Welcome back to “When Wine Calls” from romantic Italy.
Our first stop in Italy was Bologna. It our first visit to this city which is one of the largest university towns in Italy and so full of history. In comparison to where we have been to date on this trip the weather when we exited the airport terminal was extremely hot with a temperature in the mid 30’s.
On arrival at the airport, we were surprised that our flight was the only one there so our baggage came through unbelievably fast, and we were in the arrival hall in no time – it was like being in an airport like Coffs Harbour or Ballina. Our driver had been delayed so while we were waiting it became eident that we had been lucky with our plane arrival as suddenly the terminal was full of people everywhere. The driver rang and told us was nearby and to meet him outside near the Lamborghini. Not sure where that was, we headed towards the entrance and there was this startling green sleek Lamborghini on display. We subsequently found out that Bologna is the home of both Lamborghini and Maserati. What a spectacular welcome to Bologna.
We had booked “Hotel Corona D’Oro” located in the middle of the Old Town, and it was spectacular to see our driver negotiate the narrow-ston roads weaving his way down streets dodging tourist and locals alike, eventually turning a tight corner at the end of a narrow laneway and stopping in front of the hotel. If you did not know it was here, you would never find this hotel even though it goes back to 1890 but it was in a superb location for exploring the city. The hotel itself is wonderfully decorated with a great bar overlooking a courtyard set in what we chose to call “Tuscan style” not that the locals would agree with that description, but it was a combination of the terracotta and sandstone colours contrasting on each wall.
The lounge area was set in an atrium in the middle of the building which made it light and airy, and we used this area one rainy morning to have coffee and catch up on communications – great spot to while away a few hours when you are on the go each day.
After settling into our room, we went for a walk to familiarise ourselves with the city and after walking passed many outdoor restaurants that looked made for tourists (not for us) we stumbled across Ristorante Teresina which was in a small gap between two buildings – you certainly could not call it a laneway.
The location of this restaurant was just magic, and we really enjoyed the night even if it was 36 degrees at 10pm in the evening. We ordered an entrée to share of Il Fritto di Fiori di Zucca and to our surprise out came an entire plate of fried zucchini flowers – just to die for. For mains we both ordered different pasta dishes – for me Tagliatelle al Ragu (they do not use the term “Bolognese” commonly in Bologna interestingly) and for Pauline “Tortelloni ripieni di ricotta e spinaci al burro e salvia “(i.e tortellini stuffed with ricotta and spinach with butter and sage) – it had to be the best pasta we have eaten to date enjoyed with great Italian wine.
When the bill arrived, we noted an item titled “coperto” which was not something we had ordered and comprised, apart from the wine, the highest value on the bill. Prior to questioning it we thought we should google the term and discovered that they charge a service fee here which worked out to be around 30% of the bill. We also noted in the post we found that it is no point in arguing the amount and so we just paid the bill after a lovely evening and said to ourselves “Welcome to Italy”. During our stay in Bologna, we noted that the coperto charge altered in every restaurant and café, so we didn’t even attempt to work it out although our research suggested it is supposed to be a flat, fixed per person cover charge and is a long-standing cultural practice in Italy.
After dinner we went for a stroll and found the Piazza Maggiore where there were stacks of people sitting in the square listening to a person talking in Italian on stage in front of a very large screen. It turned out to be the start of a film festival that they hold each summer showing classic movies on a large screen each night to large crowds with the films not starting until after dark and going through to near midnight.
We came back here on our last night and the crowd was even bigger with Carey Grant and Audrey Hepburn starring in the movie “Roman Holiday” on the screen. It was tremendous to watch and be part of the experience with the film in English with Italian subtitles. With these types of activities going on, eating late each night, and then strolling through the laneways with all the restaurants lit up, sleep was in short supply in our time in Bologna, but we certainly didn’t care.
On our first full day in Bologna, we had organised a free walking tour in the morning but due to the heat the organiser had pushed the tour back to the early evening which we couldn’t do as we had a tasting tour scheduled for that time. We decided instead to do the Hop-on Hop-off Bus Tour around the city to see the highlights and become familiar with the town.
The tour lasted about an hour if you did not get off along the route, with earphones provided to give you commentary in English. We were fascinated by how the driver of the double decker bus drove down the tight narrow streets and did sharp and multi point turns through the old town, but they are so use to it here. I mentioned to Pauline that if we lived here, we would have to learn how to ride a motorcycle as it is the only way to get around.
The one issue we had not considered when we decided to go on the bus tour was the hard bus seats which did not assist Pauline recover from her sore bottom that she still had from the bike ride in Amsterdam. Pauline got off the bus rather gingerly at the end of the tour.
Since arriving in Europe we have noted that many of the tours are all wanting you to agree to a change of time from what you had originally booked online, mainly to assist them in balancing numbers at each timeslot with the alternate time often being at a hotter part of the day. We are now not agreeing to the change in time and note that when you push back, they come back quickly and reconfirm the original time so if you are travelling and have booked walking or eating tours you may want to take note of this practice.
