mmm-yoso!!!

Clearing Out the Memory Card - Our Last Night in Bologna

I figure I better get these posts done. Our trip to Florence and Emilia-Romana finished up in April of last year.

We had really enjoyed our time in Emilia-Romagna; from the Culatello to the Tortellini en Brodo, to aged Parmesano Reggiano...well, that was me. The Missus loved the castles, the Devil's Bridge, and we both loved the warm and friendly people...and of course the amazing Italian Days Food Tour.

For our last dinner in Bologna, I selected a modern, yet very popular restaurant named Oltre. I'd heard it was a bit difficult to find, so while the Missus was taking a nap I headed out to find the sticker covered door of the restaurant.

So, for dinner, I basically retraced our steps. The restaurant was dimly lit and the wine and bread were quite good.

The food however, was disappointing; from the bland broth and the strange and almost rancid tasting pasta in the Tortellini en Brodo (we mentioned this to the Server who looked at us and said; "this is the way it's supposed to taste").

To the tough meat in the Sformantino en Ragu....

The Guancia di manzo (beef cheeks) were very tender, but the thick sauce was bitter and overwhelmed the equally delicious black cabbage.

We just decided to call it quits before dessert.

Oh well, sometimes it just doesn't work out, right?

Oltre
Via Augusto Majani 1
40122 Bologna, Italy

We took our time heading back to the apartment. Stopping to take in Piazza Maggiore.

And yet another amazing street performer.

Here's a little snippet of the performance.

Awesome, yeah?

As is my little tradition; I picked up a beer on the way back to the apartment.

And the next day we headed home. The Business Class Lounge in Bologna Guglielmo Marconi Airport is kinda cramped and the offerings nothing worth mentioning.

What is worth mentioning is the excellent fast-track security exit at the rear of the lounge.

And because "DerekR" seems to like my airline food photos...….this is for you!

The Chicken Terrine was the best item.

So that's it.....

Thanks for stopping by!

Emilia - Romagna: Breakfast in Ravenna and Returning to Bologna

Our visit to Ravenna had exceeded our expectations. I'm glad we had stayed the night; we enjoyed our dinner, and the relaxed, pleasant vibe of the city. We really enjoyed our suite at the Casa Masoli. It was so comfortable and spacious and took us back in time and waking up to this in the morning sure does make a statement!

Breakfast was included in our night's stay, so we packed and headed down to the quaint dining area.

Breakfast was basic but quite satisfying.

After breakfast; we freshened up a bit, stored our bags....our train back to Bologna wasn't until 1230, and decided to take one more walk around Ravenna.

It seems like many cities in Italy have their own "leaning tower". Ravenna is no exception. This is the Torre Comunale (Torre Civica) which leans slightly to the west.

As we made our way back to Casa Masoli, we walked thru what is considered Ravenna's Main Square; Piazza del Popolo. Things were quite lively as there seemed to be some kind of bicycle event for families. Folks smiled and waved at us, folks congregated and chatted, what I'm assuming is a Girl Scout Troop marched thru the square as older folks caught up on the latest news (and gossip). It made for a wonderful scene.

We grabbed our bags; thanked the woman who runs things, we'd had a lovely stay. Great sights, good food, wonderful people, what more could one ask?

The train ride back to Bologna was a quick 90 minutes and change. We walked to our apartment, dropped our bags and headed on out.

This being a Sunday, Bologna was buzzing. The streets full of students, visitors, and locals enjoying their Sunday. It seemed like everyone was out and about on this beautiful day.

Of course every visitor just "needed" that selfie of Asinelli Tower.

It was fun just wandering the streets and alleyways people and pooch watching.

We passed the Chiesa de San Martino.

And somehow found ourselves at Palazzo della Mercanzia.

This has been Bologna's center of trade and commerce since the 14th century!

And guess what? There was some "trade" happening on this day as well as right down the street on Piazza Santo Stefano, the monthly Antiques Market was happening.

