Exploring Bologna, Italy

After making the last stop of our whirlwind Mediterranean cruise to Naples and Pompeii, we now make our way to Bologna to eat our way through Italy!

Bologna

After disembarking from the Norwegian Epic for the last time, we make our way to Bologna by train. It would take use the better part of the day to train to Rome then onwards to Bologna. By the time we arrived, it was late in the afternoon. After meeting up with our vacation rental owner, we spent the evening settling in and getting ready for a full day of exploration.

We didn’t have anything specific planned. We simply wanted to explore, and explore we did. For the better part of the day we walked around a good chunk of the central core. We spent a good amount of time in the main square, enjoying the openness, the area and people watching. I really enjoyed the seemingly laid back vibe I was getting from this city.

Porticos

Bologna is a beautiful city. One of the things that struck me right away were the numerous porticos over so many sidewalks. Porticos are an overhanging part of a building supported by columns/pillars. Bologna is actually famous for this having around 40 kilometers of Porticos throughout the city.

Tamburini

As the morning drew to a close we started getting hungry. On our list of places to visit was a small restaurant called Tamburini. We had read that it was an older restaurant with a lot of history and, of course, great food! Its part market, part deli, part wine bar. It’s somewhat self serve (in that you choose what you want from the booths and pay for it at the cashier). We picked up an assortment of pastas, roast beef and a charcuterie plate. For our first major meal in Italy’s food capital, we were not disappointed! Everything tasted AMAZING! To this day I still dream of the food there and hope to return in the future!

Exploring (Cont.)

We continued exploring the city, weaving through the different streets and squares and enjoying every moment.

As well as making stops at the two towers of Garisenda and Asinelli.

We also stopped at a nearby Gelato store called Gelateria Gianni for some Gelato!

Finestrella di via piella

One cool thing I learned about Bologna. It was built a lot like Venice, in that there was a canal system which still exists today. However after construction, most of it has been covered up and hidden from view. There are only a few places that the canal is still viewable throughout the city. One such place is the finestrella di via piella which is a little window cut out of the wall that allows you a view into the canal.

After a long day of exploring and walking, we returned to our apartment for a bit of rest before heading out to dinner.

Ristorante da Nello

For dinner we decided to visit a place recommended by our host: Ristorante da Nello. Its only a block away from the main square and when we got there it was super busy (always a good sign!). We were eventually seated and after browsing the menu ordered a few items. I ordered a tortellini soup to start and a seafood risotto along with some wine for the table.

Due to the language barrier we ended up actually ordering a linguine vongole in addition to everything else our family ordered. I single this dish out for a few reasons:

1. linguine vongole is by far one of my favorite pasta dishes of all time, so it was a very happy accident.
2. It turned out to be the VERY BEST thing I had all trip.

It turned out to be one of those happy accidents that lead to something amazing! Even now, our family talks about this specific dish and just how spectacular it was! I might be biased given my affinity to this dish in general, but I still drool over it every time I think about it!

With our appetites well satisfied we returned to our apartment in anticipation of what the next day had to offer. We’d be training to nearby Modena for a visit!