Bologna

After our time in Venice, we took a train to meet up with one of Steve's collaborators, Dr. Franca Scanabissi, at the University of Bologna. Unfortunately for Steve, he got food poisoning by eating clams in Venice, so the first of the 2-days in Bologna was LESS THAN PLEASANT for him! Nonetheless, he recovered in time to take in a day of Bologna.

A cool fountain in the main plaza in Bologna. It was especially cool for Claudia since it has the mermaid/merman theme!

Here is a shot of one of the nicer buildings surrounding the main square.

These are two "leaning towers" in Bologna. The one on the left was leaning so much that it had to be lopped off for fear of falling over. The one on the right is only slightly leaning, and one can still climb the ~300 stairs inside to see Bologna (see below)

A small walking road in downtown Bologna.

Here's a shot of Sarah and Sophie (upper left) and Steve (lower right) climbing the 300+ stairs of the "leaning tower of Bologna." The stairs were a big treacherous in places, since they were a bit damp from the fog and were worn down from the hundreds of visitors to the tower. Plus, it was almost vertigo-inducing to look down the center of the tower!

This is the view from the top of the leaning tower. Unfortunately, right before we decided to head to the tower, a strong fog rolled in. We only got a few shots straight down before the fog totally obscured even this shot. Apparently, Bologna was known for its towers, and there were hundreds of them in the town. Over time, they were almost all taken down because of instability and leaning, so only a few remain.