It was fun browsing thru the different stands. Though our favorite by far was a particular used book seller...… whose "assistant" was hard at work!

All this walking and browsing made me want a snack.

So we headed off to the Quadrilatero and back to Af Tamburini. Which was quite busy as usual.

We just got a cheese sandwich and headed off to eat it at my favorite spot; on the stairs of San Petronio Basilica, where we could watch Bologna pass us by.

We love sitting on the stairs and just people watch.

Soon enough it was time to head back to the apartment for a nice nap.

This would be our last evening of this vacation and I had made a reservation at a well regarded restaurant for dinner.

You know, I hadn't read much about Emilia-Romagna over the years. A colleague of mine had mentioned his daughter going on an exchange program to Bologna, which is when, beyond all the food stuff, I started learning about the region.

From the warm and friendly people, the amazing food and ingredients (how can you beat Balsamic Vinegar, Parmesano Reggiano, Prosciutto de Parma, and of course culatello), to the history, I wonder why more people don't travel to this region.

Ravenna - More Mosiacs, Wonders (the Flooded Crypt of San Francesco), and Dinner at Ristrorante La Gardela

**** Note - this is a long post. If you want to come back on another for something shorter, or when you have more time to read, I wouldn't blame you. Otherwise, read on......

After the beautiful mosiacs at the Basilica of San Vitale and the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia you'd think we'd seen a lot. But even after checking out Dante's Tomb, there was still much to see. Our next stop was a few blocks away, the Neonian Baptistery (Battistero Neoniano). Again, this looked like a rather simple octagonal structure.

It is one of the oldest monuments in the city; believed to be built as a bath house at the beginning of the 5th century. During the end of the 5th century it was renovated and turned into a baptistery; supposedly by Bishop Neon. Hence the name.

The interior is stunning.

The mosaic in the center of the dome represents the baptism of Christ.

This and the Museo Arcivescovile (Archiepiscopal Museum), and the two sites in my previous post on Ravenna were all covered by the combined ticket we purchased earlier in the day.

The museum is located on the first two floors of Archiepiscopal Palace and contains many precious works of Christian churches and the ancient Basilica, many of which; like the Basilica have been demolished. Like the Cappella di Sant'Andrea (Chapel of Saint Andrew), which was once the private chapel of the Bishop.

One of the other items of interest is the Ivory Throne of Maximian. This finely carved ivory masterpiece was once the throne of Archbishop Maximian and completed in the 6th century. Each of the four panels was carved by a different ivory masters. It is something to see.

Also of interest was the Easter (Paschal) Calendar, a set of rules - after the vernal equinox, the revolution of the moon around the Earth, taking into consideration the seven day week...the whole cycle revolves around Easter (Paschal). Confusing? Try and read about Computus….yikes!

We took a short break after this....grabbing some much needed caffeine.

Then it was a longer walk, in the direction of the train station to this wall.....

And this octagonal structure, which has now sunk over two meters into the ground.

King Theoderic was a Goth and when he took power the Arian (Goth) Christianity became the official religion. He did let Orthodox Christians and Arian Christians live together though. This structure was the first that Theoderic had built once he took the throne.

The main feature of this structure is the mosaic roof which depicts the 12 Apostles and the Baptism of Christ.

Our next stop we had passed on our way into town the previous day. Close to the train station is the The Church of San Giovanni Evangelista .

We had noticed it the day before because of the 14th Century Gothic Portal made of marble.

Originally constructed in the 5th Century, it had sustained major damage during the Second World War and almost all of the church has been rebuilt or restored.

A few streets over is the Basilica di Sant'Apollinare Nuovo which was constructed by King Theoderic.

The interior is beautiful as mosaic friezes line each wall down to the apse.

On one side 22 virgin martyrs are led by the three Maggi to the Virgin and Christ. On the other are 26 male martyrs walking toward Christ sitting on a throne.

There's also something interesting that you might miss if you don't know about it.

If you look closely at some of the mosaics you'll see disembodied hands. So what do these mean?

