Bologna: The Heart of Italy’s Emilia-Romagna Region
The name Bologna might conjure up childhood memories of not-so-great sandwiches, but Bologna and the surrounding area known as Emilia-Romagna is a food capitol that is not to miss. One of Bologna’s nicknames is “La Grassa,” the fat one (along with La Dotta, the educated one, as Bologna is home to the oldest university in Europe).
I laughed this week when I saw Rick Steves post on social media that he got “stuck” in Bologna due to a cancelled flight – and commented that he had traveled to Bologna decades ago but “wasn’t impressed.” I understand – there are so, so many wonderful places in Italy and only so many pages in a guidebook. Bologna is not your Italian destination if you are hoping for ancient Roman ruins or want to see the creme-of-the-crop Renaissance art, but if you want to eat really, really, REALLY good food in the oldest college town in Europe, you don’t want to miss Bologna and the surrounding region of Emilia Romagna. This is where you come to live your best foodie life.
Getting Here
Most travelers will arrive by train, tacking the region of Emilia-Romagna on to cities like Florence (40 minutes), Venice (90 minutes), or Milan (75 minutes). Bologna does have a nice, easy little airport, and when we compared the one hour nonstop flight from Bari to Bologna on RyanAir to the 7 hour all-day train ride, we opted to fly. I had actually never flown on Ryan Air before and was not enthused, but the price and itinerary made sense. And we lived to tell the tale. There is a train that runs from the airport to downtown Bologna for easy access.
All of Emilia-Romagna can be seen utilizing Bologna as a home base: Parma and Modena are both an easy train ride or drive away (the cheese producing area of Parma is a little over an hour drive), and Bologna is the best home base if you want a larger, more vibrant city. If you want a more tranquil town, I would opt for Modena. (Parma and Modena will be covered in another post).
Bologna
Our home base in Bologna was the Hotel Corona d’Oro, which we chose based on location, the promise of a functional elevator for my parents, and that we could book rooms on points through the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal. The location was quite ideal; it was near all of the major sights and we found it rarely necessary to stroll further than about two blocks to find an excellent local place for a meal or apertivo.
Bologna is a bustling college town, and it definitely felt crowded after spending a week in tranquil Puglia. Stepping out of a restaurant after dinner, you could be almost overwhelmed by the thrones of people out for the nightly passagiata (stroll). And partake, you should.
Walking around the city center, two things that stand out about Bologna’s architecture are the towers and the porticos. The towers (torre) sprinkled through the city are speculated to have been owned by wealthy families and used for defense in the 12-13th century. At one time there were possibly as many as 180, though some historians think the number is more likely 80-100. Some were taken down, some collapsed, and now less than 20 remain. And some of those are looking a little tipsy…. For a view, it is possible to climb the Torre Degli Asinelli…but be forewarned, it is 498 steps to the top. (Asinelli’s neighboring tower, Torre Degli Garisenda, is shorter and used to be open to the public, but is now closed due to it’s tilt).
Should you want to stay in one, Torre dei Prendiparte has been remodeled into a bed and breakfast, and is just a short walk from Piazza Maggiore (when we strolled by, they were also offering the option to climb this tower for a view). For a mere 250-step climb, it is also possible to climb Basilica di San Petronio for city views (as of 2022, you’ll find the entrance to the climb at the back of the Basilica, amidst the scaffolding being used for restoration).
Porticos were built to increase living space and date back to the year 1041. Porticos actually became required in 1288. There are 40km of porticos in city center, made of stone, brick, or wood. While adding unique charm to the city, these are also quite handy on very sunny and/or rainy days.
Bologna is also home to arguably Europe’s oldest university and one of the most interesting sites to me was the Archiginnasio Palace. This is home to the oldest “teatro anatomico,” a theater used to demonstrate cadaver dissection to medical students and was designed in 1637. At the front, the lecturer would sit, flanked by two wooden statues of “skinned men”, with the marble cadaver table in front. Above the lecturer, a winged angel delivers a femur to the Allegory of Anatomy. Around the perimeter are 12 statues of famous physicians, such as Hippocrates. The detail in the construction of the room was incredible.
