4- Grand bicycle tour in Italy from 2011 (Bologna)

In the village of Gallo I strike up a conversation with an old lady. I speak a little bit of italian and a decent french. She is interested in my adventure and invites me in her garden. She gives me some sandwiches and some orage juice. She tells me a very sad story of her life. She used to have two sons who unfortunatelly tragically died in some car accidents. I am pretty impressed with her story and I rest a bit on a chair in her garden musing over the implacable destiny.

The old lady has lovely flowers and plants.

I carry on cycling on SS64 and in the next locality I stop to visit another intersting church.

Inside I find a huge tombstone.

Next to the church there is a huge stone.

My next stop will be in a public garden where I see some naked statues.

And an crooked tree.

In the vicinity of Bologna I meet a derelict coach.

Soon I get to Bologna. Short history taken from the internet. Bologna (/bəˈloʊnjə/, UK also /bəˈlɒnjə/, Italian: [boˈloɲɲa] (About this soundlisten); Bolognese: Bulåggna [buˈlʌɲːa]; Latin: Bonōnia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 390,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities.[4] Its metropolitan area is home to more than 1,000,000 people. Originally Etruscan, the city has been one of the most important urban centres for centuries, first under the Etruscans (who called it Felsina), then under the Celts as Bona, later under the Romans (Bonōnia), then again in the Middle Ages, as a free municipality and signoria, when it was among the largest European cities by population. Famous for its towers, churches and lengthy porticoes, Bologna has a well-preserved historical centre, thanks to a careful restoration and conservation policy which began at the end of the 1970s.[6] Home to the oldest university in the Western world,[7][8][9][10][11] the University of Bologna, established in AD 1088, the city has a large student population that gives it a cosmopolitan character. In 2000 it was declared European capital of culture[12] and in 2006, a UNESCO "City of Music" and became part of the Creative Cities Network.[13] Bologna is an important agricultural, industrial, financial and transport hub, where many large mechanical, electronic and food companies have their headquarters as well as one of the largest permanent trade fairs in Europe. According to the most recent data gathered by the European Regional Economic Growth Index (E-REGI) of 2009, Bologna is the first Italian city and the 47th European city in terms of its economic growth rate.[14] As a consequence, Bologna is also one of the wealthiest cities in Italy, often ranking as one of the top cities in terms of quality of life in the country: in 2020 it ranked 1st out of 107 Italian provinces View from the top of the Basilica di San Petronio: the dome of Santuario di Santa Maria della Vita dominates the foreground; the Asinelli (higher) and Garisenda towers ("Due Torri") are seen on the right.

The street life here is so colourful with plenty of students and weird characters.

I see plenty of bicyclists, too.

Lots of magnificent churches can be found here.

I wander around the old town and I come across "due torri".

I stroll on many narrow streets.

Some painted walls appear in front of me.

Everywhere I may roam I meet grand palaces. Most of them are red, the nickname of Bologna is The Red Town and here was founded the first western university in 1088 which is considered the world's oldest university in continuous operation.