Well, it means that somebody else was in power. In 561 the church was deconsecrated as a Orthodox Christian Church. This end of the mosaic featured Theoderic and his court looking grand and powerful....well, that was just not going to do with Justinian in power would it? So Bishop Agnellus had him basically "blacked out" (Some things never change, do they?)...….but I guess working over those hands was going to be too much work?

You think perhaps we were "churched out"? For some reason we weren't, but it was getting later in the day. There was just one more place I wanted to see. Remember I mentioned visiting the Basilica di San Francesco in my earlier post? Well, that was our last stop for the day. Yes, this is where Dante's funeral was held and where his remains were kept and hidden. But there was one other reason I wanted to visit.

Well, the crypt of this church is flooded (and somewhere in this pool is supposedly the remains of Bishop Neon). For .50 Euros; you get the lights turned on. The water is amazingly clean and clear.

And yes, there are goldfish swimming around.

You can read more about it on Atlas Obscura.

Whew, it was now time to head back to Casa Masoli and take a break. And soon enough, it was time to head off to dinner. Our hosts at Casa Masoli had booked us a table at a place named Ristorante La Gardela. The place was quite charming, the service very friendly. The restaurant was empty when we arrived....obviously early by Italian standards, but filled up quickly....lots of families out to have a good time.

It was amazing to watch these folks go thru the antipasti, then the primi, then the secondi, with some cortoni (side dishes - usually veggies and salads, but also fries and other stuff), and even formaggi (cheese), before finishing with a dessert from the case! All in the time it took us to finish our rather limited meal! We loved this place.

Of course I started with the Pro​sciut​to ​Cru​do No​stra​no - crudo means "never cooked" i.e. cured, and nostrano I believe means local or even home made.

This was good; though perhaps lacking in the complexity of other versions I'd had.

I also just had to have the Lar​do ​di ​Pa​ta​ne​gra ​su ​Bru​schet​ta ​Cal​da​. Aged lard from the legs of "Black" (Iberian) Pigs...melted beautifully on bruschetta.

Oh, baby...….what can I say. And there was even a nice salad underneath....the radicchio here is ridiculously good.....both bitter, vegetal, with sweet tones.

The Missus also ordered the Contorno Misto di Verdure Grigliate - mixed grilled vegetable. First off, let me say the tomatoes here taste like the sweetest, tangiest, sunshine!

And the endive was delish as well.

The Missus ordered what might have been one of Her favorite pasta dishes (along with the Strigoli con Funghi from Il Fantino), the Ta​glio​li​ni​ al​ Ra​dic​chio​ Ap​pas​si​to​ al​ San​gio​ve​se.

Remember how I mentioned how good the radicchio was? Well here it was balanced out with a perfect acidity and light sweetness of the sauce. The pasta was cooked perfectly. And take a look at it...….it was dressed for success....not floating around in a ton of "gravy".

My Cap​pel​let​ti​ al​ Ra​gù Ti​pi​co​ was sauced nicely, the pasta cooked perfectly.

The meat wasn't too rich and was fairly tender. But compared to what the Missus had.....well, the name said it all "tipico". It was a nice dish.

And of course "I Dolce" for the Missus.

The prices were quite reasonable as well. The antipasti and primi were priced at 7 Euros, the veggies, 4....we even had a bottle of wine.

Ristorante La Gardela
Via Ponte Marino 3
48121, Ravenna, Italy

I think Ravenna is truly worthy of an overnight stay. Heck, it's even on our "return to" list!

If you've managed to read thru these 1300+ words, I thank you so much for sharing this with us!

Ravenna - The Basilica of San Vitale, Mausoleum of Galla Placidia, Lunch at Al Cairoli, and Dante's Tomb

We'd had such a great time in Emiligia-Romagna, from the Castles, to the "Devil's Bridge", to our amazing food tour, there were so many memorable experiences. And even though we had but two more nights left in the region, I had one more ace up my sleeve. Our Airbnb was very inexpensive, so I decided to book an overnight stay in Ravenna, a short hour train ride from Bologna. I'd read a bit about the city, which was once the capital of Western Roman Empire. When Theodosius I died; he split the Roman Empire into to halves, one of his sons, Honorius and he moved the Imperial Court and Administrative offices there in 401 because it was easily defended.

