Bologna – katiescapes

When you teach a child something, you take away forever his chance of discovering it for himself.
Jean Piaget

We spent a day venturing beyond Bologna to Modena & Reggio Emilia. They are both known for their food products (shocker!) but they have other draw cards we were interested to see as well.

Our first stop was Modena, most well known as the home of Balsamic vinegar. We did a tasting of course, and bought some delightfully aged “black gold” to bring home with us. You may also know that the world #1 restaurant, Osteria Francescana, is located in Modena. We couldn’t get a table (and even if we had, we probably couldn’t afford it) but we walked by to have a look and we were surprised at how unassuming it is. You wouldn’t even look twice if you didn’t know what to look for! It is beautiful and understated, but very well hidden in the backstreets alongside some office buildings – quite strange.

While in Modena, we also visited the Ferrari museum. Sam has been getting into the Formula 1 lately, so he was keen to see the cars and learn a bit about how they worked. The museum is very impressive, even for people who aren’t particularly interested in cars…guilty! It is fascinating to see the sleek designs and the improvement in the mechanics over the years. I really enjoyed the opportunity to practice photographing subject matter that was very different to anything I’ve done before. You could look up-close at the engines and read about the specifications – all of which is a bit beyond me, but they were certainly interesting to look at!

We had lunch in Modena and a bit of a walk through the town. We couldn’t believe how few people were around – it seemed like a bit of a ghost town. The architecture is quite similar to that of Bologna, with porticos casting more beautiful shadows across the city. It was much easier to get a good shot here since there weren’t any people walking through the frame!

After lunch in Modena we made our way to Reggio Emilia, the home of Parmigiano Reggiano cheese. I was determined to go here for another reason, though. This town is the birth place of an early childhood education & development philosophy that is widely respected and commonly referred to within the industry in Australia. You can visit the original Reggio Emilia school for conferences and other professional development opportunities. Unfortunately the school is closed to visitors at the moment, but we did get to view some exhibitions displaying current research findings.
I went full nerd here. It was amazing.
Sam could not have been less interested if he tried.
Luckily for him, there were no photos allowed inside so it was a pretty efficient visit!

We managed to tick off both of these towns in one day…very easily. I’m not sure if it is more lively on the weekends, but we were almost the only people walking the streets in both towns. A lot of shops and restaurants were closed, so once we had seen what we came to see, there was really no reason to stick around. Beautiful produce and stunning architecture – and lots to learn at Reggio Children!

Life is too short, and I’m Italian. I’d much rather eat pasta and drink wine than be a size 0.
Sophia Bush

Well, our journey from Malcesine to Bologna was tedious and extremely frustrating.
Hot tip: Don’t try and travel anywhere near Lake Garda by bus on a Saturday. There is one single-lane road in and out, and it seems all the Italians make their way up there from Verona for the weekend. The first bus was delayed by an hour, which meant we missed our connection and waited an hour for the next bus (which was also delayed, so it was more like 90 minutes!) and another hour for our train.

BUT…we are finally in Bologna and life is good! Far be it from me to complain about waiting for bus while gallivanting on a 7-week European adventure! The view from our Airbnb isn’t bad either.

Bologna is widely known as the “food capital” of Italy, being the home of Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, balsamic vinegar of Modena, Parma ham, mortadella and everything in between. We tried a traditional local dish called Tortellini in Brodo, which is simply freshly made tortellini floating in a meat based broth. It was a strange sensation, almost like a short soup with an Italian twist! Of course we had some spaghetti bolognese, but you dare not call it that here! You need to order Tagliatelle al Ragu. The Bolognese people are very particular about this, and I’m with them! It is so much more delicious with tagliatelle rather than spaghetti – the thicker pasta holds the sauce much more nicely. We visited one particularly popular restaurant called Osteria dell’Orsa to try both of these dishes. It was well worth the wait!

The city is filled with covered walkways called porticos. They are all beautifully tiled and create gorgeous shadows at different times of day. The main square, Piazza Maggiore, hosts Basilica di San Petronio – an enormous Gothic church with 22 chapels. It’s a beautiful church on the inside, with each chapel being decorated slightly differently depending on who owns them. There are many towers throughout the city, but there are two right beside each other. One of these leans even more than the Leaning Tower of Pisa!

We came across the city’s oldest Osteria, Osteria del Sole, where they only serve alcoholic beverages. If you don’t drink, you are kindly asked to wait outside! They don’t serve food either, but you can bring your own. We picked up some tigelle and went in and had lunch with the locals in a very homely environment.

On our final night, we discovered the university district. I wish we had found it a little earlier, as there were bars and restaurants full of locals, in what seemed like a glimpse into real Bolognese life. The city centre can often feel completely geared to tourists, and you’re never sure if you are seeing the authentic culture or lifestyle of the city. If I am lucky enough to return to Bologna, I will definitely be starting by exploring the city fringe!