Day 43: Bologna, ~15 kms, cloudy & humid, 32°

Will That Be Lunch For Two?

It was certainly nice to wake up early and know that I didn’t really have to get up in a hurry. I read the paper, caught up with some correspondence and generally did very little for the first hour. Eventually I got up made a very nice cup of tea and had a light breakfast. My daughter Erin had sent me lots of information about what to see and do in Bologna. This helped me to plan my day and I was off to tour parts of the city by 9 AM. 

I’m sitting here after my touring watching the rain pour down in intervals. Across the back quadrangle from my apartment I can see a guy reading out loud from a manuscript walking out onto his balcony and back into his apartment in his nice white underwear. Yesterday he had some clothes on. Not a particularly young man by any means, and not a particularly interesting sight! I may have to close my blinds.😂

My first stop was the main central piazza and cathedral, but I won’t start there. In behind the cathedral was the Teatro Anatomico, a place that Erin particularly encouraged me to go and see. A great recommendation! Essentially a very special library with very old research texts and with a major lecture theatre where I understand dissections and such were performed in front of the faculty and student body on a large marble table. There were classrooms for the arts and for the sciences, but anatomy was a major player. 

I arrived about 10 minutes before it opened and enjoyed the quiet in the central courtyard. Thankfully the tour groups had not yet arrived.

The various coats of arms that will be evident in a number of my photos were for particular contributions, both scholastically and financially that contributed to the growth of this facility. I really think that this particular visit was my highlight of the day!



The door was left open and two ladies carried placards out to the front Street. To me a door open is simply an invitation to look in. Do I did. Ken, I think you would have appreciated this. A treasure trove of books about all different subjects. I took my pictures and a quick look before stepping back outside.

Of course now I want one of these in our home!



I climbed up to the ticket office through the most beautiful staircase. I thought to myself that if a staircase could be this amazing, what would the rest of the place be like?

The short answer, pretty freaking amazing!

This is the lecture theatre that I was describing above.

The ceiling. 

Carvings of famous doctors and professors who were directly involved with this research facility at the university. Did I tell you this is part of a university? This building was built in 1563. I have since learned that Bologna is a major university city. Walking through the streets there were so many young people. It was a great feeling to see the vitality of this city, and I can see why Erin enjoyed Bologna so much.





Then on to another part of the facility. I understand this was a lecture hall with classrooms leading off from it.

Each book stock has a header at the top with the subject matter. All manner of sciences including geography and geology. It would’ve been interesting to look at some of these manuals, but I suspect they’re in a language that I wouldn’t be able to read.

This view is down through the various classrooms that have now been used to store of the many volumes of books. These classrooms were used for the arts and for learning about the law.What an amazing place this would’ve been to attend.



Other classrooms and lecture theatres have now been converted into library premises which are not accessible to the general public. I assume they are there for students and academics researching particular subjects. This was the exit staircase. Pretty shabby!

I wandered in a note of several churches, partially in search of a stamp for my credential. Some of these sites were pretty interesting, but I’ve posted enough pictures of churches. I think with a remaining blog I’ll focus on Street scenes and the food which is one of the main attractions of these cities I am visiting. 

It’s possible to climb these two towers, but I reminded myself that I’m supposed to be resting. I’ve climbed these sorts of towers before in Italy for the view, but this time I decided to miss the pleasure of some 660 steps. Besides, it was cloudy…and very humid. 

Neptune’s fountain. 

OK, so here’s the main cathedral with its marble façade on the bottom and the typical dark bricks on the top. It looked to me as though they were setting up for some sort of concert tonight. I may venture over, but I think it’ll be a bit of a zoo. Not my usual scene, but I imagine the music might be quite good. 

There are over 45 km of these beautiful porticoes in Bologna which are actually UNESCO recognized.

They are really lovely to walk through, with restaurants a little cafés sharing them with the pedestrians. Many of my photos have very few people in them because I was out early. Before I finished my touring they were actually becoming quite crowded in areas.







I rather there used to be quite a few canals running through the city for transportation of goods and people. Now there are only the remnants, but they’re obviously quite beautiful.



And then there were the market stalls, always a colourful delight!



And last, but certainly not least, the food.









By this time it was barely noon and I was starving! It’s funny just how hungry I get when I’m on a distance walk compared to when I’m at home. Even on a rest day I have to keep my calorie count up. Believe me I’m not putting weight on! That’s actually kind of fun! 

This was my lunch today complete with a huge glass of very good red wine. There was some confusion it would seem. I asked for the smaller played for one person, but they gave me the plate for two people to share, complete with two forks and the corresponding price tag of €13, plus €5 for the wine. I ate all of it. Every piece of charcuterie. It was excellent!

Tonight I still have some mushrooms, cheese and tomatoes left from last night. I think I’ve had quite enough meat for the day so I’ll be eating my leftover food also with the Chianti Classico for dinner tonight. Still a very good day of eating I think! 

Tomorrow morning I’ll be heading back in the direction I came from yesterday, westward to the city of Parma. The city that gave the world Parmesan cheese and Parma ham. I’m thinking that this must be a pretty amazing city! Just before dinner time on Saturday our friend Costanza will be joining me, and we will again begin walking, more like climbing, into the mountains early Sunday morning. I’m looking forward to that, though the first day is reputed to be one of the toughest days on the Via Francigena. So I better rest up! As a matter of fact I returned from lunch today, sat down on the couch and had only my second short nap since I left home. I think I could get use to that!