Monday, June 20th:
I started out at the food market. Every time I am in Bologna, I make sure to spend some time exploring the food markets. On this trip, I went 3 times! I took tons of photos and will share more later on. I think one of the reasons I love Bologna so much is that there are so many photo opportunities.

I returned to Piazza Maggiore to take more photos. Here’s one of the statue of Pope Gregory XIII up on the main wall of the Palazzo d’Accursio (or Palazzo Comunale).

Here’s one of the clock (part of Palazzo d’Accursio):

The last time I was in Bologna, I visited the Biblioteca comunale dell’Archiginnasio as part of a free city tour. It is an amazing place. Andrea also brought me there when he gave me a little tour of Bologna this trip. I returned to take some photos.

Here are a few more photos I took as I wandered around the historic center on a beautiful Monday in Bologna…

Bologna, known for its towers and has a very cool tower available to climb – the Torre Asinelli (or Asinelli Tower pictured on the right) with 498 steps to the top!

I climbed this tower later on in the afternoon and ended up being one of the last ones down. I was up at the top enjoying the views when the “tower man” announced that it was time to head back down because they were closing for the day. I believe this was my third time climbing the Torre Asinelli. Here’s a post (with photos of the climb) from 2007.

I went to Divinis for dinner. Sandra introduced me to this place.

The owner is very kind, as is his daughter. They were happy to pose for a picture.

I ordered the faro dish, some sort of cheese with honey drizzled on top, and a delicious panna cotta for dessert. Fabulous dinner! It was so good that I returned there the again following evening!

After dinner, as I was heading back towards the Piazza, I took this photo.

I was allowed to enter the Piazza because everything was roped off for a special concert with Roberto Benigni. As I walked around the Piazza, I noticed some sort of commotion. The man on the right in white was very upset about something. I can’t remember now just why he was upset. I do remember being fascinated by the crowd’s expressions on their faces and the hands flying. He kept everyone entertained for quite a while.

Next up – Tuesday in Bologna