Well, enough of the history lesson, no?

The train station in Ravenna is but a short walk into the heart of the city. The vibe is relaxed and friendly; the city is pedestrian friendly and there's obviously a lot going as we passed this while walking past one of the many piazzas on the way to our hotel.

Our hotel; the Casa Masoli was close to everything we wanted to see; the woman running the place was warm and friendly and even made dinner reservations for us at a place she highly recommended. The prices were quite affordable; we got the Teodora e Giustiniano Suite for like a hundred Euros. The building has long history and our suite was amazing! And quite unique; it's like we entered a time machine and travelled into the past. From the Venetian four post beds and antiques lining the room....

To the huge bathroom with a marble bath tub!

To the rather dramatic sitting area.

The woman pointed to a part of the high ceiling and told us...."this is where a bomb landed during World War I"!

We had also arrived early and expected to drop off our bags; but our room was ready!

And so were we. The first order of business was head on out to the bookstore located at Via Giuliano Argentario 22 and purchase a combined ticket for five of the sites. And, it right down the street from our first site; the Basilica of San Vitale.

Commissioned by Bishop Ecclesius in 527; the church was still unfinished when Ravenna fell to Justinian I in 1540. It was then that the mosaics were done and the church completed in 1547. From the exterior, the building really looks rather staid and simple, but the octagonal plan and the use of terra-cotta bricks was revolutionary in those times.

It's upon entering the interior where you really understand the importance of this structure......

The amazing Byzantine Mosiacs are second to none and just amazing to see. It is rumored that San Vitale was used as the model for the Hagia Sofia in Istanbul. And even though we've been to the Hagia Sofia, twice this really made an impression on us.

It is undoubtedly, one of the most beautiful places I've ever visited.

I'm wondering what the dome would have been like had the intended mosaic design been carried out. The painting on the dome is from the 18th century.

I mean, the mosaic on the ceiling of the presbytery is dramatic enough.

There's actually a tape that goes "ssshhhssshhh" when folks start talking too loud in the place. We actually loved it!

For a wonderful article on the history and mosaics, check out this site.

Across the courtyard is the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia, named after the daughter of Theodosius I. There are three sarcophagi in the structure; it is said that these are of Galla Placidia, who is said to have been placed in sitting position, Galla's son, Valentinian III is to her right, and to her left is that of Emporer Constantius III, her husband. Though because of study and dating, it is no longer thought to be so.

Some say the mosaics here outshine those in the Basilica and I can see why.

It was an amazing visit; something I wish everyone could see.

From here we headed to the next thing I wanted to see. While on one of the many wonderful pedestrian side streets, we decided to stop for lunch here.

It was a quaint shop; the upstairs was a dining area and the bottom floor like a very comfortable café.

the main reason we stopped is because the place served a small menu for lunch that featured Piadine. We'd been wanting to try an Italian version since having on Malta and I knew that this flatbread is traditionally from this region.

The Missus thoroughly enjoyed her Verdure Gratinate Squacquerone (a nice lightly acidic fresh cheese) - basically roasted vegetables in a nice, warm flatbread.

I had the Prosciutto (of course) Arugula Squacquerone version. Which was just enough for a light lunch.

This, along with two espressos was perfect since we still had a bunch of places to visit and didn't want to get filled up. It was also a nice change from all of the rather hearty food we'd been having over the last couple of days.

Nicely priced as well.

Al Cairoli
Via Benedetto Cairoli 16
48121, Ravenna, Italy

We headed straight down the street. Past all of the locals chatting, having espresso, eating lunch......

Via Benedetto Cairoli had become Via Corrado Ricci and we had arrived at this piazza. This is the Piazza San Francesco.