In the middle of the day most of the shops in Bologna closed for siesta time and given the heat we decided to join them and headed back to the air-conditioning of our hotel – I certainly love this tradition as everyone comes back out and socialises in the open-air restaurants and bars until late in the evening providing such a vibrant, party atmosphere.
In the evening we had booked a food tasting tour so we could experience the local food scene. We expected others to be on the tour, but it ended up being a private tour (not sure how that that happened in the booking process).
The tour started off at a local fixed market with a small family run shop enabling us to try various home-made aged cheeses that ranged from 20 months to 48 months. – the difference as you tasted the various cheeses was striking. While we were tasting we noted that the shop had been selected in last year’s “The Amazing Race” and proudly displayed the ticket in their display cabinet – a truly unique place to experience.
Another of the places visited was the famous Giuseppe Giusti Modena (Balsamic Vinegar) shop that from the outside looked more like an upmarket jewellery shop and one that you would unlikely not venture into if you were walking around yourself.
We had a personal tasting of all their family produced balsamic vinegars and learnt the technique for manufacture – interesting and certainly something I was not aware of. We could not take any bottles of these unique products with us due to our travels but will order them when we get home so that family and friends can enjoy with us.
Our next stop was a place that when we arrived, we were certainly hesitant when we walked in – it was a BYOF bar that has been operating continuously in Bologna for over 80 years. BYOF stands for (for those that are not aware) “Bring Your Own Food” so if you purchase a drink at this place then you can bring any food in you like, the idea being that if you’re eating there then you will also drink which is an interesting business model, but it works as this place is world renowned. It has no name on the front door as people just know where to find it, the décor is very basic, and eclectic but people of all ages go there. While we were there three elderly ladies came in and sat down near us and opened their brown paper bags containing their dinners to eat while they drank beer. For us, we had bought some paninis from a street food window in the nearby laneway and sat down and had wines and soaked up the atmosphere. After a few more stops at another local market for street food entrees and a local home-made pasta shop we went to one of the many gelato shops to finish off the tour near the Seven Churches of Santo Stefano dating back to the IV century.
To be honest the tour was not what we expected from a food tasting perspective and while we enjoyed visiting some unique places and found out about some historical facts about the city the tour would not be something we would recommend you do in Bologna, we found it much better wondering around discovering our own local food places. We are hoping the food tour in Rome in a few days is a better experience but when travelling yourselves you are going to find gems as well as rough diamonds, so you enjoy each experience for what it is.
On our last day in Bologna, we packed in as much sightseeing as we could after the morning shower as it was a cooler day (only around 28 degrees compared to the 35 degrees the previous day) visiting the city’s famous landmarks such as Church of San Petronio (which we discovered was never finished although at first sight you do not notice) built between 1390 and 1663, Neptune Fountain (built in 1565),and The Two Towers, the traditional symbol of Bologna and built between 1109 and 1119. The story relating to the construction of The Two Towers and why one is leaning so heavily today and notably shorter is fascinating and well worth researching if you have the time.
The visit to the Seven Churches of Santo Stefano were unbelievably spectacular, simplistic compared to most historical churches and rather moving and we are glad that we took the time out to visit them as it is easy to say when travelling “it is just another church or besilica”.
We also walked the streets along some of the 40kms of portici which makes this city so unique.
We then went out around 8pm to find another unique restaurant for dinner and found this restaurant down a laneway called Scalinatella Ristorante Pizzeria that felt right.
We were able to get a table although 5 minutes after we sat down, they had people standing around everywhere waiting for a table with most of them locals, so we knew we were onto a good thing. Again, it turned out to be a fantastic restaurant with the beef carpaccio and pizza superb. We sat at our outside table of the restaurant for hours without being hassled to leave, trying to talk Italian to our waiter who found it so amusing that he gave us a free aperitif at the end of the night, not sure if it was in appreciation of our efforts or in amusement – either way it was a great end to the evening there.
After dinner we headed off to Piazza Maggiore to watch the movie with the locals and then our friendly bar tender was waiting back at the hotel to provide our night cap to end our wonderful few days in Bologna.
Bologna turned out to be a very fascinating city full of so much history and wonderful architecture and we are glad we made the effort to visit. It was certainly different architecture than what we had expected but the atmosphere in the Old Town, particularly at night when everyone is out and enjoying themselves in the restaurants and bars is amazing. You cannot but fall in love with this city.
We are currently on a high-speed Italo train travelling at 260 kph through the countryside to Rome, our next stop on our adventure in Europe. We should get to our hotel right on Happy Hour with train travel in Italy so efficient and timely and then “Wine will be Calling Us” after a big day.
So, until next time from Rome, “Arrivederci” and we will catch you soon.
Bruce & Pauline
When Wine Calls 
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