We struck out at around lunch time with the intention of finding a print shop. We have more documentation that needs to be signed and sent back to GE regarding our new positions. We also wanted to see Bologna's Opera House so we started in that direction. After crossing the train tracks and entering the old town we were reminded that we are in fact back in Italy:
*Ruins of Roman aquaduct
We found a copy centre pretty easily. The opera, as it turns out, is right in the heart of the university district so there were quite a few print and copy businesses operating. There was a rehearsal going on when we got to the opera house so we could not take a look inside. We did get some photos of the streets of Bologna though:
*Italian mail boxes
*Scooters on the street
*A store selling winter clothing from Canada
We grabbed a quick lunch from a sandwich shop and ate it on the steps of San Petronio Basilica. It is the 5th largest church in the world (the Duomo in Milano was 4th largest). The church was closed until 15:00 so we passed the time reading our Kindles and listening to a street harpist. At 15:00 we went inside. Unfortunately, no pictures were allowed so we don't have much to show. The church has a really neat sun dial that tells the date at noon by passing light through a small hole in the ceiling. The calculations for this sundial were performed by the Astronomer Cassini, most famous for discovering 4 of Saturn's moons and sharing credit for the discovery of Jupiter's red spot. At 66.8m long, his sundial is the largest in the world.
After walking through the church we headed back to the apartment to do more reading and kick back until dinner. For dinner, we decided to try a place in our neighbourhood which was well reviewed online. We split a carafe of the house red wine, some bruschetta, a pizza, and a plate of pasta. Everything was delicious.
Today we had a very similar mentality. We slept in again, then headed straight to the church to try and catch the sundial. We missed it by no more than 10 minutes, as we could still see the spot of light but it was a couple feet past the line marked in the floor. On the way we did spot a post worker bike and nabbed a photo:
*Many countries deliver mail by bike, this is the first chance we've had to catch it on film
We then headed into the market area to walk around and soak up some of the atmosphere. We felt like food experts picking out the D.O.P. approved prosciotto, parmigano, and balsamico. Here are some pics from the market.
We grabbed a couple of panini sandwiches for lunch, then walked around town a little more. We came to the Two Towers of Bologna, the Asinelli Tower and the Garisenda Tower. The towers were built between 1109 and 1119 and are now a landmark of the city. The shorter tower, Garisenda, is 48m tall and construction was halted when the tower foundation started sinking and the tower began to list dangerously. It was very hard to get a good photograph of how severely this tower is leaning. The Asinelli Tower stands at 97.2m and for 3 Euro you can climb to the top. Naturally, Jackie and I could not resist.
*Stairs leading up
*View through a hole in the tower
*Last few steps into the sunlight
*View from the top
*View of Garisenda tower below
*GQ
*JT
*Spot enjoying the fresh air
*Best shot of the dangerous angle of the Garisenda tower.
After climbing the tower we meandered our way to the train station to reserve our tickets to Florence. We are leaving late tomorrow morning. We finished the night by running (only me, as Jack's hip is still bothering her...unfortunately she is out of the half-marathon) and biking (for Jack) in our hotel's exercise room, before having a light dinner and relaxing. Check you later!
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