Food & Fodorites...A Bologna & Rome Trip Report

Trip Background:

Although slightly off the “beaten tourist track”, Bologna popped up on my travel radar a few years ago. After seeing the city featured in an episode of Passport to Europe, speaking with a colleague who had been there (and enjoyed it) and noticing references to the city more frequently on the Fodors travel talk board, I decided it was time for me to seriously consider planning a trip there.

While discussing the details with my mom, who is my travel partner, we decided since we were going, why not make it worth our while and stay for two weeks, one week in Bologna and one week in Rome, because truthfully, our philosophy is, if we’re going to Italy we need to include some time in Rome. As it turned out we spent 8 nights in Bologna and 6 in Rome.

We decided on November for a few reasons, first being we could incorporate 3 paid holidays into the 2 weeks we would be away and that “saved” using 3 vacation days, yes, we hoard our vacation days! Another reason was that airfare in November was significantly lower then in September or October which were the other months we were looking at, and lastly we were able to get a good deal on our accommodations.

Weather:

November may not be the perfect time of year to be in Bologna, but it wasn’t terrible. Yes, there were several rainy, foggy days, but we also had several days with long stretches of beautiful blue sky and sunshine. One drawback to exploring Bologna (and Rome too) at this time of year is the shorter daylight hours, but to be honest, that didn’t bother us and sitting outside, under a heat lamp at a café having aperitivo in the evening is just as much fun when the street lights are on then when the sun is sparkling during the spring and summer.

Where We Stayed:

When looking for accommodations in Bologna I knew I wanted to stay in the center of the city. I checked several hotels that were recommended on Trip Advisor and by Fodorites. They all appeared to be great, and most were upwards of €100 per night. I did some more digging and found a reference on a Fodors thread to the website http://www.perfectplaces.com/ it’s similar to VRBO and there were a few, maybe 12, listings for apartments in Bologna. I found one that I thought fit the bill for us, here it is http://www.perfectplaces.com/vacation-rentals/32702.htm

The owner, Pietro, was a dream to work with and very responsive to all my emails. This was the first time I did a bank transfer to make a deposit and it could not have been easier. The price was right too…for 8 nights, including a €50 cleaning fee we paid €600. We paid 20% deposit at time of booking and the balance in cash when we arrived. And what a fantastic greeting! We were met by the owner’s sister outside the front door of the apartment; within minutes we were ushered inside and met Pietro, the owner, and his wife, big hugs and kisses all around, like we were long-lost family.

The apartment is true to the photos on the website (after booking I did note the apartment is also posted on VRBO), small, but immaculately clean, and very secure. We had a key to the front door of the building and a second key to the area accessing the apartment and a third key to the apartment.

The location of this apartment, in my opinion, was the best thing about this place. It’s located right on Via Oberdan, smack in the middle of the center of the city, just a few blocks from Piazza Maggiore, and around the corner from the main arterial street, Via Independenzia, going directly to the train station. There were plenty of shops, cafes, banks, and gastronomia’s within a few steps of the front door.

For our accommodations in Rome I turned to my award points on my credit card and was able to cash in those points plus a few hundred dollars to stay 6 nights at the Hosianum Place (http://www.hosianum.com/en/index.htm) . I’ve stayed at this hotel before and I really like it a lot. It’s fairly small with just 28 rooms, and the location is great on a small side street between Piazza Venezia and Largo Argentina. The rooms are clean and comfortable and the staff is friendly and accommodating. The breakfast, which is included in the room price is abundant and includes not only the typical cold meats, cheeses, breads and fruits but also hot items, such as scrambled eggs, bacon and sausage, and if cappuccino is what you want, but sure to ask the server.

Flight Logistics:

Mom and I typically fly Delta because we collect their sky miles. When booking these plane tickets we wanted to fly into Bologna and out of Rome. This wasn’t a problem, and for the outbound flight we flew on Delta’s code share partner KLM via Amsterdam into Bologna. On the return flight we flew on Delta out of Rome.

It had been a long time since I had flown KLM and I think it may be a long time before I fly them again. I was not able to print our boarding passes the night before our flight, but that did not surprise me since I had the same difficulty earlier in the year with a code share flight on Air France. We arrived at the Savannah airport early and were fortunate to get a very helpful desk agent who was able to check us in for all our flights, and print all our boarding passes, including the one to Bologna, which I thought we might not be able to get until we arrived in AMS.

The flight departing Savannah was slightly delayed, but that was not an issue because the KLM flight from Atlanta was also delayed. The KLM flight was full, and the seat configuration was 3-3-3. Because mom and I both like aisle seats I was sitting one row ahead of mom and through some grace of God, there was no one seated in the middle seat next to me. Ultimately this was not a significant benefit because I was not feeling well and no matter how hard I tried I just couldn’t get comfortable. The flight crew was not the best I’ve ever experienced, the food wasn’t very good and I’m one who thinks Delta doesn’t do a half bad job with their food, so you know my airplane “food bar” is not set very high. Since I wasn’t feeling well, I didn’t eat much, slept fitfully and had chills then sweats with headache and nausea. Believe me I couldn’t wait for that plane to land in Amsterdam!

We arrived about one hour late and it took approximately 30 minutes to get through passport control and security before we got to our connecting gate for the KLM City Hopper flight to Bologna. We had about one and a half hours to wait and left for Bologna just after 3pm.

For as unpleasant as the KLM flight from Atlanta to Amsterdam was, the KLM flight to Bologna was pure bliss…maybe that’s because it was only a one and a half hour flight!

We arrived in Bologna right on time at 4:45pm. We took a taxi from the airport to the apartment for €20. The ride into the city took about 30 minutes from the airport.

The return flight from Rome was a breeze. As we have done in the past we used Rome Cabs (http://www.romecabs.com/) to take us to the airport at the ungodly hour of 6am for our 9:45am flight. This is my 5th time using them and the drivers have always been on time for me, and very courteous.

