"Bologna is known in Italy as "La Dotta, La Rossa, La Grassa", which translates as "the educated, the red, the fat". "Educated" is for the city’s university, the oldest in Europe and home to such intellectual greats as the novelist Umberto Eco. "Red" refers both to the red bricks that most of Bologna’s historic buildings and porticoes are made from, and to the city’s history of leftist politics. And "fat", of course, is for Bologna’s culinary history, one based on creamy pasta sauces and rich meat dishes." from Bologna City Guide

Bologna is a beautiful old city, small enough to walk everywhere . The sidewalks are nearly as wide as the cobblestoned streets and many miles of sidewalks have high arched covered arcades that make walking pleasant, rain or shine. Our apartment is very central, so we walk to Piazza Maggiore in about 10 minutes or less, the central hub of the city. From there, the streets radiate like spokes from a wheel out to the different areas of the city. We walked the main shopping street, Via Indipendenza, several times and enjoyed the shopping, the ambiance and the people watching. One day we walked through the university area which was thronged with young people all rushing and biking to their classes and to meet friends, like any college town.  We visited the Basilica of San Petronio, a beautiful gothic cathedral built in the 1400's. The exterior still needs to be finished, but the interior boasts magnificent stained glass windows, gold crucifix, and the longest meridian line in the world to tell the date and month of the year.
 
 We love the traditional "happy hour" where everyone seems to drop what their doing from 6 to 8 pm and go to the many bars and little cafes for a drink and a snack. It's a great time to just wander from bar to bar, having a glass of wine at each, and watch the people.

One day we took the train to Modena and visited the Ferrrari Museum and Enzo Ferrari's home. That was impressive! We toured the factory, saw some Ferrari bodies awaiting their engines, and saw lots of new and old Ferraris. Enjoy our pictures!