We'd gone a street too far. We would return here to visit the Basilica di San Francesco later on....there's something really cool in the church. But for now, I was focused on this place right around the corner in an area called "Zona del Silenzio" (Area of Silence).  Remember when we visited the Basilica di Santa Croce in Florence? I noted that Dante's tomb "monument" was located in the church, but he wasn't interred there? Well, here he is.

On January 27th 1302, Dante was exiled from his home in Florence. He ended up in Ravenna in 1318 and wrote Paradiso, the third and last part of his Divine Comedy. When Dante died in 1321, he was entombed and hidden in what is now named the Basilica di San Francesco not to be found until 1865. Thus began what some say is a 700 year "battle" over the remains of Dante, which is quite a story in itself.

So many stories...….

And it was barely past noon!

Yes, there's more to come.

Thanks for stopping by!

Emilia-Romagna: The Italian Days Food Experience

If you've followed our blog for a while; you'll know that the Missus and I are not big on tours. We'd rather do our own thing at our own pace and rushing through things when on a tour is just not a lot of fun for us. We were however, in Emilia-Romagna, home to so many Italian gastronomic treasures. Trying to hunt them down in the amount of time we had  would have been quite a task. While doing my research; I'd read so many good reviews of the Italian Days Food Experience. And it delivered. It was a small group tour, a must for the Missus and I, our guide Eleanora was wonderful; funny, enthusiastic, and very knowledgeable; especially when it came to all the questions I had. And I did have many of them. This experience changed our minds when it comes to actually doing a tour. We're still cautious about it; but we're now believers. Anyway; this is already 150 words and change. I'll try to keep the verbiage to a minimum; otherwise you'd easily have 10,000 words plus. I want you to go to Bologna and take the tour, experience what we did....it ain't cheap at 150 Euros a person, but well worth it. I now truly understand the hard work, dedication, and passion the folks who make that wheel of Parmesan cheese or prosciutto, and now when I look at a bottle of Traditional Balsamico; I'll know if it's the "real thing".

We were picked up right on time from our apartment in Bologna and after a quick coffee stop headed off to our first destination in Castelvetro; San Silvestro Societa Agricola, a cooperative that takes the local farmer's milk and produces Parmesan Reggiano.

We suited up and then walked into an area with large vats of milk.

Each vat holds 1100 liters; that's 290 gallons of milk. From which the curds makes.....

Only 2 wheels ("the twins") of Parmesan Reggiano!

We all had a chance to taste the curds.

And I got the most wonderful answer when I asked what was done with all the leftover whey. Eleanora explained that some of the whey goes to make ricotta cheese and the rest to local pig farmers....hmmm.....I always thought that the great Prosciutto de Parma and Culatello had a sort of cheesy finish. Could it be?

It is then put into the classic round mold; the "fascera".

The cheese rests for a couple of days. A band is placed inside the molds which have the distinctive marks; the number of the producer, the month and year of production. The cheese also has a specific ID number; this way the actual cheese can be tracked back to the dairy which produced the milk. Only one dairy's milk is used for each production, so things can be traced.

The wheels are then put into a salt water solution and turned daily.

For up to three weeks!

Then it's time for the aging process. After twelve months an inspector from the official agency called the Consorzio del Formaggio Parmigiano-Reggiano will inspect the wheels. Those that....ahem, don't "cut the cheese" have all identifying marks cut off. Those that make it get branded with the seal of the PDO (Protected Designation of Origin).

The cheese wheels are turned on a specific schedule. This is what Parmesan heaven looks like.

I'll never look at Parmesan Reggiano the same ever again.

Next up what a stop was this lovely Farm House nearby.

And yes; those are grape vines......

This was the Antico Acetaia Cavedoni, a balsamic vinegar house that has been producing the product for 7 generations...since 1860!

The current head of the family; Paolo Cavedoni, a very energetic gentleman, led us on a tour of the "vinegar loft" and production.