Fortunately for us, I was able to score an upgrade for our Atlanta to Savannah flight segment, so although we were in economy for the flight from Rome, our luggage was tagged as priority…and was at the luggage carousel before we were! And we were able to board as priority passengers and get settled before the swarms descended upon the gate agents at boarding time.

The flight from Rome was a very pleasant one, there appeared to be a George Clooney look-alike sitting diagonally across from me, so at least there was a bit of eye-candy for the 11 hour flight! The flight crew was really great; they were a fun bunch and funny too.

What We Did In Bologna:

Mercato di Mezzo

Being the food lovers we are one of the first things we did was to venture to the market area that spans along Via Pescherie and Via Clavature not far from Piazza Maggiore. This is a must see spot for anyone remotely interested in food and it’s also a great place to wander about with camera in hand. The shops and fruit, vegetable, fish, and flower stalls were some of the most colorful places in the city, great for photographing, and I did my fair share of snapping my shutter button. Especially interesting was the trevisiano radicchio, it was unusually shaped, almost looking like fingers curled up into a fist.

The Church of Santa Maria della Vita

Located on Via Clavatura, this church is definitely worth a visit. If it wasn’t for a post on Fodors I read during my trip planning I may have overlooked this gem of a church. The church interior is lovely, but the real stunner is the terracotta sculpture the Lament over the Dead Christ by Nicolo dell’Arca. The grief and terror portrayed on the faces of the statues took our breath away. We noted on a sign at the church the artist studied the expressions of family members of patients dying in a local hospital. This artist was truly gifted, just seeing these statues I could feel the pain.

Basilica di San Petronio

Located on Piazza Maggiori. This basilica is enormous. The day we were there they were having a special ceremony to bless tractors. There must have been between 10 and 15 John Deere tractors lined up outside the basilica. Inside it was packed wall to wall with parishioners and the mass was clearly being broadcast, because giant scaffolding was erected along the sides of the interior and cameramen were precariously perched behind their cameras filming everything. Huge spot lights were lighting up the altar. There was a rather lengthy procession to the altar and behind the altar was a large, impressive sounding choir. It was a great experience to see all this going on. The unfortunate side was that we weren’t able to get a good look at the interior of the basilica that day, a return visit was in order and when we went back it was a much less crowded scene and really quite a pretty interior.

Monastery of Santo Stefano

Located in a piazza along Via Santo Stefano. This is a complex of several churches and a cloister. Maybe because we were there later in the day with heavy clouds and the sun sinking quickly in the sky, this complex felt very dark and almost foreboding to me. Also because of the time of year, the cloister, although some-what interesting did not strike me as being beautiful. But again, I’m sure the time of year had a lot to do with my impression of the place.

Antique Market surrounding the piazza in front of Santa Stefano

We did peruse through this interesting market, that I believe is held on Sundays. We aren’t huge antique buffs, but there was some interesting items here and I was able to purchase a couple old(ish) advertising posters that I thought would look good framed and hanging on my walls at home.

Italian Food Days Tour

There were several activities for our week in Bologna I booked prior to arriving and this was one. I found this tour listed on Trip Advisor as the number 1 activity to do in Bologna and after reading the reviews posted there and a few on Fodors I thought this sounded like a great option. We were not disappointed and it turned out to be one of, if not the best, days we had in Bologna. The Italian Food Days website is here:
http://www.italiandays.it/

This tour was all the website promises and more…seriously, if you are in the Bologna area and are “into” food…please, do yourself a favor and spend the money on this tour. We paid €135 per person and as good fortune would have it, we ended up being the only 2 people on the tour the day we went, so it turned out to be a private tour for us. I’m sure it would be great with several other people, but believe me, the guide, Alessandro Martini had no problem filling in quiet times in the mini-van with really interesting information.

Alessandro met us at our apartment at 7:30am…yes, that early, but the reason was because we needed to get to the parmigiano reggiano factory in time to see the milk arriving and the cheese being made. Yes, we were standing on the production floor watching the 25 vats being carefully tended to by the cheese maker. This was fascinating and now when I see the price of “the real deal” parmigiano reggiano cheese, I know why it is so expensive. We not only got to taste the parmigiano reggiano we also got to taste the warm fresh ricotta cheese that was made just hours before. The fresh ricotta with little chunks of parmigiano reggiano tossed in, sounds weird, and tasted wonderful was the best breakfast a girl could ask for.

After the cheese factory we were off to an acetaia were the Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale di Modena (traditional balsamic vinegar) is painstakingly produced. To think the amount of time and effort and not to mention the amount of money these balsamic producers go through to produce such a small annual amount of vinegar it’s no wonder the cost of the product is so expensive. We were able to taste 12 year, 25 year and 100+ year old vinegar and as you might imagine the older it was the better it tasted.

The next stop on the tour was a Prosciutto di Modena factory. Wow! An entire factory floor of hanging pork. Again, the process to produce this tasty treat is mind-boggling, but I, for one, am glad this process continues, because quite frankly I do enjoy some pork products!

As if all this wasn’t enough, the final “leg” of the tour was a lunch stop at the Corte d’Aibo (http://www.cortedaibo.it/eng/index.html), which is an organic winery and agritourismo. All I can say is that when Alessandro tells you it will be a “light lunch” do not under any circumstances believe him! This lunch was a feast that put us in a food coma! For us, because the day was so incredibly foggy, we could not enjoy what must be the amazing view from this winery, but that did not stop us from indulging in a fantastic meal. We started with a sparkling wine and a meat and cheese plate…6 different meats and 6 different cheeses! Honestly, we thought that was plenty for lunch, but then another wine arrives at the table, this time a barbera made with no added sulphates and a huge dish of the best cannelloni I have ever had, stuffed with a combination of veal and pork and bathed in a béchamel sauce this dish was superb. Then a 3rd red wine appears on the table, which I can’t remember the name of because we were so taken with the barbera, we didn’t want to stop drinking that one! Just when we were ready to say, “Basta”, a beautiful coffee pannacotta arrives. I thought, there is no way I can eat this, but one spoonful and I was hooked, I could not stop myself and the thought occurred to me that I really wanted to lift the plate up and lick it clean, but don’t recoil in horror, I refrained! Now we are saying there can’t be any more, when our faithful mini-van driver, Fabrizio, (also known as “the food pusher”) appears in the dining room doorway with a plate full of apple strudel and cookies! We did not indulge in that sweet treat, but we did ask for 2 cups of espresso that appeared instantly like magic and once we had taken the last sip of espresso Fabrizio appears again with a bottle of grappa and kindly tells us the way to get the last drops of espresso from the cup is to fill the cup with grappa and have a coffee “infused” digestive “treat”, not to be outdone the crowning touch of the whole meal was a little glass of the local nocino, a green walnut liquor that I could have easily had more of.

