17/06/2021 - Bologna

Discovering the sights of Bologna. Even though we saw a lot yesterday, it's on our itinerary for today as well. Since parking is scarce, we took the bus again from our apartment to the city center. And since the coffee was so delicious, we started our city walk, just like yesterday, at the Espresso Bar Aroma. Then we went to Piazza Maggiore, the main square of the city. In the seventh largest Italian city, you can find numerous buildings from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. This also includes the Palazzo d'Accursio here on Piazza Maggiore. Among other things, the building complex from the 14th century is now home to the city administration. Many low stairs led us up to the second floor to the Sala Farnese. In this publicly accessible space, there are impressive wall paintings and a unique wooden ceiling. From up here, we also had a great view of the beautiful courtyard of the building. Once back down, we visited the Giant. That's how the 3.35 meter high statue of Neptune, surrounded by sirens and dolphins in the middle of a fountain, is called by the locals. We continued to stroll through the lively historic city until we reached the leaning towers of Bologna. The city has numerous medieval towers, but none are as leaning as the Asinelli and Garisenda towers. It was getting pretty hot by now, but we still climbed the 498 steps of the Asinelli Tower to enjoy a fabulous view over the beautiful capital of the Emilia-Romagna region. Afterwards, we took a break at the Gessetto restaurant and treated ourselves to typical delicacies of the city. After this refreshment, the walk continued. We passed beautiful buildings, hidden churches, an interesting view of the Canale di Reno, and some bustling palaces. In the shade, under the many pleasantly cool colonnades, it was wonderful to linger and we were able to truly enjoy the sights of the city once again.