He also explained the specifics of "DOP" ("Denominazione di Origine Protetta") designation; which is done by a panel of 5 master tasters. If the vinegar hits a certain "score" it will be labelled Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale. This is the good stuff and can only be sold in the specific 100 ml bottle that was designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro, a famous car designer....after all Modena is home to Ferrari, Lamborghini, and Maserati.

The balsamic is aged in several successive aging barrels for a minimum of 12 years. Every year, vinegar is taken from the smallest barrel, and it is then replenished with product from the next barrel up, and so on. A barrel is never emptied.

Paolo explained that when girls are born into a household, traditionally they would start an entire line - such as "Beatrice" above; which was initiated upon her birth in 1972. In the olden days; the barrels were used as a dowry when the young lady was wed.

In the "back office" we saw barrels going back to the 1800's.

The oldest Balsamico here produces four bottles a year and is sold to one restaurant in Macau.

Can you figure out which is the bottle of Balsamico Tradizionale?

We had a nice "snack" break here....which included quite a bit of food.

What was really amazing was the ricotta cheese topped with Saba; this was amazing stuff and we ended up buying two bottles of it.

Our next stop was at the Consorzio del Prosciutto di Modena, a producer of Prosciutto, right outside Modena.

Eleanora went through the entire process....it was funny when I asked her where on the pig culatello came from and she proceeded to heartily whack a certain body part.

Everything is regulated; from the pig, what it's fed, weight, age.....

There's a specific salting process, and then the washing, drying, the long curing process.

Man, this place smelled amazing.

And the very generous samples....and Lambrusco went down real well.

So, after all of this? Well, it was time for a late lunch! Man, I was kinda full from all of the samples and such. But locale was quite nice.

And there was way too much food and drink.....

We wouldn't be having dinner tonight, that's for sure.

Like I said in the beginning; this small group (ten of us) tour by Italian Days changed our opinion when it comes to taking tours. Yes, you still need to pick well. And definitely read those reviews.

I had learned so much....food is "our thing" when we travel, and Italian Days really delivered. It was well worth the 300 Euros for the both of us.

I hope you get the chance to experience what we did. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Bologna - Trattoria Tony

After exploring San Petronio Basilica and having a snack at Sfoglia Rina we wandered around a bit. There is quite a bit to see in Bologna and we only scratched the surface during our time here. We were ending our trip to Emilia-Romagna in Bologna and we still had two more fairly busy days ahead, so we decided just to take in the city a bit and wander around.

When visiting the city; you really can't miss "Le Due Torri"; the Two Towers one of the symbols of the city. It is said that there were once over a hundred of these towers in the city which were used to symbolize wealth, power, and for a more practical purpose; to protect and watch over the owners holdings. Today there are about 20 of these left.

We headed down bustling Via Rizzoli and took a random right on Via dell'Indipendenza, then took another left and ended up at what looked like a church.

This is the Chiesa dei Filippini Madonna di Galliera e Filippo Neri….wow, talk about a mouthful. Curious, we decided to take a look.

The structure was badly damaged by bombs in 1944, but was painstakingly restored to its current state and reopened to the public in 1999.

It was a fun stop for us; a nice little respite on this walk.

It was time for us to check into our apartment; so we headed back.

Down this somewhat ominously named street.

The street of "discontent"?

As we got close to the apartment; we noticed a crowd around his window.

So we took a look.....and saw....well, what looked like a stream?

Apparently there once was a whole system of canals throughout the city....most of which are now underground. This is one of the few places where you can catch a glimpse of Bologna's "hydraulic" system that once powered the city.

We relaxed a bit and took a short nap. We decided to stay fairly close by for dinner and just randomly chose this little Trattoria.

The place soon filled up with people who looked like they were headed home from work; the odd family, students, and well, us....the token tourists.

The menu had all of the regional standards. We read that this little trattoria has been here since 1968.

Soon enough the paper bag of bread landed at our table.