Now that we could barely move it was time to decide if we wanted to purchase any of the wines. The barbera was just too good not to take, so we purchased 4 bottles of that along with a panetonne the chef was “whipping” up for the upcoming holidays!

You can imagine the ride back to Bologna was a quiet one, with our eyelids resting at half-mast. We enjoyed ourselves immensely and thought it was a great way to explore a bit of the region outside Bologna. And, now the Corte d’Aibo winery is on our radar for a possible future stay in the country-side of the Emilia-Romanga region!

2 Fodorite Mini-GTGs in Bologna

Another highlight of this trip was not, 1 but 2 Fodorite mini get togethers in Bologna. While researching and planning this trip I was happy to find a growing number of posts on the Fodors travel talk boards about Bologna. An added bonus was finding out Fodorites kathrynj and Isabel would be in Bologna the same time as we were. The first GTG was with katherynj one evening at a local wine bar. Before we knew it 3 hours had gone by and we found we had a lot in common, including knowing Fodorite Kristina and her mom, in a round-about way…such a small world! We decided we couldn’t leave Bologna without a second meeting, and planned to have lunch later in the week, which flew by just as quickly as our aperitivo meeting.

The second GTG was with Isabel and this was a rather unique GTG. We met at the Bologna train station and took the train to Ravenna together. Since we all wanted to do a day trip to Ravenna this worked out perfectly. We chatted about all things travel for the 1 hour and 20 minute train ride, and had a cappuccino together in Ravenna. Does this count as the first moving Fodors GTG ever?

It was great meeting both and hopefully our travel paths will cross again one day!

We did have a 3rd GTG but that comes later in the Rome part of the trip when we do a day trip from Rome to Florence to see a favorite Fodorite friend and talented jewelry maker, La Artista.

Day Trip To Ravenna

We took a morning train to Ravenna and spent the day exploring the city. Upon leaving the train station we found our way to the tourist office and got a proper map of Ravenna then walked to San Vitale to purchase a combo ticket for €8.50, which allowed entry into 5 sites in Ravenna. The sites were the Basilica San Vitale including the mausoleum of Galla Placidia, two sites with beautiful mosaics. My preference was for the stunning mosaics in the mausoleum of Galla Placidia, maybe I preferred these because it’s a much smaller place then the basilica and I could get closer to the mosaics. In any case, all were stunning. The next sites included in the combo ticket were the Museo Arcivescovile, which we skipped, the Neonian Baptistry which had a beautiful ceiling mosaic and the Basilica di Sant’Apollinare Nuovo, which to me felt a big lighter and airier than San Vitale.

Not included in the combo ticket, but since we passed it along the way, was the House of the Stone Carpets located inside the Church of Sant’Eufemia on Via Barbiani. We paid the €4 admission and walked down the rather modern staircase to find ourselves alone in the basement with the most extensive range of stone floor mosaics I have ever seen. I could hardly believe we were the only people there. It was really quite interesting to see all the different animals, and people in these mosaics, not to mention all the different geometric shapes.

A Day of Cooking

Another activity I booked prior to the trip was a market visit/cooking/pasta making lesson with Bluone Cooking Tours (http://www.bluone.com/) . As with the Italian Food Days tour I found this cooking lesson via trip advisor reviews. It seemed like something “right up our alley”.

We met Rafaella and Marcello in the morning for a 2 and a half hour walk through the market streets in the center of Bologna. Most of this was with Rafaella and what I liked best about this, was she took an hour to walk with us through the market area stopping at various shops and pointing out in the windows and inside the shops some of the local items and the differences between the many varieties of pastas, meats and local specialties. The second hour and 30 minutes was spent buying the items we would be cooking with later in the day. At about 12:30 we parted ways until 4pm when we met Marcello and he took us to their apartment for the cooking lessons and dinner.

This part was the most fun I’ve had cooking! Rafaella was at the apartment with their daughter, Francesca, and we got right to work preparing the ragu and the zuppa inglese for dessert. Then it was time to get the pasta going, and I’m not talking about boiling the water, I’m talking about making the pasta…yup, we made from scratch 2 types of pasta dough. One was egg dough and one just with flour and water. What a lengthy process this was…but it was fun, I’m not sure I’d be able to make a living as a pasta maker, but Francesca was incredible, she is a very skilled pasta maker, and she hopes to one day open a shop of her own…I hope she does, because she sure made it look easier than it was! Once the pasta dough was ready we rolled out both types and made tagliatelle and strozzapreti, also known as priest strangler pasta.

Back in the kitchen the ragu was progressing and we then made pork involtini stuffed with mortadella and parmigiano cheese, a prosciutto sauce to mix with one of the pastas and fresh zucchini seasoned with all kinds of flavorful herbs.

By 8pm dinner was ready to be served. We sat down with Rafaella and her whole family, 7 of us, and enjoyed a fantastic meal that we truly made with our own two hands. By 11pm it was time to say good-night and Marcello drove us back to our apartment.

Day Trip To Modena

Since Bologna has really great train travel options we decided a day trip to Modena was a good idea, especially since it was a short 20 minute train ride.

Modena surprised us. I think we were expecting a smaller, more provincial feel to the town, and instead we got a lovely, vibrant town bustling with lots of people. Our main focus for going to Modena was to have lunch at Hosteria Giusti, so I will save the description of that for the “What We Ate” section. But we did have a nice leisurely walk around the center of the city and went to the Duomo. Unfortunately the Duomo is covered in scaffolding and we couldn’t see much of the exterior but the inside is rather lovely. I was not expecting such a dark interior, and maybe it was because it was a cloudy day and many of the windows were blocked with the outside scaffolds but I was really taken with the beautiful dark wood on the interior.

