Being tourists again - Bologna

Barbara at last found a weather window for Bologna - the city is beset by fog in winter, and this was the first clear forecast since early December.

We arrived just in time to get organised at our B&B and then walk the streets of the city at dusk, then as evening came we set off in search of our dinner ...

Narrow streets 

A hommage to David Bowie on the Dansette in the window of a shop selling vintage vinyl

Neptune casts a portly shadow in the Piazza Maggiore

Another view of the square

Bologna has two tall towers in the city centre, both of which lean - one rather alarmingly, we'd never heard of them.  So, next morning we headed off to the Torre Asinelli, the tallest one (97 metres, about 320 feet), and climbed up its interminable stairs - it is much taller than the leaning tower in Pisa.  Needless to say, the view was spectacular - even the distant snowy caps of the Alps could be seen.

View across the street opposite our door as we set out

The tower casts its shadow across the city ...

The Fountain of Neptune by local artist Giambologna (1567) is a popular meeting place

Porticoes in the Piazza Maggiore

This famous terra-cotta sculpture by Nicolo dell'Arca is still arresting after 500 years

We ate in this busy friendly restaurant on our second night