our reward, we walked to a gelateria (Steve had a list of ideas, of course), and then to a second gelateria. It was good to be on our feet exploring, admiring, running, playing in the early evening, watching the people come out to dine and drink wine at the many restaurants.
We saw many signs and edifices with Sebastian and Stephen, but Brianna and Liesl are always harder to come by. We decided this was as close as we were going to get.
A pink church for Liesl!
We returned to the main piazza, hoping to see the library (sadly, it had closed at 2 and wouldn't reopen until Monday) and check out the whispering wall - a place where if you stand in one corner and speak quietly, someone in the opposite corner can hear you. And finally, we admired the Neptune Fountain, about which I need say no more, as our photos speak for themselves.
And from there we walked home - it was dark by the time we arrived, dark enough to admire the rising full moon over the river - and tucked into bed. We hadn't been quite sure what to expect from Bologna, other than good food, but it did not disappoint.
