It was on 2nd of Nov, late at night when my friend Umutcan, forced me and my roommate Prince for the trip. I with lot of hesitation, agreed to him. I was not at all willing to move away from my couch and cozy room. My place Piacenza has made me more tardy and lazy. Also I am doing exceptionally well at procrastinating almost everything. I had made many plans to visit Milan, Como and Lecco but my laziness was stopping me to go. But i guess Bologna, was a place which had beauty in every nook. Its one of the oldest historical place. The buildings, the color of the buildings, the pleasant climate, the people,and all together the atmosphere of the place was appalling to the eye and mind which helped me forget my other mental problems.
So it was on 3rd morning when me, Umut, Prince and Juan got ready to visit Bologna, and we boarded the train at 8 17 am at Piacenza. We reached the place by 10 10 am, and Juan whom we had woken up from a terrible sleep, boarded the train without a ticket, and unfortunately he had to get down at the next station to avoid a terrible fine. He told us not to buy the ticket and also was at the station well in advance. This can happen when you sleep late talking to your gf and have to wake up early for a trip on a chilly morning. I am sorry for him to miss such a nice trip. At Bologna we had a quick breakfast and started walking.This is a small place and Umut had marked the important places in google maps which made things easy. So from the station we started to walk to wards the oldest university, University of Bologna, which was built in 1088 AD. This is such a big university and it is well maintained with the relevance of its history enticing the naked eye.
The pic shows one of the buildings of the economics department in the university. The pathway underneath the arches is a very long one, and the other departments can be seen on both the sides. It was a very delightful walk in the lane, to see the departments. The thing which catches your eye is that color of the buildings, which are different for each of the building but are very soothing to the eye to watch. I had read sometime long back, that Bologna is a very beautiful place and I could see, what was everyone talking about. After walking around the place for some time, we walking towards Piazza Maggiore which is around 45mins walk from the railway station, if and only if you walk slowly looking at all the places and universities on the way. A brisk walk can take you in less than 30 mins. Piazza Maggiore is the place, where half of Bologna, is .The two towers, the cathedral,the fountain of neptune etc.
On our way to Piazza Maggiore, The two towers were in the visibility slowly just like a giant dinosaur hiding in front of a big building ( of course there were no buildings during the age of dinosaur) I had to have a high angle of elevation to capture the height of the tower.It was like seeing the skeleton of leaning tower of Pisa.
These are the two towers, well the inclination is also clearly visible. I didn't have the time to know about its history as it was just a one day trip and had to see many things with ease. So have to rely on google to know about its history. I dont mind going one more time to know about its history.
We took many snaps, here, as each one of us wanted a full pic with the two towers in it. A better camera would have captured our faces much clearer. After seeing the twin towers, we talked down the street in front of the towers, which took us to the cathedral. The walk from the two towers takes you to the beautiful streets of Bologna and the duomo.walking towards the Duomo you first meet with the fountain of Neptune, which is very artistic and the sound of water from it is like listening to some mind revival music. We took few shots here.
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Street infront of two towers
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| Fountain of Neptune , Prince and me |
We then visited the cathedral. This cathedral is too breathtaking and very beautiful just like all other cathedrals in Italy. Its beauty, the paintings on the walls, the history associated with it and the mental peace which you get in a holy place. But photography is not allowed in side the church.
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duomo
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We also went to the terrace of duomo, by paying 3 euros and i dont have words to say about its beauty. Just see the pictures.
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| straight view from the duomo |
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| view opposite to the face of duomo |
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| left side view from the duomo |
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| At the top of duomo |
It was a great trip for a day, it eased my mind, and i walked a lot to see the place around which in itself a good exercise. There are many more places to visit like the Osteria del Sole which is since 1645 and its a very famous hangout place for the local guys and tourists. Here you only get booze, finest of wines. You have to grab your food from some other place, buy the wine here and enjoy with your family and friends. The wine here is worth trying. It is just for 2euros.
We then returned to the station in the evening to catch the 6 24 pm train, and we went were in a very hurry to buy the ticket, pack the dinner and board the train and we boarded a wrong train and went to the other side of Bologna. It was after half and hr I realized, we are moving in the wrong direction and at Imola we got down and took the ticket to Bologna, and from there used the same ticket to Piacenza. Wasted 2 hours here, but the day and the whole time spent was worth remembering.
P.S.: sorry for the bad english, cohesion etc, it was after 2yrs i felt like writing.
