Chilled Bologna

I am sitting down in the lobby typing this because I can't get the wireless connection in my room.  It worked last night, but this morning.  Nada.  Now?  Still nada.
I had a good first day out.  I thought the cold would bother me more, but my leather jacket does fine. The cold eventually did begin to get to me--the high was something like 45F, so don't scoff, and knowing what a long walk I faced back, I came home.
I am way out so it takes about half an hour to get to the historic center.  Many of the streets are lined with covered arcades and colonnades which are very welcome on a damp, drizzly day.  I strolled along, stopping to lick the occasional window.  I passed by the old city walls and through one of the old gates. At length I arrived at the heart of the city.
There are two conjoined pizzas.  The smaller is called Nettuno because there's a rather risque fountain of Neptune created by Giovanni da Bologna featuring sea nymphs and a naughty dolphin or two. Grand buildings sit around it and the Piazza Maggiore.  Both were filled with tourists and tour groups.
I crossed over to the Duomo St. Petronio.  It's facade is under restoration, so the place doesn't look like much from the outside but inside, it's magnificent.  It's Italian Gothic with some Renaissance and Baroque frosting--any period of Late Medieval or Early Modern Art you are interested in you will find.  There's also a very interested polychrome Lamentation--apparently a Very Popular subject in Bologna, because another church I visited Sta. Maria della Vita featured another even more startling and expressive version.  I can't tell you the artist's name because I left my guidebook upstairs, but he made it look like the Virgin Mary and Mary Magdalene had just come tearing in from somewhere and were totally freaking out.  Really it was quite amazing. I visited a lot of churches. The last one was a Baroque gem called San Pietro.
I also strolled down to see the Due Torre.  Intrepid travelers can go up in one of them.  I am not so intrepid any more.
Most of my time was spent in the large and elaborate Museo Civico de Archeologico.  The amazing collection goes from prehistory to the Romans. The museum is reputed to have one of the best Etruscan collections in the country, but I was more impressed by the Greek pottery.  There are wonderful examples of both Black and Red Figure vases.  The exhibits of Roman artifacts delighted me.  They had a lot of everyday objects and decorative things that normal people would use and have in their homes.
It's too cold for me to be interested in gelato.  If that changes I'll let you know.  But I had some prosciutto de Parma.  Um boy.  It's very mild and creamy tasting.  I have some tortellini with walnuts and gorgonzola waiting for me upstairs, and as I am hungry, I am going to go eat it now.
Ciao!