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Day 8 -- Bologna sightseeing, group dinner.
We start the day with a sightseeing tour of Bologna, with our new local guide.
Bologna is known as a city of arches, with these porticos along a lot of the streets.
It is also known as a city of towers, with the defensive structures built in various places.
On the main square...
...in front of the Basilica di San Petronio.
Inside the basilica (you're supposed to pay to take pictures, but don't tell anyone).
Again, how incredibly old everything is: this church dates from 1390.
Over to the University. Bologna was a central university of Europe for centuries.
Part of it is now a library.
These decorations in various places name famous professors and students that attended, many from France, Germany, Hungary, etc.
Making our way through the hallways...
...to the teatro anatomico, one of the first of its kind in the world.
It has been rebuilt after suffering bombing damage in the second world war. The centerpiece is this dissection table for showing the gallery what is in the body.
It's hard to tell, but these statues are of men without skin, holding up the lectern.
More coats of arms for students.
Walking through the market street, we see...
...a butchery, ...
...a fishmarket, ...
...a vegetable market, ...
...and a pasticcieria.
The towers have been built for showing off wealth.
They weren't built for stability, and most of them lean.
Us in front of the twin towers in the previous picture.
We finish the guided part of the tour at this statue of Neptune.
Walking around to find some lunch, we look for another focacciaria. The closest we can find has this ham and cheese roll for Wade, ...
...and this spinach focaccia for Kimberly.
Back at the hotel cleaning up for dinner, we are suddenly beset by a hailstorm, but it only lasts for about ten minutes.
Our local delicacy, a round bread called a tigella.
More meat and bread, this time served with pig lard for butter.
The joke's on us, as the main plates of the night are tagliatelle with ragu, and green lasagne.
Our dessert was a lovely chocolate mousse with some hazelnut creme and a cake layer, like a parfait.