Weekend Market in Piazza dell’8 Agosto
Located in the Piazza dell’ 8 Agosto.
We took Fodorite kathrynj’s advice and went to this weekend market on a Friday morning, and although crowded, not nearly as bad as what we had seen the Saturday before, which made me walk away saying, “ no way…too many people.”

If you happen to be in Bologna and need anything, and I do mean anything, this market is the place to go. There is everything from shoes, clothes, scarves and underwear to kitchen gadgets and the market seems to go on forever. We must have been there a couple hours and just scratched the surface of it. It was fun to walk around and we did find a few things, like adorable felt purses for my nieces that were in the shape of owls, they were a huge hit with the girls!

Torre Asinelli

This tower is the tallest building in Bologna. There are approximately 500 steps to the top and the view over the city is breathtaking. The admission fee is €3, and be warned the stairs to the top are narrow and 2-way, so if it’s crowded, there will be lots of stops and shuffling to one side of the steps or the other and waiting on tiny little stairway landings. Having said all that, the view on a clear day is worth the effort!

What and Where We Ate In Bologna:

dal Biassanot Trattoria
Located at Via Peilla, 16/a (http://www.dalbiassanot.it/)

We had 2 meals here and enjoyed both very much. The first meal we had here was the night we arrived and since that was a Friday night I had emailed the trattoria from home to make a reservation assuming on a Friday night it may be crowded. I’m glad I did this because this place was packed.

For our first meal here we started with a culatello plate this is made from the leanest part of the hind leg of the pig. It is among the most prized hams and it was delicious. This was very smooth and to me, it tasted a bit sweeter than prosciutto. We each had a pasta course, mom had the pasta with white truffles which was an evening special and we proclaimed that the “winning dish” of the night. It was buttery and smooth like velvet. I had the verdure lasagna which was warm and hearty. While having dinner we noticed a home-made ricotta cheese cake on display and it was calling our names, we ordered 2 pieces and it tasted as good as it looked, creamy but not too sweet. It was a perfect way to end our first night in Bologna. With a bottle of pinot grigio and 2 espresso the total bill was €65.

Our second meal here was on a Monday and we did not have a reservation, and luckily got one of the last tables before people without reservations were being turned away. This night mom had the asparagus risotto which was warm and creamy. I had the cinghale with polenta, another warm and hearty dish. With a bottle of lambrusco wine, a bottle of water and 2 espresso the total bill was €39. We really enjoyed this place, the food was simple and good, the prices were reasonable and we had good service each time we dined there.

Zanarini

Café located in Piazza Galvani
I had read about this café in a guide book, it may have been in Fred Plotkin’s, Italy for the Gourmet Traveler, book, which I referred to frequently on this trip. We did not linger here, but it is a bright, comfortable café with very good cappuccino and cornetti, it was a good way to start the day.





Bar Break

Café located on Via dell’Indipendenzia a few blocks from the train station.

I am only mentioning this place because I had a cup of ciocolata calda that was not only the most delicious cup of hot chocolate I have ever had, it was the prettiest too. A cup full of the thickest chocolate topped with a generous dollop of fresh whipped cream and chocolate shavings. It put any other ciocolata calda I will ever have to shame.

Cesari
Located at Via de’Carbonesi, 8 (http://www.da-cesari.it/)
We dined here on a Saturday night and as I did with dal Biassanot I made a reservation via email before leaving home. Again, I’m glad I did as the place quickly filled after we arrived. I read about this place in a trip report on Fodors and thought it sounded like a good option. We enjoyed our meal here very much.

Mom started with the eggplant involtini and I had the tortellini in brodo. The eggplant was delicious. At the time I thought the tortellini was very good, until later in the trip mom had some at another place that left the version at Cesari “in the dust”. For our main dishes I had an evening special of potatoes, mortadella and parmigiano cheese baked in the oven, it was warm and reminded me of comfort food. Mom had the veal scaloppini with white truffles and by her comments it was delicious and since I didn’t get a taste of that dish, I’m thinking it was too good for her to want to share! With a bottle of house white wine, 2 espresso and 2 limoncello to end the meal the total cost was €97.

Omelette & Baguette
Located at Via Altabella, 15/D (http://www.omeletteebaguette.com/)
This is a cute little place right around the corner from where our apartment was. We went one morning for a quick breakfast of cappuccino and croissant and went back later in the week for lunch. When we went for lunch we arrived shortly before 1pm and got the last available table. They have really great omelet’s here. I had the mushroom omelet and mom had the spinach omelet. Both came with a small side salad. It was a warm and comforting lunch in a simple but pleasant dining room. With a bottle of water the total cost was €15. We noted as we were leaving there was a large crowd gathered in front of the place waiting for tables to open. To me, it’s a good sign if people are waiting to get in!

Eataly
Located at Via degli Orefici, 19

This is the Bologna outpost of the original Torino Eataly. Having been to the NYC store in September we thought we’d stop at the Bologna branch to compare. I was very surprised to find the Bologna location is mostly a book store. Yes, there is a wine section, and an area of dry pastas and an assortment of canned and jarred specialties along with a café and 2 restaurants, but I was surprised at how much space was allotted to being a bookstore. It was still interesting and we did eat at the restaurant on the top floor. We had lunch one afternoon and we both had the lasagna Bolognese and a glass of lambrusco wine. This was my first taste of lambrusco, and I’m not a big red wine drinker, but I really enjoyed it. With a bottle of water the total cost of the lunch was €30.

Godot Wine Bistrot
Located at Via Santo Stefano, 12/b
We enjoyed an aperitivo here with Fodorite kathrynj and although we spent 3 hours there, due to the great conversation we were having I can’t really tell much about the place other than we had a pretty decent glass of prosecco there. We were so occupied with chatting that we didn’t even try the aperitivo bar on offer.

