Saturday 20th June 2015
Day One
We arrived in Bologna in the afternoon with plenty of time for a wander before dinner. We didn’t have much idea of what to expect of the city before arriving, apart from good food, so getting to know it was a pleasant surprise, especially as we had left Florence a little earlier than we might have, had we not booked our train in advance.
We weren’t in the city long before coming across the imposing shadows of the Torri degli Asinelli e Garisenda. Apparently Pisa doesn’t have the only leaning tower in Italy. Perhaps because the two towers are so close together I found walking past them decidedly unnerving, they genuinely look like they might topple at any moment.
When travelling it’s easy to visit church after church and eventually feel like they all look the same but surprisingly it’s hard to feel that way in Italy. San Petroni, the unfinished church was oddly mesmerising. Its partially painted interior and half marbled exterior were both beautiful and tragic.
Nothing characterises the streets of Bologna more than the portricos which can be found everywhere. The most beautiful had painted ceilings. We ended our day with a lovely meal at Trattoria Oberdan and in particular a creme caramel so good we ordered a second after getting the bill! 🙂
Day Two
Our second day in Bologna had yet more pleasant surprises in store. Bologna is home to the oldest university in Europe and we ended up spending a few hours wandering around the Archiginnasio di Bologna which houses the Teatro Anatomico, a pretty unique place. After an awesome late lunch/early dinner at L’Archimboldo, we headed back to the hotel to grab our baggage and jumped on a train to Venice.
Ramblers Rumblings 