Scenes of Bologna in the springtime, 2014

Dwight Peck's personal website

Scenes of Bologna, 2014

The venerable city of porticos, towers, and canals in the springtime

Kristin's come up from Rome, I've come south from Switzerland, and we've been dashing all round Bologna's city streets, anxious not to miss a thing. 30 May 2014.

You may not find this terribly rewarding unless you're included here, so this is a good time for casual and random browsers to turn back before they get too caught up in the sweep and majesty of the proceedings and can't let go.

The Palazzo della Mercanzia, just south of the Due Torri

The Piazza della Mercanzia

In the porch of the Palazzo della Mercanzia, founded in 1384 as the civic authority over city trade, business, industry, etc.

Nearby, the Basilica di Santo Stefano, in the beautiful piazza of the same name

Lunchtime at the university

The piazza

Supposedly Bishop Petronius started this complex in the 5th century, designing it to reflect the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. There are seven churches within (the Sette Chiese).

The 8th century church of the Crucifixion, where we can start our tour (and purchase two chocolate bars made by monks)

The Calvary niche in the church of the Holy Sepulchre, the 5th century core of the complex

That's presumably the holy sepulchre replica all lit up down below.

The church of the Holy Sepulchre and supposedly a reconstruction of Pontius Pilate's courtyard (and Pilate's Basin, where he washed his hands, dating from about 740)

-- Oh no, not another one!

The cloister

The Piazza di Santo Stefano

And the church (with people nesting on giant iron eggs)

Nearby porticos

The Street of Vespas

Now for the fabulous Bologna City Museum

-- Welcome to our museum.

Great visuals. That's meant to be the old Roman Via Aemilia. We're past all the Etruscan ambience already.

This display and brief film tell the story of Enzo of Sardinia, captured at the Battle of Fossalta in 1249 and imprisoned in Bologna's Palazzo Re Enzo till his death in 1272.

-- Are you going to introduce me to your friends? (Bartolomeo Passarotti, 1575)

A hearing of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform (chairman Darrell Issa explaining protocol)
(Pharmacy of the animals, Antonio Beccadelli)

Waving the White Flag (with a kid in it). Here come the Austrians. No, those are local police during labor unrest in 1890. (Giovanni Masotti, Bandiera Bianca)

"Marconi Slept Here". We collect Marconiana, so far from Fogo Island in Newfoundland (1911), the Lizard in Cornwall (1872), Rathlin Island in Northern Ireland (1898) [and his hotel in Venice] . . . and now this.

Time for a coffee in the little cafeteria.

Street scene

Street theatre or a murder?

Getting ready for the Beginning of Summer Festival. Just as we're leaving.

Enzo's Palace and the festival fixings

The Via Rizzoli thoroughfare and the Due Torri just down the road

This Pearl Earring Ragazza thing has been following us all over throughout our visit.
The exhibit ended on the day we hit town.

Finally: the Filippo Neri church on the Via Manzoni is . . . open.

Oh my. So glad we waited! It certainly is decorative; precious almost.

Let's get out of here.

The Be You Life Pop-Up Store, on the other hand, is closed today.

Conad City, our home away from home, just down the street from our hotel -- we're paying a valedictory visit to the wine/beer aisles before leaving town.

Back to the hotel Il Canale with Kristin's Italian supermarket stock-up

The Porta Govese, our local ancient city gate

This is to commemorate the updated labels on the Birra Moretti bottles -- a very big mistake. Here's the old one.

You can't rely on much anymore.

A last visit to watch Neptune doing his hootchie kootchie dance in bronze

Ready for the big party

Look down from time to time to see where you're walking.

Here's the basilica of San Domenico -- St Dominic, Father of the Dominican Order of Preachers and the Inquisition, died here in 1221, and the members of the order bought all the land roundabout and built most of this thing in the early-mid 13th century.

St Dominic's Chapel -- the saintly old Dominic Guzman's bones are in there now (soul, who knows?).

"Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!" (M. Python)

Here's one way to identify a Dominican church . . .

Where else could you find a bookshop with pious tributes to Savonarola?

The city of porticos

-- Errmmm.

The Bird Painter is back.

We've gravitated back to the San Colombano church, for some reason.

It's time to get back to Il Canale and fetch the wheelies.

Stay cool, Il Canale. We're on the way to the train station now.

Super comfortable, super fast train to Milan first . . .

The centre of the universe. You can go anywhere from here.

But if you're going over the Alps to the north, do not go anywhere near the Trenitalia Reggio Nord to Domodossola. Wait for a Swiss train all the way to Brig.

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