Rossopomodoro
Located at Via Fossalta, 3 (http://www.rossopomodoro.it/)
This is an Italian chain of pizzerias that began in Naples. We were familiar with the name and the product because we ate lunch at the branch of this pizzeria located at Eataly in NYC. We really enjoyed our NYC Rossopomodoro experience, and since we were looking for a place to eat on a Sunday evening and they were open and not far from our apartment we went in. The Bologna branch did not let us down. We were pretty hunger, so we each ordered a pizza. I had a pizza with smoked buffalo mozzarella, prosciutto and potatoes, it may sound odd, but it was delicious, it had a great smoky flavor. Mom had the pizza with gorgonzola and culatello; it tasted fantastic with the gorgonzola cream…that was the pizza that took top honors at our table that night. We ordered a liter of the house white wine and I’ve got to say, it was one of my favorite wines of the whole trip. It was light and slightly fizzante. The total cost of the meal was €30.

Rome Location (at Largo Argentina), I was surprised to see a Rossopomodoro in Rome, right in Largo Argentina, since only about a year before it had not been there. One very rainy afternoon we were looking for refuge, really more then a lunch spot, and ducked in to get the last table before a line formed out the door. At the Rome location we decided to give their salads a try and were not disappointed. Mom had the tuna salad, it was a bed of fresh greens served with the most delicious tasting tuna I have ever had, they served the tuna right in the jar and cracked the lid at the table, it was decadent, if tuna can be described that way. I had the caprese salad that was served with silky smooth buffalo mozzarella and beautiful tomatoes. We had a half liter of white wine, a bottle of water and 2 espresso and the total cost of the lunch was €32.

Ca de Ven (in Ravenna)
Located at Via C. Ricci, 24 (http://www.cadeven.it/)

I read about this enoteca in Fred Plotkin’s book, “Italy for the Gourmet Traveler” and it was the perfect spot for a light lunch. From the outside I expected to find a small-ish place, but upon walking in was greeted and walked through a dining room with communal tables to a back room filled with light from the skylights above. It was a lovely large open dinning room. The menu had a large selection of piadini and crescioni to choose from. These are local flat breads (for lack of a better description) stuffed with anything from prosciutto and cheeses to spinach. Some are served cold other served warm. I had a prosciutto and cheese piadina and mom had a spinach crescione that was bursting with flavorful spinach. Mom’s dish was the champion sandwich at this meal. With 2 glasses of wine and a bottle of water the total cost of the lunch was €23. If you are in Ravenna and looking for a good lunch spot, I would highly recommend Ca de Ven.

Bar Calice
Located at Via Clavatura, 13/a

I pretty much adored this wine bar, not because there was amazing wines, they were good, or because there were abundant aperitivo nibbles, there was, but mostly because the servers were very nice, ok, and cute too! We spent probably 3 maybe 4 evenings here at aperitivo and sat outside under the heat lamps. The outside seating area is actually located across the street from the front of the wine bar and it was just a really pleasant way to spend a few hours at the end of the day before going to dinner.

Teresina
Located at Via Oberdan, 4

This is primarily a seafood restaurant and a very good one at that. I had found a recommendation for this place from a reference on the Divina Cucina Facebook page. Judy Witts Francini is the Divina Cucina, an American living in Tuscany who teaches cooking classes and leads food oriented tours through Italy. She had taken a group here and recommended it. And not to forget, Fodorite kathrynj also highly recommended it and since it was only a few doors down from our apartment we decided to give it a try and we are glad we did.

We started with a dish of fried sardines and it was very good, just fried to a light golden crispness. Mom and I both decided to have the branzino with potato crust and trevisiano side garnish. The fish was perfectly cooked, it was light and tasty. With a bottle of pignoletto fizzante (white wine), a bottle of water, 2 espresso and 2 limoncello the total cost of the meal was €79.

Clorofilla
Located at Strada Maggiore, 64/c
This is a vegetarian place recommended by Fodorite kathrynj as a good option for lunch and we met her for our second GTG. This place is a great option if you’re starting to feel the “fullness” of all the restaurants in Bologna. Mom and I both had salads here and since I didn’t write in my notes what we had I can’t describe any more. The menu is all in Italian but the servers are more than happy to help with questions.

Café Terzi
Located at Via Oberdan, 10 (http://www.caffeterzi.it/)

I believe there may be a few locations of this café but we enjoyed the one on Via Oberdan since it was right next door to our apartment. I should have known this was a good spot when the first morning I walked by and people were packed in shoulder to shoulder. We had cappuccino here twice during our stay and I’m sorry we didn’t get here more times than that. The coffee was excellent and the one morning we had the brioche it was buttery, flaky and exactly how I think a brioche should taste. There is a bar in the front room where you can take your coffee standing and a small (3 tables) tea room in the rear with table service.

Hosteria Giusti (in Modena)
Located at Via Farini, 75 (http://www.hosteriagiusti.it/)

I have to give Fred Plotkin the credit for telling me about this place and then after researching a bit more there were a few Fodors posts describing a meal here. I was hooked after reading about this place and in August 2010 I emailed them asking to book a reservation. The hosteria is only open for lunch and reservations are essential since there are only 4 tables. After sending the email I waited patiently and in early September I received a reply apologizing for taking a long time to respond but they had been closed for summer vacation and my reservation request was accepted. All I had to do was call to confirm on the day we were having lunch there.

Just walking by this place you would never know there is a fantastic hosteria here because the front is a gastronomia with some amazing looking food. We arrived a few minutes before the shop was closing for the afternoon and were led behind the counter past the kitchen into a pretty dining room with 4 tables. It turned out we were the only reservation for that day, and we had the dining room to ourselves.

I knew my comprehension of Italian was getting better when I was able to figure out there were several menu items that were offered in half portion…this was great for us, because now we could try starters and main courses! We started with a glass of lambrusco wine each and this particular lambrusco was far and away the best we had tasted on the trip, unfortunately I didn’t get the name of it. Mom started with a half order of the pork with onion marmalade, the pork was fall off the bone tender and both the pork and marmalade were delicious and when eaten together in one bite, it was heaven. I had the boconcinni topped with 3 different types of salumi (culatello, prosciutto and salami), it was the fried dough was light as a feather and the meat lent just enough saltiness.

