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ROF= Ring of fire journey
ITL= Italy Journey
Thursday November 19, 2015
Bologna, Italy 3 more 1st day late afternoon
Exiting the Cathedral you take a minute to gain your composure. I want to go on to the other dome I saw from the plaza square.
Headed towards a street to the dome... a couple of street musicians are there hustling up a few bucks by their music talent. An acoustical guitar & a squeezebox accordion... these guys were good. A LOT of spirit, energy, enthusiasm in their music. Of course I had to drop a Euro in their case. I appreciate talent... musical, paint, sculpture.... All of it!!! It's the sciences, Math/ geometry/ algebra/ building/ engineering/ mechanical that we do to MAKE a living. It's the Arts.... Music/ dance/ paint/ sculpture/ literature/ poetry that we LIVE for.
I respect the spirit of street musicians, starving artists by choice, that say let's get out today and hustle up some bucks. You know.... eat, pay the rent, make a buck for a date tonight w/ a lady. Those are my kind of people. I always make sure to put something in the guitar case. ... I give them my respect with a small donation and a big thank you.
Down the small Bologna street a few blocks and come to the Two Towers. There is a leaning tower in Bologna. (Pisa is well known for it's leaning tower... Bologna is as phenomenal!)
Wikipedia: the famous Two Towers: the Asinelli Tower (97 m) and the Garisenda Tower (48 m).
They are located at the intersection of the roads that lead to the five gates of the old ring wall (mura dei torresotti). It was located at the site of the early medieval Gate to the Via Emilia, the Porta Ravennate, now remembered by the name of the adjacent Piazza di Porta Ravegnana. The taller tower is called the Asinelli while the smaller but more leaning tower is called the Garisenda
There was street work nearby that had the entrance of the dome cathedral closed so I missed that.
The rest of the afternoon walked the side streets and backtracked to the main drag and back to the apartment by dusk.
Going by il Portico, Paolo's restaurant the bread smelled wonderful. we'll come back for a kings dinner after we regroup. ...also see Paolo's il Portico restaurant blog post.
This was a walk through mid evil Europe as good as it gets. A small city, easily walked sights, great architecture, great history, great Cathedrals and sights, great people,... Bologna was the best of Italy.
A good day.
