Bologna

The last stop on our 3 day get away was Bologna.  While looking for things to do, I learned that Bologna is really not a touristy spot, but is more of a college city.  I can confirm that it is not touristy, it was so nice to leave the crowds behind in Florence and explore the city of Bologna.  Aside from the smaller crowds, It was nice to walk around Bologna because they have wide covered sidewalks.  The city is known for the portico or arcades which allow you to walk around with protection from the sun or rain, and the occasional car or vespa which can be a danger in other parts of Italy.  The arcades were originally built to add student housing onto the front of existing building.  The city allowed this as long as there was  space below wide enough for a horse and carriage to go through.  Some of the arcades are elaborately decorated, and others are more modest, but they were fantastic.

I think my favorite thing in Bologna was in the anatomical theater which was inside the medical school of the original seat of the unified University of Bologna.  I have heard operating rooms referred to as theaters, but have never put much thought into why.  Well, a visit to the anatomical theater completely explains this term.

The entire room is covered in this beautiful wood and wood carvings.

Even the ceiling was ornate….

Every where you looked, it was stunning…..

In the center of the room is a marble table, and "box" seats at one end.
 

Clearly my kids were as enthusiastic as I was to see the anatomical theater!

Pisa easily has the most famous leaning tower.  However, Bologna has a couple of towers, one of which is leaning.  These are known as the Asinelli towers.  There were originally a lot more all around Bologna, but these are the only two still standing.

The shorter, leaning tower.

This tower is intact, and for a small fee, you can climb it.

While we didn't feel like fighting the crowds to go up the tower in Pisa, we decided we would go ahead and climb this tower.  Mike and Tommy went up faster than Sam and I.

It was a long hike up, and we often had to stand up against a wall on a landing to allow others to pass going down, but the view was totally worth it.

Then we had to walk back down!  It was slightly easier, but the stairs were so steep, it was sometimes difficult to decided if you are safer walking down like they are stairs, or like they are ladders!

After walking around, we jumped in the car and drove up to the sanctuary of the Madonna di San Luca.  It looked like a nice building, but we couldn't go in.  However there were some nice views, as it is set up on a hill.

If you are ambitious, you can walk the 6 or so miles up the hill, and you would be walking under arcades the entire way.

While Mike walked down the arcade a little ways, the kids took some time to mess around….

We felt we had seen all we wanted to see in Bologna, so we took this time to sit down and decide where to go next…..

Our next stop meant driving a little ways outside of Bologna and took us to…..

The Lamborghini museum/factory.  The museum is 2 levels of Lamborghinis.  We were welcome to walk around, but no touching and no opening the cars.

Who knew they made SUVs (or should I say an SUV)?

This is one of a kind and super cool!

I almost forgot to tell you about the best food we have had in Italy since we moved here.  Food in Bologna is what Americans think of when we think of Italian food.  It was rich, heavy, and delicious!

These were delicious stuffed ravioli.  they had potato and cheese inside and a ham and cream sauce outside, YUM 

Americans think that spaghetti bolognese is an authentic dish.  Well, our server made sure we understood that no such a dish exists.  The real thing is tagliatelle in a thick meat ragu, DELISH

And finally, a rich hearty lasagna!

We also had some little fried bread deliciousness with our meal.  Most Italians don't eat bread with pasta, but the waiter told us it is perfectly fine to do so, as you often see the old ladies eating bread with their lasagna.  It was by far our favorite Italian food to this point!

The Most Serene Republic of San Marino

After a quick visit to Pisa and Florence, we drove 2 1/2 hours to to San Marino.  A very small country within Italy.  It sits way up on a mountain and is a quaint area that time has has not changed.  It is officially called The Most Serene Republic of San Marino, and Sam has decided it is her new favorite country.

We parked in a garage just outside of the city walls.  From there we had to walk up to an elevator which brought us up to the entrance to the city.

Beautiful views

My girl doing what she loves

I did not get a photograph, but there was a uniformed crossing guard right next to me in a little guard booth

A common scene 

Narrow, steep streets lead the way up to the main square….

Yo can see the sea off in the distance

more beautiful views

There were all sorts of restaurants dotting the streets, and they all took advantage of the scenic surroundings

 We happened to catch the changing of the guards.  It was hard to get a good picture because there were so many people trying to see it.

The kids "chatting" as we walk through the square.

We went into one of the towers they have set up as a museum.  I don't know if it is an everyday thing or if we just happened to visit on a special occasion, but they had people dressed in traditional clothing and cooking and eating as they would have way back when.

Sam definitely has a different perspective on what to take pictures of,
 but somehow they always turn out cool

My crazy child with no fear!

Tommy prefers to stay on the path!

There are 3 towers and we hiked to two of them.  The third was quite a ways off and we were all hungry, and that often means cranky around here =)  So we headed back to the center of town and found a nice place for some pizza.  Then onto Bologna.