For our main dishes, mom had the tortelloni stuffed with pumpkin puree and parmigiano cheese. It was slightly sweet with the saltiness of the cheese, a great combination. I had a half order of the veal in white wine sauce with eggplant caponata, what can I say, I never met an eggplant I didn’t like and the veal was so tender no knife was needed to cut it. With a bottle of water and 2 espresso the total cost of lunch was €59.

Grassilli Ristorante
Located at Via dal Luzzo, 3

I had spotted the sign for this restaurant (on a side street) one day was we walked down Via Santo Stefano, and recalled the name from my restaurant notes and we decided to give it a try. The interior is a bit dark, with wood paneling and low lighting but the food and service was very good. When we saw one of the primi specials was risotto with radicchio trevisiano neither of us could resist it. And it was absolutely delicious. It was “atomic hot” as we like to call steaming hot foods and it was creamy and rich and pure indulgence. We did not regret ordering this dish. Mom chose to have the lamb special which was cooked perfectly rare. I had cotoletto, a local dish of thin veal topped with parmigiano cheese. Both main dishes were served with spinach and mashed potatoes. With a bottle of local red wine, a bottle of water , 2 espresso and 2 limoncellos the total cost of the meal was €90.

Trattoria Gianni
Located at Via Clavatura, 18

This restaurant was on my “radar” from a trip report posted by Fodorite Ekscrunchy and the recommendation was seconded by Fodorite kathrynj, so we had our final evening meal in Bologna at Trattoria Gianni and it could not have been a better choice, this was another stellar meal.

We ordered a bottle of local white wine and I started with the special of tortelloni stuffed with mushrooms in a butter sauce with hand grated parmigiano cheese, it was one of the best pasta dishes I had in Bologna. Mom had the tortellini in brodo and it far exceeded the version I had at Cesari earlier in the trip, the broth was very smooth. I had the grilled mortadella with balsamic for my main dish and this was a huge piece of grilled mortadella with a drizzle of balsamic and garnished with radicchio, with nothing else on the plate it made for an interesting presentation. Mom had the bacala special and this was another great dish, mom had a one/two punch with 2 winning dishes at Gianni.

Since it was our last evening in Bologna we decided to “splash out” and we each ordered dessert. Mom had a fantastic semi-fredo (chocolate and amaretto), it was addictive. I had a mascarpone cream with chocolate that was deliciously smooth. We had 2 espresso and ended the meal with 2 limoncello and here is something interesting. We ordered the limoncello and they brought 2 glasses to the table and put the whole bottle of limoncello down on the table for us to pour and left it there, this surprised us, could we have poured more than one glass? We don’t know, after one we were ready to meander back to the apartment and prepare for the next day of train travel to Rome.

Bruno e Franco
Located at Via Oberdan, 16 (http://www.la-salumeria.it/)
This was a great find and more thanks to Fodorite Ekscrunchy for providing information on this great shop/gastronomia. We were taking the fast train from Bologna to Rome and the train departed around 11:30am, so I thought it would be a good idea to bring a small lunch with us on the train. I am so glad we did this. The morning we were to leave, we stopped at Bruno e Franco and had 2 prosciutto panini made to take on the train. These sandwiches, although simple foccacio and prosciutto was the perfect train lunch. I think we had the other passengers envious because 2 minutes after unwrapping our sandwiches the delicious smell of prosciutto was wafting from our seats! This gastronomia had some of the best looking dishes I had seen in any of the shop windows in Bologna. If you are staying in an apartment in Bologna and want to eat your meals in, I have a feeling this shop would be a great place to go and get prepared meals you only have to heat up.

For those into anything wine related:
Augusto Pezzoli
Located at Via Santo Stefano, 7
This shop has an amazing variety of wine gadgets, no wine for sale, but if you are into making your own wine, this is the shop for you. We happened to go in because I wanted to buy special bottle tops for sparkling wines (prosecco and champagnes) and at €3 per bottle top it was worth the trip.

What We Did In Rome:

Il Gesu
Located at Piazza Gesu, not far from Piazza Venezia.

With 4 recent trips under our belt and always saying we wanted to go into this church we finally did and it was beautiful inside. We arrived in the late afternoon, and since the sun was setting the interior was dark, we definitely would like to return when it is day light to get a better glimpse when the sun is shining.

Sant’Ivo alla Sapienza
Located on Corso Rinascimento, 40, near Piazza Navona

This is one of my favorite churches in Rome. It is only open on Sundays from 9am-noon and in my opinion it’s worth a look. Compared to some of the other churches in Rome it is small, but where many other churches feel dark and dreary to me, this church is light, and bright and the dome here is my favorite of any I’ve seen.

San Luigi dei Francesi

Located at Piazza San Luigi dei Francesi, 5, near Piazza Navona
This was another church we kept saying we wanted to see on all of our earlier visits and this trip we got to see it in all it’s glory, after what seemed like years, this year the church was no longer in scaffolding. Because we were there during high mass we did not get to walk about but there are 3 Caravaggio paintings here, which we will just have to see next time!

Il Teatro Alla Moda exhibit at the Museo del Corso
Located at Via del Corso, 320 (http://www.fondazioneromamuseo.it/it/index.html)
This was a temporary exhibit of costumes made for the theater and opera by Italian designers. It was really very interesting. The costumes were displayed in various rooms by designer and I have to say my favorite was the Versace room, the costumes were very colorful! All the designs were beautiful, some more breath-taking than others. I found out about this exhibit through a weekly Budget Travel email I subscribe to which listed what was going on in Rome in November. Had I not received that email I never would have known about it. Most all of the other visitors walking through with us were Italian, there didn’t seem to be very many foreign tourists visiting the exhibit when we were there.

