Continued from Bologna 2026 Day 1.

Traveling with food allergies for PL. We Google translate this and then show it to the wait staff everywhere we eat at.

It’s morning and he’s already bouncing off the walls.

We are going to tackle Bologna at a slower pace. Goal it’s just to casually walk around the old city and have a look around. Also, eat really good food.

Everywhere there’s Lego stores. PL keeps begging for legos while we travel. No! I’m not carrying those big boxes all the way back to Austin!

He wanted this photo with the world cup trophy lego.

The main square of the city, Piazza Maggiore.

Looking for some breakfast pastries.

We originally sat down at a table outside, but it was too hot, so we went and got our food to go, and then after we left we quickly realized they forgot half of our order. Blah, so we had to go back and get the rest of the order.

RL wanted a breakfast smoothie, so she found this shop. After the smoothie allergy incident for PL in Paris, no more unknown and untried smoothies for her.

Yup ahead is the Basilica di San Petronio, it’s unfinished, hence only pretty white facade on half of it…It’s been unfinished for hundreds of years, I guess it’ll never get finished.

We see these rings all over the city. For tying horses in the old days?

It’s pretty imposing looking and man, it’s really unfinished. It’s like they just ran out of budget and said screw it. But because of that its kind of a really cool look.

I saw this in the main plaza. Let’s do this, sit around, and let it drive us around the city and get a lay of the land. It doesn’t leave for a big, so we’ll have some more time to roam around.

Shoulders all have to be covered, they handed RL a single use shoulder cover (which you have to pay for).

The interior is just ok as well. Feels a little empty, a little unfinished.

Some of these side chapels are well decorated, others are very bare.

Look at this decked out chapel. It occurred to chapels are just like private stadium box suites that you can decorate yourself. It’s just a way to flex to other families with their barely decorated chapels and the peasants who are sitting in the regular pews.

CL points.

Oh look, you can buy a San Petronio Basilica branded fan in the gift shop!

Accidentally selfie photo.

Back of the basilica equally unfinished.

Now headed to visit the two leaning towards of Bologna.

Both of these towers are centuries old, and both are leaning, especially the shorter one.

No, that’s not really too much camera angle. The short tower really is leaning A LOT. In fact, it’s in such precarious position that they’ve fenced off the area under where it’s leaning so that when it does fall over, it won’t kill anyone.

Yeah, it’s crazy that it’s still standing.

Look at it! It’s got a crazy lean!

Alright, it’s time to board our little tour tram.

Single use headphone with guide in multiple languages.

Neptune fountain in the middle of the square.

RL wasn’t feeling the greatest from her smoothie this morning, I asked her if she wanted to skip the ride and I’ll go with the kids. She thought she would be ok (later she said she didn’t think I’d be happy with her if she said she needed to skip)….but it’s looking like she’s not going to be ok.

Nope, not OK at all. Healthy smoothies while traveling is a bad idea, no more! She wanted to get off and walk home, but the stop button on the train isn’t working. She’ll just have to hang out for another 20 minutes of this 40 min tour. How miserable.

Lots of graffiti on this side of town close to the university. Did you know Bologna has the world’s oldest university?

Meanwhile, RL is holding on for dear life on this very bumpy ride holding her bag of puke in her hands. Poor RL…

To be continued at Bologna 2026 Day 2 Part 2.