Destination: Bologna

When you live in Central Tuscany, you can reach points Northern or Southern Italy with relative ease. The region of Emilia-Romagna is literally less than one hour from home. It may not be the ultimate tourist destination as Rome, Florence or Venice would be–but it was ours this past weekend. We headed to Bologna, a beautiful city of under 400,000 and home to the oldest, continuously operating university in Europe. The Romans called it Bononia from which it derives its name. And what a vivacious city it is. Beautiful porticoes run throughout the old historical center–miles and miles of them–offering shelter from the elements and nooks to steal a embrace under. This region is absolutely celebrates for its gastronomy and rightfully so. Every food shop had mouth-watering displays whether delectable pastries, candied dried fruit or hand-made pasta such as delicate, prosciutto-filled tortellini. Some wonderful food experiences were enjoyed.
We headed to Cucina 24, located inside a modern hotel, which does a prix fixe menu for 15 Euro including all liquids, bottled water, good wine and espresso. The menu is small, offering a choice of meat, fish or vegetarian, which chef Cesare Marretti changes up daily. Portions were absolutely perfect–I had a gourmet burger served on an a bed of lettuce and fruit, interesting combo I thought, and everything was fresh and seasonal–washed down with good local wine. As most recently in Florence and Chicago, Eataly has also landed in Bologna’s charming historic center–abuzz with crowds of locals thoroughly enjoying delicious made-in-the-spot sandwiches holding thin slices of mortadella or roasted peppers or creamy mozzarella slices. We opted to eat our sandwiches at Osteria Del Sole, a truly local establishment established in 1465(!)where you bring in your food and buy something to drink to wash it down. Nothing fancy about it. It’s low-ceilinged, a reminder that people were shorter in the Middle Ages, and crammed with artwork and celebrity photos where everyone sits at long benches where striking up a conversation is part of the fun. The 60ish gentleman next to us–his nom de plume is Zap and Ida; love it–was drawing away and in no time had drawn us into his world of comical cartoon sketches he had with him. Apparently he’s a well-known personage around Bologna where incidentally many famous cartoonists and illustrators created a thriving scene here. We ended the cold chilly at our friend’s home for a bowl of tortellini in brodo; for me, the perfect dish with a sprinkling of parmigiano reggiano. Bologna is so much more: antique stores and black-clad hipsters, a medieval passageway and frescoed ceiling, a table of old friends laughing and toasting, an evening passeggiata, immigrants and Kebab shops.