Coliseum/Underground/Hypogeum Tour
I found out about this tour on the Fodors travel talk boards and then through additional internet research I found a blog that gave instructions on how to book tickets for this limited tour. The tour was of the underground portion of the Coliseum and the top/3rd level, which had just opened in mid-October. It was thrilling to walk out into the center of the Coliseum and look up and image what the gladiators experienced. Our guide, an archaeologist was very informative. The underground portion of the tour was interesting but the top/3rd level with the incredible views of all of Rome and the interior of the Coliseum was what I enjoyed the most. We were told this tour option ended in late November, but I have heard rumblings the tours may begin again in the spring. This tour was well worth the effort to make the phone call to book the tickets, in advance.

Santa Prassede
Located on Via di Santa Prassede, Near Santa Maria Maggiore

This basilica tucked away on a small street leading away from Santa Maria Maggiore, is easy to miss, but worth the trip if you like mosaics. This is a 9th-century basilica with glorious Byzantine mosaics.




Day Trip to Florence

We decided to take a day trip to Florence from Rome for 2 reasons. The first was to have a mini Fodors get together with Fodorite LaArtista. The second reason was because we hadn’t been to Florence in a long time and thought a day trip would be fun. We took the fast train from Rome and enjoyed the quick ride which took slightly over an hour. It was a beautiful day, in Florence, clear sky and crisp air. Before meeting LaArtista for lunch we had time to pop into Santa Maria Novella, which we hadn’t been to before. Then we walked to Obika (http://www.obika.it/index.html) for lunch. Obika is a mozzarella bar and there are several locations world-wide. We’d been to the location in Rome several years ago and thought it would be a good spot for a lunch get together. We arrived first and LaArtista arrived shortly after and it was another great get together. The 3 hours flew by and before we knew it, the time had come to say good-bye.

We walked to the Duomo together and parted ways there. Mom and I went into the Duomo to see the dome and then took a stroll to the Ponte Vecchio for some nice sunset views. We made our way back to the train station and were back in Rome just after 7pm. It was a great way to spend a day!

VinoRoma Wine Tasting

Vino Roma (http://www.vinoroma.com/)

If you are even remotely interested in wine I highly recommend this experience. We did the Italian wine tasting session. We tasted 6 different Italian wines, 3 white and 3 red. There were 4 of us at the tasting, which was a nice size group; I believe there could be up to 20. Hande, the sommelier, is one of the most welcoming people I have ever met. She is extremely knowledgeable about wines, and shares her knowledge in a friendly and down to earth way. She made us feel like, even if we didn’t know much about wine, our opinions were valued and taste is a personal thing. The tasting took place in the heart of Rome at a palazzo on the banks of the Tiber River, close to the Ponte and Piazza Cavour, between the Spanish Steps and the Vatican.

Whether you are the most knowledgeable wine person around, or a “newbie” wine drinker, you will benefit from a tasting at Vino Roma. Having done this once, I would not ever hesitate to book a tasting again at Vino Roma; it was a highlight of our time in Rome.

Palazzo Barberini/Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Antica
Located at Via della Quattro Fontane, 13 (http://www.galleriaborghese.it/barberini/en/einfo.htm)
I read about this museum recently re-opening and thought it would be a good museum to explore. The entry fee is €5 per person and the audio guide, which is definitely worth it, is €2.50 per person. This museum has 2 floors and an enormous collection. We spent 2 hours here, about one hour on each floor and by the end I was experiencing museum overload, however I did manage to perk up towards the end when we walked into a room that had several Caravaggio paintings.

What and Where We Ate In Rome:

Al Bric
Located at Via del Pelligrino, 51/52 ( http://www.bric.it/ )

This was a repeat for us and it was good, but you know how sometimes you remember the first experience as being fantastic and the second seems to fall short, that’s how I felt with this repeat visit. Do not get me wrong, the food was fine, but in my mind it didn’t seem as good as the first visit. I do love the atmosphere of the dinning room at Al Bric, lots of wooden tables and chairs, exposed brick and wine crates decorating the walls. The service was very good, attentive but not overly so.

For starters mom had the house pate served warm. This was by far the most outstanding dish of the night. It was smooth, rice and decadent. I had the eggplant parmigiano and it was delicious. For my main dish I had the paparadelle cinghale, it was warm and felt like a bowl of comfort. Mom had the veal involtini stuffed with cheese and it was incredibly tender. With a bottle of pinot grigio, 2 espresso and 2 limoncello the total cost of the meal was €103.

Trattoria Moderna
Located at Vicolo dei Chiodaroli, 16 ( http://www.trattoriamoderna.it/ )
This was always a repeat for us on this trip. We found this trattoria several years ago because it was just across the street from a hotel we were staying at. It’s open 7 days a week and since we were looking for a place to eat on a Sunday night this spot fit the bill, and we did not need a reservation.

Unlike Al Bric, I was not disappointed with Trattoria Moderna on this trip. It was just as good as I remember, who knows, maybe it was the liter of white wine we drank that made it seem good! Mom started with the eggplant and zucchini tower, layers of eggplant, zucchini, cheese and sauce, you can’t really go wrong with that in our eyes. I had the mozzarella with mushrooms and pancetta for my starter; it was smooth with a salty kick.

For the main dish I had the bacala and potatoes, and mom had the sole meuniere. Both dishes were simple, and delicious. We also had a side dish of punterelle, which we both love, and now that we’ve had it in several different Roman restaurants, think the version at Trattoria Moderna is the best we’ve had.

With a bottle of water, 2 espresso, and 2 limoncello the total cost of the meal was €82.

Café Café
Located at Via De SS Quattro, 44 (near the Coliseum) ( http://www.cafecafebistrot.it/ )
Mom had found this place mentioned on Elizabeth Minchilli’s blog
( http://www.wrighton.com.ar/archives/personal-unemployment-benefits/ ) and I am glad she did. It was the perfect little spot to stop for a light lunch after exploring the Coliseum. The inside is a bit of a mish-mash of about 10 wooden tables and chairs. Mom had the chicken salad with parmigiano cheese and verdiana leaves, which is a green we had never seen or heard of before. I had the caprese panino, which made for a great light lunch. With a bottle of water the total cost of the meal was €18.

