Bologna used to be known as "Bologna
the Fat," not because of the heftiness of its inhabitants, but because
of its incredibly rich and tasty cuisine. The city lies smack dab in the
middle of Italy's wealthy wheat-and dairy-producing region of the Po River
Valley and is the birth place of foods such as tortellini, spaghetti bolongnese,
and parmesan cheese. People come here and see a beautiful red-brick city
that was one of Europe's most important medieval cities. Bologna is also
and the home to the cotenant's oldest university which has turned out
characters such as Copernicus and Dante.
And people come here to eat. Very well.
I really don't see how the inhabitants can weigh anything under 400 lbs,
but they are amazingly slim. How do they do it? We enjoyed seeing the
sights of the city and escaping the hordes of tourists at Venice. And
of course, we enjoyed the food.
Many of Bologna's streets are lined with these
incredible archways. They give the city a very majestic flair,
I think.
This doorway just off the main square looked
very medieval to me. So here's its picture.
These two pictures are more old doors that
I found fascinating. This one was just off the plaza, next door
to the one pictured above
This one was closer to the old medieval marketplace,
pictured below.
Piazza di Porta Ravengnana was once home to
Bologna's medieval market place and still looks the part.
Piazza Maggiore - home of Bologna's most graceful
medieval and Renaissance monuments. This is the center of city
life, with numerous cafes and performance artists that draw the
Bolgnesi here.
This is the Palazzo del Re Enzo, named after
King Enzo of Sicily who was CONFINED here for 20 long years of
the 13th century. At least he got the building named after him.
This is part of the city wall heading toward
a nearby basilica. It boasts the world's longest portico, held
aloft by 666 arches.
Are these people bikers or what? Part of the
colorful cafe life of Piazza Maggiore.
A Bolognesi enjoying a fall day in the square.
More of the cafe scene at the piazza
A performer at the piazza
Yet another item of interest at the Piazza
de Maggoire, This is part of Neptune's fountain sculpted in 1566.
Supposedly the water sprouting from each nipple represents the
4 known continents of the world....hmmmm
Another view of the statute. Its not quite
the same as being there, but I think you get the general idea.
The people of this town love this thing. I'm sure you can figure
out why.
Bologna is home to two leaning towers that rise above the Piazza
di Porta Ravegnan. This one is nearly 300 ft high and has a
1.3 m (around 4 foot) lean to it. It has 498 steps which you
can climb to the top. You can see from below, we rose to the
challenge.
Just west of the previous tower (its in the pict it as the
shorter square top to behind the row of buildings) is the tower
built by the Garisenda family. It was supposedly "less
cautious with its foundation" and has over a 9 foot lean
to it. It is closed to the public.
Here's my fearless man, braving
the tower.
This picture was taken at the local town hall.
The immense staircase I'm standing in was built wide enough for
a horse-drawn carriage to chauffeur their occupants up to the
2nd floor! Isn't that cool?
Dale on our way back from visiting
the basilica (right)
This is the Basicilica della Madonna di San Luca - the one the
666 arches lead to.
This is me after
the 666 arches up the hill.
Here's a picture of the main plaza of Bologna
taken from above. The red brick of the city was really quite spectacular.
