Fortuitous Hiatus: Bologna, La Grassa and much more

Our next stop was Bologna via train from Venice. As it our usual plan for train travel, we brought our own charcuterie food items and some wine to have lunch on the 2 hour train ride. After our very enjoyable train ride from Venice, we arrived at the Bologna train station. The quaint, quiet passageways of Venice were behind us for now and we arrived in the very noisy, big city of Bologna.

Pic from Venice train station which is right on the Grand Canal.

Our lovely Airbnb hostess Christine had provided excellent directions to get the bus from the train station to the flat and Mike channeled a little Lewis and Clark to find a nearby Tabacchi store in which to buy bus tickets. We were able to negotiate our bags onto the bus, only smashing a few Italian citizens along the way. Christine met us at the flat and gave us the local info. The flat was well equipped and well located to the city center, yet quiet at night for sleeping.

We arrived Bologna on a Saturday afternoon and previously learned in Venice that many of the restaurants in Italy require reservations on weekends. The restaurants are small and have 2 seatings 7pm and 9pm. Without reservations and speaking only poor Italian there was a challenge ahead for dinner. Mike found a lovely restaurant within walking distance so we walked to Trattoria Nonna Rosa at around 7pm. At first they indicated there was no room, but then we understood if we were done by 9pm we could stay. We were the only people in the restaurant. Our first meal with shaved truffles, a Cotoletta alla Bolognese was delicious. By 9pm an the restaurant was bustling with locals enjoying their Saturday night out with friends. We very much enjoyed our first meal in Bologna and there were so many more to come.

Cotoletta alla Bolognese with shaved truffles

As we learned on another very good Free Walking tour Bologna is known by several nicknames: La Dotta, La Grassa, and La Rossa. The educated, the fat, and the red. The oldest university in Europe is in Bologna which earned the city its La Dotta moniker, the educated. Bologna is famed for its food products and its cuisine. Thus, La Grassa, the fat, is a second nickname the city wears, referring to its famous pork products and pasta. The tour had some history, some art, some humor and a lot of waking and enjoyable way to spend the morning. The incredible number of porticos in Bologna is striking, over 40 kilometers of covered walkways protect you from the elements as you walk this beautiful city.

Porticos

Bologna filled in most of its canals, but one remains

As luck would have it, we happen upon the local Ragu Festival on Saturday after our tour and had our first experience eating Mortadella, a Bolognese specialty. Also sampled some lasagna Bologanese too on the main square Piazza Maggiore.

Now that's a Mortadella!

Porky goodness

The weather was still pretty hot in Bologna. Mike had pre-purchased tickets to an afternoon soccer match for Bologna FC 1905. It was a fun match and the crowd was rowdy and loud, the Bologna team upset Roma to win 2-0.

So far on this trip our mantra has been..."Meat, wine, cheese...Repeat". This continued in Bologna. A stop at Salumeria Simoni was a highlight of our food in Bologna. Order the Royal Plate, you will be glad you did. We continued to enjoy Bologna's food, wine, cocktail culture throughout our stay.

Yes, we ate it all!

It was easy to enjoy the city sights in the daytime and at night. Between Google and the bus system, we were able to get around everywhere we wanted to. On our last full day, I found a tour and tasting experience slightly outside the city at Caprigiani Gelato University. Luckily, a local bus took us right to the door of the facility. We toured their museum of gelato equipment and learned the origins of gelato dating back to 1700 BC, the Mesapotamians used snow to freeze fruit liquids into a granita-like treat. Oh but it has gotten so much better over the years. Caprigiani holds 80% of the worldwide gelato machine market and offers courses to become certified in gelato making.

Old time gelato cart

Mike intently working on granita

Sign for women's toilette

This gelato is a work of art

Our tour included a short gelator-making course which involved making our own granita and learning about the differences between ice cream and gelato. It was a lot of fun and very delicious too as we sampled pistachio and the original plain cream gelato.

We both really enjoyed Bologna, not too touristy, but a vibrant with fantastic food and easy transportation. Now the fun really begins, picking up a rental car from Bologna and the onward to Emillia-Reggiano for more Meat, wine, cheese...Repeat".