Towers, Human Dissection, and Scupture in Northern Italy

The famous "David" sculpture in Florence, Italy

After a week in the Dolomite mountains, our next week would be a bit less about hiking and climbing iron cables and a bit more about culture, art, old cities, and history. It was a time to relax a bit, taste the incredible food or Northern Italy, and do like tourists do for a while.

Dissection table at Teatro Anatomico

The "skinless men"

Our home base was Bologna, Italy. Joanne talked about our cool apartment there. I'll just add that I've never seen an entry door more like a bank vault than the one we had! I don't think a tank could have broken in. We were right outside "the wall" (which in our case was a small remnant of brick just as a reminder of olden days). We walked to the city center several times, climbing Asinelli Tower one day (as Joanne mentioned). We also went to see a historical library (part of the old University) that contained a classroom (called "Teatro Anatomico") where human dissections were performed under the watchful eye of the Spanish Inquisition! Being a Monty Python fan, I had to see this place. There was a large marble dissection table in the center of the room, and there were wooden statues of skinless men as well as various historical figures gods, etc.

One of our day trips was to Florence, where the famous "David" statue is a must-see. Just like Joanne, I also was glad we saw this icon, which I studied in art history so long ago. And I agree with Joanne that our meal in Florence was awesome. Ed and I visited the Duomo, which was pretty cool, and we climbed a tower to get a better view of the outside of its magnificent dome.

The other towns we visited really let us get an overall feeling for this part of Northern Italy, and the food was quite amazing.

Bologna felt like a big city, even in the "old town". It felt somewhat "dingy". And what's more, Florence also felt this way, but a little less so. After the small, beautiful towns in the Dolomites, the air here was less fresh, the crowds were more crowded, and the industrial influence of the modern world definitely made itself known.