We only spent a short period of time in Bologna and got acquainted with only a couple of its main sights. Most notable of all is the cathedral of San Petronio ♥, a grand medieval building that was meant to be larger than St Peter’s in Rome, but ended up incomplete and lopsided when the funds meant for its construction were diverted by the church authorities. The interior, nonetheless, is bright and airy.
Near the cathedral, the “indecent” Fontana di Nettuno ♥ is resplendent with its bronze figures by Giambologna.
Among the other attractions in the city, are two leaning towers (neither as famous as the one in Pisa), an abbey and a good collection of paintings. All were left for another visit.
It was raining when we were in Bologna, but most of the buildings in town center seem to have porticoes and covered colonnades that extend for entire blocks. There are also many arched walkways through back streets. Not only was that very fortunate for us, but the atmosphere is very stately and refined because of that.
Car parking
No details remain in our records, except the note that we spent an inordinate amount of time looking for a garage with spaces. It feels as if Bologna was the most problematic of all places that we’ve travelled to in terms of parking. That could have changed since 2003.