Bologna: Sightseeing when the Book Fair is over

For my final post about Bologna: a short list of things-to-do when you have a break from the Book Fair.  I had about three days to explore the city on my own.  Here are some of the places I visited.

A Classon family tradition, when we travel anywhere, is to seek out the highest accessible point in the area, and climb.  In Bologna, that point is the Torre Asinelli.  The "two towers" for which Bologna is famous (Asinelli and Garisenda) were built in the 12th century, when Bologna had many more towers still standing.  Most of those towers were taken down over the years, but Asinelli still stands, all 334 feet of it.  Garisenda is the shorter of the two--it was deconstructed in the 14th century when things began to lean (about 11 feet from the perpendicular).

 

 Here's a closer shot of one of the "leaning towers" of Bologna (Garisenda):

 To climb Torre Asinelli, you need strong quads, good wind, and the ability to deal with narrow wooden staircases winding around a nasty abyss.  (500 stairs up, and 500 back down)
This staircase is kind of like the Amalfi Coast highway:   a one-lane street for two-way traffic.

 But here is the reward, a gorgeous view of the terra cotta roofs of Bologna:

 

And here is Piazza Maggiore, the heart of central Bologna, from the tower:

 One of the best things about Bologna is its manageable size.  You can walk from one end of the old city to the other in a few hours, which leaves plenty of time for lingering.  Bologna residents love to linger and talk.  (Note the building porticoes--almost all the sidewalks in Bologna are covered, so you don't need an umbrella!)






The University of Bologna is the "oldest continually operating university in the world."  The week of the Book Fair was "Baccalaureate" or graduation.  Students dress up, sport laurel wreathes, drink out of wine bottles on the street, and parade around singing (easier to do after a bottle of wine). 

 Old vs. newer Bologna (one of the original
city gates):











And the famous Triton fountain near the Piazza Maggiore, with the breast-squirting mermaids (a favorite meeting spot): 

Other things to do (when you're not eating or shopping) include visiting the many beautiful churches, a handful of interesting museums, the modest botanical gardens near the University's science buildings, and take day trips out of the city (I didn't have time for that).  Bologna seems a very livable city and I hope to go back soon.