Bologna

On Saturday, Chuck and I went to Bologna.  Bologna is the capital of Emilia-Romagna and has a population of less than half a million people.  It's famous for its university, cuisine, traditional left-wing stance, and its beautifully preserved historic center.   Bologna is approximately 30 miles from Maranello.  It's a cheap train ride from Modena to Bologna, 4.50 euros round-trip, and a twenty minute train ride.  We walked from the train station (stazionale centrale) to the city center (centro), taking about 10 minutes.  The city center was full-packed with people, shopping and hanging out.  There was an open market, mostly of clothes and shoes.  I didn't see anything I liked, but it was nice window-shopping.  We hadn't eaten breakfast nor lunch, so we found a sidewalk bar and shared a yummy sandwich (tuna, egg, tomato sandwiched between focaccia bread) and pizza bread.  

After lunch, we walked to the Piazza del Nettuno which has many attractions.  At its center is the Fontana di Nettuno, a 16th-century fountain with bronze sculptures of Neptune surrounded by cherubs and mermaids (pictured below).  There is also the majestic Palazzo Comunale, the medieval town hall.  There was some sort of festival going on as there was a band playing and people dressed up in medieval garb.  

There are a lot of shops and a lot of  people shopping in the city center.  I couldn't resist the urge to go shopping.  I found a cute pair of lightweight capri pants and a shirt for summertime at H&M.  

Like Roma and Firenze, we'll definitely have to go back to Bologna has we didn't see as much as we wanted to see of its history, eat nearly enough of its cuisine, nor its shopping.  And it's only a short trip from Maranello.