> in the same unconventional manner we rambled every street of NYC, DC + Rome, we (a.I. + our bedder-½, a.k.a. Sound Furies) now aim 2 systematically orient ourselves w/ this newfound town we now call home > the streets + alleys of Bologna ain't nearly as linear as the gridwork of NYC or DC, nor is it divided in2 rioni like the equally random Rome, but like clockwork, Bologna does have 12 porte, or gates, by which 2 enter the dodecagonal city center (click on the map 2 go 2 that walk):

> perhaps wheel divide our walks into 12 slices, like a pie, w/ Piazza Maggiore @ its center? or bedder yet, Asinelli tower, which can act as spindle 4 imaginary clock hands > these 12 gates are more a meta4 these days, as most of the medieval walls (in red, above, about 6 miles worth, that we circumnavigated counter-clockwise in this post) have long since decomposed or bin repurposed in2 other structures > the dotted inner lines demark the remnants of even older walls (dating back 2 the 3rd century, when it was necessary to defend 1-self from the barbarians that came w/ the fall of the Roman Empire (+ the 4 crosses also offered «spiritual» protection))

> 1 of the most distinguishing feetsures of Bologna is that almost all it's streets are lined w/ porticos, or arch-lined arcades > it has more porticos than any other city in the world, 24-miles worth in the city center, 33 miles of them if 1 counts outside the city walls, including the 666 vaulted arches leading up 2 San Luca (our 1st walk when we arrived) ... makes 1 wonder if these #s are all accidental?

> current plan is 2 start w/ #12 + work counterclockwise (just 2 be typically unorthodox) + like b4 wheel update the above map + the list below w/ a link to the post where we blog in more detail about that section of town + be 4-warned, we are by no means a reliable or knowledgeable tour guide ... 4 a bedder write-up on the history of the walls + gates 1's bedder off reading the Bologna Blog (if 1 reads Italian) ... mostly we're doing this 4 ourselves, as an excuse 4 exorcise (granted the walks might not be so long as Bologna's small), 2 eat @ restaurants in those hoods + generally just 2 get 2 know the town > maybe once we're done we'll explore more outside the city walls

12> Porta Galliera—18 Sept 2021
11> Porta delle Lame—26 Sept 2021
10> Porta San Felice—2 Oct 2021
9> Porta Sant'Isaia—2 Oct 2021
8 > Porta Saragozza— 9 Oct 2021
7 > Porta San Mamolo—9 Oct 2021
6 > Porta Castiglione— 23 Oct 2021
5 > Porta Santo Stefano—24 Oct 2021
4 > Porta Maggiore—27 Oct 2021
3 > Porta San Vitale—27 Oct 2021
2 > Porta San Donato—29 Oct 2021
1 > Porta Mascarella—29 Oct 2021

+ on 11/8 + 11/14 we ventured further in2 the periphery