Outside, the hallways of the school were covered in coats of arms (about 6,000 in total) dedicated to the graduates of the school. Further inside were other classrooms and an extensive library.
Food, glorious food!
For an introduction to the city’s best offerings, we took a food tour with Taste Bologna. After having a private guide in Puglia, it was a bit of a culture shock to be in a group tour. While there was nothing wrong with the stops we made, the route we took was a bit illogical with lots of backtracking (it would have made more sense to start and end at the Mercato delle Erbe). I’ll run you through some wonderful stops in case you want to plan your own food tour, senza guide, on your own pace.
(1) Our first stop after a rundown of some of the sights in Piazza Maggiore was for coffee and pastry at Cafe Pasticceria Gamberini. This high-end bakery had counters filled to the brim with stunning pastries. We sampled torta di riso, a baked rice pudding with a caramelized top is the only local dessert unique to Bologna. Nice to try, but the display case is full of amazing looking tortes and pastries so I suggest getting one of the torta di riso to try, and then pick out a smattering of whatever else looks good. FYI, the coffee here is excellent.
(2) On to the Mercato delle Erbe – a smorgasbord of fruit and vegetable vendors (as well as meat and fish), this is a great stop to pick up some fresh fruit of the season. There are also food stalls here where you can have lunch.
(3) To watch tortellini being made by hand, head to the north exit of the Mercato delle Erbe and cross the street to find Le Sfogline. Tortellini here are made with a combination of 1/3 pork roast (cooked), 1/3 mortadella, and 1/3 proiscutto along with 36-month aged Parmigiano Reggiano. Common ways to serve this tortellini is in a rich chicken broth (which really showcases the flavor of the tortellini), and a Parmigiano cream sauce.
(4) Shop for a little charcuterie. The street Pescherie Veccie has many options. Bruno e Franco, near Hotel Corono d’Oro, is another wondeful salumeria, and they also sell homemade pasta (made upstairs down the street, above Prosciuttoria). Besides prosciutto, our other favorite local cured meat was salami zia ferrarese.
(5) To enjoy charcuterie with a little local color, head to Osteria del Sole. In operation since 1465, this is a true osteria that serves wine only, akin to how some brew pubs operate in the US: you buy some of their local wine, you sit at a no-frills community table, and you are welcome to bring in your own food. Given the heat and the lack of outdoor picnic options in Bologna, it is an enjoyable way to try some local wine and also enjoy some of the snacks you picked up on your stroll around town. Pignoletto is the local white sparkling wine of the area. Common reds served in this area are Sangiovese and Barbera.
(6) Gelato! Our group headed back to the Mercato, and I will admit the gelato shop on the south entrance of the market (facing Via Ugo Bassi) is excellent. We also had pretty amazing gelato elsewhere. Bologna is home to a gelato university (no, I am not kidding), so the standards are pretty high here.
(7) Apertivo. There is nothing like escaping the heat for a little wine. Not far from Piazza Maggiore, there is a little street called Via Altabella with some great little cafes and offers a relatively quaint area to enjoy an Aperol Spritz. if you are craving wine, I recommend snagging an outdoor seat at Medulla Vini, an organic wine bar that is also a great people watching spot.
And last but not least, dinner. We had two outstanding meals here. The first was Ristorante Ciacco, just a block from our hotel and across from the wine bar. The small outdoor patio (reservations needed) was perfect for people watching and the food was excellent. The second was Trattoria da Me, on the outskirts of town, about a 20 minute walk from the hotel. Reservations are absolutely necessary. We went on a Sunday, and the Sunday special is always lasagna Bolognese (del nonna of course). We sampled many a lasagna on our trip and this won the prize! The rest of the dishes here have a modern flair but were excellent. But oh, that lasagna…..
Last but not least, if you like jazz, I highly recommend Cantina Bentivoglio, a local restaurant, wine bar, and jazz club. Reservations are recommended, and English is not well spoken here, but the place is full of character and you will likely be the only tourist. The menu is filled with Bolognese staples, and everything we tried was excellent.
