Beautiful Bologna

Today was an especially beautiful and sunny day in Bologna. Actually, I am not sure why I added the word especially, because this suggests that Bologna is normally beautiful and sunny. Do not let me fool you--Bologna is normally neither of these two things. Actually, it is interesting, because a lot of people lament the constant gray sky that hangs over our fair city. I, however, do not. Why don't I? Because a gray sky is normal for me, after living in Ithaca, NY for 10 years and Seattle for 3 years. Both of these cities are sunny and beautiful in the summer, as is Bologna, but in the winter? No way....So, Bologna's perpetual gray sky suits me just fine....

Anyway, today we had sun and blue skies. Here is a picture of Bologna, taken from the penthouse of the Bologna Center, my home away from home. This picture was taken at about 9:30 AM, during a break in class. Pretty nice, huh?

Later this afternoon, I decided to go Christmas shopping. I do not like shopping. But the sunset time was pretty, so this helped to soften the blow....Here are some pictures of Piazza Maggiore, taken at about 5 PM:

After the shopping part of the program, I strolled down Rizzoli to take in the Christmas street lights:

Oh, and in case you were using this post to decide whether you want to visit me/Bologna, please forget what I said about the gray skies. I didn't mean it. Really....