Everyone was a little tired from our Sunday nights. I gather Marion and Tom had a bad night’s sleep and I had a long travel day. We took an easy day around Bologna. We went out and had cappuccinos and hot chocolate and caught up. It was great to see them after two months of being in France.

We then wandered to the Basilica of San Petronio, the sixth largest church in the world. It is built in the Gothic style. One of its most famous features is a meridian line that is 67 meters and there is an aperture in the ceiling that shows noon on the line. It is slightly off of clock time as clock time is uniformed. It is very impressive.

We had a very nice lunch Vicolo Comlumbia. A very small restaurant off a side street. It was recommended by the hotel. It was very local – only one other English speaking group. I had Spaghetti with Vongole. We had a cheese and charcuterie starter (No picture). One of the meats was bologna which is not surprising since we are in Bologna but it was much bettter than Oscar Meyer.

We wandered around the city but really did not do much other than look at building from the outside. Bologna has some wonderful arcades on many buildings. There will be pictures of these tomorrow.

After a rest to catch up on the loss of sleep, we went out for our Apertivo at a local wine bar. We had a nice bottle of Sangiovese which is the local grape variety here.

For dinner we went to Terasina, another hotel recommendation. It was pretty amusing as the locals all were inside and the tourists were outside. In all fairness, the restaurant had a number of large parties with reservations that were inside. Tom and I split the saddle of rabbit which was very god. I think it was the first time I had ordered it in a restaurant rather than cooking it at home. The potato accompaniment was great as they were roasted perfectly with very crisp outsides. I wondered what fat they used to get them that crisp. We had some other nice starters. Marion had the Tagliatelle with bolognese sauce. I will have to try the bolognese today as it originated here.

We had a nice Lambrusco with dinner. It is another local wine.

It was a little chilly sitting outside and I had to take a warm shower to warm up before I went to bed. I brought warm clothes but not my heaviest coat so was not totally prepared for the cold.

All in all a fun day and it was great to see Tom and Marion.

We are staying at the Albergo delle Drapperie which is an old hotel in the heart of the city. It is very charming and very Italian. The staff is very friendly and it is a nice hotel.