Rimini - San Marino - Bologna

For a long weekend I did some touring around Italy, it was an awesome weekend!

It started off with a night in Rimini. Rimini, like basically every town in Italy has a rich and beautiful history. It's also a beach town. There are many lidos that are open in the summer. Though I find something really peaceful about beach towns in winter. There aren't as many tourists around and you can enjoy the sights without a fight. I walked around the city into the night and visited the civic museum. 

Arco di Augusto

Piazza Cavour

Ponte di Augusto e Tiberio

The next morning I got up and took a bus (only 5 euro one way) to San Marino, a small country inside of Italy. It was a long windy ride up a huge hill, but the views were totally worth it. There are several castles sitting on the edge of the hill. It was just amazing. You pay to get into the museums, 12 euro if I remember correctly and get all the gorgeous view you can take!

View to the sea. 

Looks like a fairy tale.

San Marino City Square

View from the cable car going down the hill. 

Final photo in San Marino.

The next day I took the bus back and then got on a train to Bologna. I had scheduled a food tour, but it was cancelled because they wouldn't do a tour for one person. So I settled for awesome restaurants and lots of tortellini. 

Basilica di San Petronio. Inside there are many murals, including one of the only paintings in the world of Mohammad. 

I adore sundials in old churches!

King Neptune is everywhere, including the Piazza Maggiore. 

Terracotta in the St. Peter's Church. 

Le due torri: Garesendi e degli Asinelli - you can climb to the top of the taller one for only 3 euro, but it is crowded, like there's only one way up and down. There were some jerk kids when I visited who made it hard to go up and down. 

The highlight of Bologna was the 4km pilgrimage up to Santuario Madonna di San Luca under the longest portico in the world.  

View from the top. 

Biblioteca dell' Archiginnasio, a must visit! It's covered with the crests of people who have gone to the Bologna University. 

Inside the anatomy lab at the University. It was largely destroyed in WWII and had to be rebuilt. 

I would also recommend the Basilica San Stefano, it is the oldest church in Bologna, it has layers of church. 

There are several museums to visit, like the Palazzo Pepoli which tells the history of Bologna. You can also see the ancient roots of the city in places like the Biblioteca Salaborsa, it has a glass floor so you can see the Roman ruins underneath.