Day 11- To Bologna!

Said a fond farewell to our cool cave in Ferrara this morning and boarded yet another train for Bologna. Gotta say, the Italian train system is cheap, reliable, and often air conditioned even in second class. Our tickets to Bologna cost 4 euros (about $5.50) for a half hour haulin-ass ride between the two towns. Pretty sure you'd spend that much just on the gas, even if you multiply it by two for our tickets. You get there fast and you don't get lost plus you can read your travel notes for the next destination. Very cool!

Old and new ornament living in harmony. Ok, maybe.

Arrival in Bologna was smooth- our new place is again a little apartment with kitchenette within a very reasonable walk from the station and also to the town center. Right as we arrived there was a small earthquake (5.0 centered near to the coast west of here). Not a real shaker, but given all the damage we had seen yesterday, it was enough to make you think about what would happen if a major one hit while we were here. Not a good scenario!!

Who would argue with a hotel that has this on the stairwell ceiling? Nice!

Anyways, got out and walked downtown through one of the city's myriad arcaded sidewalks- nice and shady so we were comfy today, plus the temp has dropped about 5 degrees which is welcome! First stop was the Piazza Maggiore where we had a bit of deja vu seeing the Neptune fountain that our home town has a 2/3 scale copy of. 

Yours may be bronze, but ours (in Palos Verdes) still has squirting boobs!

Then we actually did climb one of the famous medieval towers that clocks in around 300 plus feet (498 steps to be precise!) Normally wouldn't really make me nervous, but because of the earthquake I was a bit, especially where the stairs lean into the center of the hollow tower. I asked the ticket woman if she had felt the quake and if it made her nervous and she replied (in essence) that if it's been here this long...

Looks like a set for Hitchcock's Vertigo. Not for those who don't like heights!

On the way to check out a couple more sites we ran across an amazing arcade that was all painted with grottesca from the 19th century. Outstanding work and I could photograph it to my hearts content! Saw the oldest University in Italy, the Archiginassio, and then went by the market to pick up our cheapie dinner. Don't worry foodies, we'll get some good stuff soon, but the market is actually really fun- the produce is great and the cheeses are amazing and cheap too.

Wonderful covered arcade in downtown Bologna