Awoke late today. Despite the best efforts of our most hard-working maid, our room is starting to smell funny. Heat. Bananas. Cheese. Bad combo. But it’s raining, which is lovely. A cool drizzle. The Italians are freezing. We are loving it. After breakfast, we spent hours and hours at the Archeological Museum, an amazing collectionof antiquities dating back to the Etruscan era. (Who imagined the Estruscans were so tall?) Giovanni, an extremely helpful museum guard, translated many exhibits for us. (He was the child the teacher used to call on all the time. “What’s the capital of Illinois?” He knew the answer, and now look what he does for a living!) An amazing collection of Etruscan artifacts (until the Gauls came and had to wreck it for everybody), as well as Roman, Greek, and Egyptian treasure. Lunch at McDonald’s (why not?), a bit of window shopping, and then a tour of Bascilica di San Petronio, the massive church that anchors one end of Piazza Maggiore. Construction began in 1390 and ended in the 17th century, yet it was never completed. It contains the largest interior sundial on earth, constructed by the astronomer Cassini. A short stop at the Neputune Fountain so Mike could take a million pictures. Then, a tour of the library, which contains underground Roman ruins visible through glass and cool Italian chairs.

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Got an early start today, and discovered a whole area of town not seen before, just outside our hotel. Toy shop, meat shop, restaurant, bunch of cops standing around waiting for trouble that never happens. First stop — The Basilica of San Francesco, built in 1237. Outside are the Tombs of the Glossarists — airborne catacombs for teachers of Roman law. Then on to the flower mart, and the Trambus Open. One all-day pass buys you “hop on, hop off” privileges, and a Bologna-wide tour. We opted to “hop off” in the middle of nowhere, but got a great panoramic view of the city skyline in the bargain, followed by a long slog in the heat. Back to the room for exhausted napping. It it so very, very hot. Molto caldo. But the Italians don’t seem to sweat. The men wear long-sleeved shirts with ties and jackets. Evening was devoted to shopping. Found a small wind-up surfer for Conner, an Opinel for Mike (nifty folding knife) and a purse-size fan for Liz, who has taken to pointing it at sweating waiters and waitresses, who seem grateful, or at least not too annoyed. Dinner at Cafe du Midi Restaurant and Pizzeria at Via Porto Novo. Home for a shower and a long, drained sleep.

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