Day 12: Godere di Bologna

We have been enjoying our time here in Bologna. Bologna has lots of bikes. This was one of many bike parking areas we passed as we walked around the city today.

Most cyclists are commuters - using their bikes for short trips and errands. And people of all ages are riding bikes, from bambini to nonnas.

These towers are the two remaining ones built in the 12th century; apparently this was common among the wealthy families. The tower on the left is leaning quite a bit and was actually shortened a few years after it was built for safety reasons; it remains 3 meters from vertical. We did not climb the 500 steps to the top.

Nearby we saw this graffiti about these towers. We have been walking a lot, as it's such a great way to see the sights.

We also visited the archaeology museum today. It had a large Egyptian artifacts exhibit. The hieroglyphics on this tombstone were very clear to see. Pete is explaining that he thinks it's a recipe: fill a pot with water and wash snails, snakes and eyes...

Currently the archeology museum is celebrating their anniversary with this hands-on demonstration area in the Piazza Maggiore of what it was like to be a Roman soldier. Pete humored me by holding up one of the shields. Speaking of anniversaries, we are celebrating our 25th on this trip!

For lunch today we sampled the local porcine products, including Parma prosciutto, ham and mortadella, Bologna salami, and coppa. It was served with a bread pizza and everything was delicious.

For dinner we went to a family run restaurant called La Traviata. It's located in a 400 year old palace. We were especially interested to try their house made pasta. The hostess came out and recited a list of daily specials, in Italian, pausing to make sure that we understood and throwing in a few key translations when we looked bewildered. Each one sounded better than the previous. We settled on tagliatelle with asparagus and prosciutto; tortellini filled with ricotta, served with prosciutto and fresh fig. The pasta was ethereal. Our secondi were two magnificent pork preparations: culatello Bolognese (pork chop fried in a crispy breaded coating, covered with prosciutto and mozzarella); and a piece of slow-roasted pork shoulder seasoned lightly with orange (fall-off-the-bone moist); on the side were crispy roasted potatoes. For dessert we had chocolate torte wIth mascarpone! As you can see from the photo, it was beautiful, and it tasted heavenly.

The evenings have been pleasant temperature, so we walk at night too. On the way back to the hotel we strolled through the Piazza Maggiore.