Yes, we’re getting into it here. We went to breakfast here in the hotel and then for a really nice, short wander through the market area and to Santo Stefano. Bologna is a photo fest. There are architectural details, old and new, shadows and light, everywhere.
This hall was the first shot of the day:

I have been having lots of trouble with my contact lenses and yesterday, I knew I had a piece of one stuck in my eye. Finally, as we were walking, I stopped in at an Ottica (optician) and asked if they would check it out for me. A lovely woman in a white coat and Birkenstock sandals took me upstairs and looked, but no luck. The thrill for me was that nobody spoke English there and I was able to really talk and understand with my Italian. The piece of lens, by the way, finally worked its way out, hours later and I’ve been wearing my glasses.
Back to Santo Stefano–it’s a complex of 7 small, ancient churches. We were lucky because we bumped into Jerry there (he had just climbed the 500 step tower) and he had his guide book. I loved seeing this basin where Pontius Pilate washed his hands:

and all the decorative brick work, the very strange, underground housing of bones of (forgive me, please) some saint–Petronios? All of this is placed on a modern day piazza where people are meeting with their dogs, kids are playing and tourists are staring at their maps. I loved how some of the stuccoed walls across from the churches had areas of exposed detail:

And above all of it is even more interesting detail including this guy:

It started to get hot, so we walked back to the market area and stopped in the Tamburini take-out store, and the bakery just around the corner, to get stuff to make a little picnic in the room:

We took a nice long rest time and went out again in the late afternoon. I stood and listened for a while to this circle of people in the Piazza Maggiore:

They took turns standing on the step stool (soap box) and speaking. I think they were talking about doing a strike but not sure. Bologna has a great history of politics and is one of the least corrupt cities in Italy.
We came back to the hotel to shower and change for dinner. We went to Da Nello–just a 5 minute walk away and met Palma, Jerry, Marcia and David. Drank a nice Lambrusco, ate a beautiful lasagna and a veal dish called “primavera” but kind of tasted like vegetable soup???? Ken had tagliatelli with Bolognese ragu and he loved it.
A party of about 30 people came in while we were eating and made conversation difficult. We all stood outside the restaurant talking for a while and then walked home.