Tonino – Trattoria/Antonio Bassetii
Located at Via del Governo Vecchio, 18/19
This really is one of my most favorite places in Rome to eat and the food is excellent! There is no sign so make sure to note the street address. The prices are very reasonable and the service is friendly and casual. When we went here last year the menu was completely in Italian, this trip I noted there was an English translation below each menu item, it must be getting more popular with visitors. The night we were there we literally got the last table; the place was teeming with happy patrons eating. We had a liter of the house white wine and a bottle of water. For starters mom had the eggplant rigatoni and it was as good as we remembered. I had the pasta with mushrooms and peas and it was creamy and delicious. For our main course mom had the rabbit which was very tender, but watch out, for lots of bones. I had the meatballs which were fabulous, they were as big as the palm of my hand and were veal and pork, with the marinara sauce it was heaven on a plate. The total cost for this meal was €49. If you are cost conscience any one of the pasta primi dishes could easily satisfy any hungry person.

Provincia di Roma
Located at Via del Foro di Traiano, 82/84 ( http://www.provincia.roma.it/ )

This was also recommended by Elizabeth Minchilli and it was an excellent choice. We stopped here for lunch one day and enjoyed it so much we came back for dinner another night. At lunch since we did not have a reservation we sat at the bar. I had the porchetta sandwich and it was the best porchetta I have ever had, and I had the porchetta at the Roli Roti at the Ferry Building in San Francisco and thought that was from heaven, before I tasted this version. If there is a perfect sandwich, this may have possibly been it. The pork was incredibly most and bursting with flavor. Mom had the eggplant panini, which was excellent to, the bread was just crispy enough and the cheese was melted to perfection. With 2 glasses of the local white wine and 2 espresso the total cost of the meal was €30. What I really liked about this place is that all the food and beverage served here comes from the province of Rome, we really were eating locally.

When we had dinner here we started with a salumi plate that was fantastic. Mom had the porcini mushroom lasagna, which was the winning dish of the evening. I had the eggplant involtini and it was good, but honestly I’ve had better. With a bottle of water, a bottle of wine and 2 espresso the total cost of this dinner was €47.

Palatium
Located at Via Frattina, 94 ( http://www.enotecapalatium.it/ )

We really enjoyed everything about this place, the food, the service, the atmosphere. The whole menu and wine list is from the Lazio region of Italy and I believe this enoteca opened fairly recently, maybe within the last year. We did make sure to have a reservation because it can become busy.

We started with an aperitivo of a white frascati wine but we ultimately ordered a bottle of Fontana Candida Malvasia wine with dinner, which we had tried during an earlier lunch. For our starter mom had fried mozzarella squares with anchovy and punterelle, it was delicious. I had the eggplant involtini which include 3 large rolled eggplant stuffed with cheese, we probably should had stopped there since the portions were generous, or just ordered one starter to share! But we each had a main dish too. Mom had the local sausage with spinach. There were 2 pieces of sausage served in a square shape stacked with layers of spinach in between, it made for an interesting presentation. I had the tonarelli cacio e pepe and it was fresh, creamy and had the perfect touch of pepper.

We decided to splurge and had the chestnut cake for dessert, which was 3 small meringues filled with cream of chestnut; it was not sweet at all. Since this restaurant only serves items from the Lazio region, there was no limoncello to be had, but the sommelier suggested a dessert wine, we were a bit weary about this, thinking it would be really sweet. Boy, were we surprised to find this was a delightfully light and refreshing dessert wine. In fact, we liked it so much, we bought 2 bottles of it right there. Wondering to ourselves how much a restaurant would charge for the wine, we were gob-smacked to find each bottle was just €6.50! With a bottle of water and 2 espresso (plus the 2 bottle of wine to take home) the total cost was €86.

Osteria del Pegno
Located at Vicolo di Montevecchio, 8 ( http://www.osteriadelpegno.it/ )
This was a repeat for us and thanks to Fodorite gracie04 for this recommendation. We really like this place, the dinning room is rustic, homey and lovely, the service is attentive and the food has always been delicious. We both started with the eggplant parmigiano and it was excellent. For my main dish I had the lamb with oven roasted potatoes and mom had the veal saltimbocca and we shared a side dish of spinach, we certainly didn’t have a lack of iron in-take on this trip with all the spinach we ate! We had a bottle of the house wine, a bottle of water, 2 espresso and 2 limoncello and the total cost of the meal was €68, which I think was a great value for all we had.

Cul de Sac
Piazza del Pasquino, 73
We stopped here one evening for a couple glasses of wine. This was another repeat spot for us and we always enjoy this laid-back wine bar. Here is what I’ve written before about Cul de Sac: Great place for glass of wine and light meal. Wine is crammed into every available inch of space.

Bar Farnese
Via dei Baullari
Between Campo dei Fiori and Piazza Farnese great location for good people watching. When I stay in the centro storico I like to sit at this café/bar and have aperitivo, the servers are friendly and the aperitivo “snacks” are generous.

Some Additional Thoughts:

Transportation: We purchased a 7 day bus pass to use while in Rome. This worked out very well for us at €16 apiece, we used the Rome bus system frequently, especially on days that were rainy. We also used the buses in Bologna and purchased individual tickets at €1 each for when we needed to use the buses. We took the high speed trains from Bologna to Rome and again from Rome to Florence (round trip). I would not hesitate to recommend train travel in Italy, it was easy, and reliable and got us to where we wanted to be without any trouble. I purchased all our train tickets at one time at the Bologna train station.

Some thoughts on Bologna:

While reviewing some of the information I’ve written here I keep seeing my references to much of the food in Bologna as being “warm and comforting”, maybe it was because it was a cooler time of year and that is the type of food that I was craving. But whatever the reason, I also felt the city of Bologna itself was “warm and comforting” to me. It gave me a sense of what it really is like to be a part of an Italian city and not part of a flow of visitors simply passing through the streets.