After exploring San Petronio Basilica and having a snack at Sfoglia Rina we wandered around a bit. There is quite a bit to see in Bologna and we only scratched the surface during our time here. We were ending our trip to Emilia-Romagna in Bologna and we still had two more fairly busy days ahead, so we decided just to take in the city a bit and wander around.
When visiting the city; you really can't miss "Le Due Torri"; the Two Towers one of the symbols of the city. It is said that there were once over a hundred of these towers in the city which were used to symbolize wealth, power, and for a more practical purpose; to protect and watch over the owners holdings. Today there are about 20 of these left.
We headed down bustling Via Rizzoli and took a random right on Via dell'Indipendenza, then took another left and ended up at what looked like a church. 
This is the Chiesa dei Filippini Madonna di Galliera e Filippo Neri….wow, talk about a mouthful. Curious, we decided to take a look.
The structure was badly damaged by bombs in 1944, but was painstakingly restored to its current state and reopened to the public in 1999.
It was a fun stop for us; a nice little respite on this walk.
It was time for us to check into our apartment; so we headed back.
Down this somewhat ominously named street.
The street of "discontent"?
As we got close to the apartment; we noticed a crowd around his window.
So we took a look…..and saw….well, what looked like a stream?
Apparently there once was a whole system of canals throughout the city….most of which are now underground. This is one of the few places where you can catch a glimpse of Bologna's "hydraulic" system that once powered the city.
We relaxed a bit and took a short nap. We decided to stay fairly close by for dinner and just randomly chose this little Trattoria.
The place soon filled up with people who looked like they were headed home from work; the odd family, students, and well, us….the token tourists.
The menu had all of the regional standards. We read that this little trattoria has been here since 1968.
Soon enough the paper bag of bread landed at our table.
We never really enjoyed the bread in Emilia-Romagna; it's hard, dry, and pretty much tasteless. Though we did try the one that looks like it belongs at the end of a medieval weapon.
The Tagliere Salumi e Forgaggi was quite good; especially the Parmesan Reggiano; it was obviously aged a bit because of all the tyrosine crystals.
The mortadella was the best of the salumi.
This time it was the Missus who went with the Tortellini en Brodo.
The pasta was nice and tender; the filling well flavored. The broth was a little light and needed salt.
You do not get Spaghetti Bolognese in Bologna….in fact, there is no such dish in Bologna…except perhaps at a tourist restaurant. What you do get is the tagliatelle al ragù.
Hand made fresh pasta; with a slow cooked meat based sauce. The pasta was quite nice; good pull and texture. The meat in the sauce was rather hard and chewy. I enjoyed how the pasta was dressed as this could be on the rather rich side.
Overall, an okay dinner, it was also perhaps one of the cheapest meals we had on this trip. And, as you can tell, we didn't leave hungry.
Trattoria Tony
Via Augusto Righi 1/B
Bologna, Italy
We headed off to bed rather early…..tomorrow was going to be quite a busy day for us with lots of food involved.
Stay Tuned!