Bologna, Italy

We picked up our rental car from Avis on the third day and headed to Bologna which was just over a 100 km away from Venice. The highways are smaller in Italy compared to France, so you get a better view of the countryside. Plus, the toll charge is less, ranging from 5-8 Euros per segment. There were many cornfields and towns along the way.

When we arrived in Bologna everything seemed really quiet. The streets were fairly empty and even the main square was not busy (it was a Friday). Bologna is more of a university town than a tourist attraction. Bern was here nearly exactly two years ago for a conference, and it brought back good memories for him. Every city has a piazza (or two), a fountain, and a church. In bologna it is the Piazza Maggiore, Fontana del Nettuno and San Petronio Basilica (the later has a massive scaffolding covering the front. Just our luck, it seemed like almost every building that we visited in Italy during this trip had some sort of restoration going on).

In addition, Bologna has The Two Towers. The Asinelli Tower and the Garisenda Tower which are both leaning. Both constructed around 1110, the Asinelli is measuring 97.2 m high and Garisenda 48 m high. 498 steps and 3 Euro each later, we were at the highest point in Bologna.

Bologna is also known as Red Bologna because of the ochre colour of most of its buildings.

The two towers are just visible on the right side of this photo. After sight seeing, we had dinner at a local cafe. The meal was disappointing, as the quality was mediocre. This was the least impressive meal of the trip. Definitely a let down after Venice. Oh well, you win some, you lose some.

Bacon and aspaagus ravioli- the pasta was really thick and hard, and you could not really taste the asparagus.
Papardelle with wild boar sauce- the sauce tasted like a simple mince bolognaise, nothing special

Baked layered eggplant                                                                Duck with spinach

The disappointment with dinner soon dissipated with the aid of gelati on a stick! It was the second time that day that we had gelati... Yummo!