We never really enjoyed the bread in Emilia-Romagna; it's hard, dry, and pretty much tasteless. Though we did try the one that looks like it belongs at the end of a medieval weapon.

The Tagliere Salumi e Forgaggi was quite good; especially the Parmesan Reggiano; it was obviously aged a bit because of all the tyrosine crystals.

The mortadella was the best of the salumi.

This time it was the Missus who went with the Tortellini en Brodo.

The pasta was nice and tender; the filling well flavored. The broth was a little light and needed salt.

You do not get Spaghetti Bolognese in Bologna....in fact, there is no such dish in Bologna...except perhaps at a tourist restaurant. What you do get is the tagliatelle al ragù.

Hand made fresh pasta; with a slow cooked meat based sauce. The pasta was quite nice; good pull and texture. The meat in the sauce was rather hard and chewy. I enjoyed how the pasta was dressed as this could be on the rather rich side.

Overall, an okay dinner, it was also perhaps one of the cheapest meals we had on this trip. And, as you can tell, we didn't leave hungry.

Trattoria Tony
Via Augusto Righi 1/B
Bologna, Italy

We headed off to bed rather early.....tomorrow was going to be quite a busy day for us with lots of food involved.

Stay Tuned!

Bologna - AF Tamburini, San Petronio Basilica, and Other "Stuffs"

While we were sad at having to leave Modena, it was time to head back to Bologna, and what was to be the last leg of our trip to Emilia-Romagna.

Our apartment was located just north of the city center, which made it quite convenient for us. We'd arrived a bit early, but were able to drop off our bags and head on out to get some lunch. We headed into the area called Quadrilatero; a wonderful maze of streets and home to the oldest market in Bologna. There are tons of little shops and we walked into the Librerie.coop Ambasciatori, a bookstore and home to Eatlaly in Bologna....no not the crazy Eataly World, but an interesting food shop in the middle of a bookstore.

Where you could browse the aisles for the latest bestseller.....for some reason, I still love bookstores....aaah, the fragrance of new books in the air....and perhaps, like us, purchase some porcini cream.

Librerie.coop Ambasciatori
Via degli Orefici 19
Bologna, Italy

And just steps away, next to the plaque of Father Marella, whom I read used to collect money for the poor and homeless on this corner is AF Tamburini; a pretty well known deli and wine bar.

And walking through the door....well; I could smell heaven.

There an interesting mix of locals and tourists here. The tourist go for the Prosciutto and Mortadella and other stuffs; while I had a few other things on my mind.

And of course we got some mortadella.....

Tamburini
Via Caprarie 1
Bologna, Italy

And while we wondered around a bit more......

But in the end, we headed back to Piazza Maggiore.

To sit with the folks on the stairs of San Petronio Basilica and watch the crowds of Bologna pass by.

I gotta say; the ciccioli….all the wonderful parts of the pig was my favorite; like the best head cheese.

Such amazing diverse textures, so "swiney"....wonderful!

The Mortadella isn't your Mom's baloney....it was porky, but not salty.

The Culatello di Zebello was fine; cheesy,porky, slightly briney-sweet.....but perhaps by this time I was getting a bit jaded?

After our impromptu lunch; we decided to check out the Basilica.

And we're glad we did. As with so many of these historic religious structures there is so much to see and so many stories. For us; there was one thing that really stood out....it was on the floor.

It was a roped off interesting line that we tried to figure out.

In a roped out section of the Basilica is Cassini's meridian line. In which Cassini got permission to make a hole in the roof of the Basilica of San Petronio and put this strip on the floor.

Which is; in simple terms an astronomical calendar.

It was quite an interesting visit.

 

After our nice visit we headed back out and wouldn't you know.....we came across another church.

This one is the church of Santa Maria Della Vita.

As we wandered the city, we came to appreciate the vibrant youthful feel along with the history.

And soon enough, we came upon a bustling shop where the Missus grabbed a snack.

So, the Missus enjoyed Her snack....what is interesting is that Sfoglia refers to old style pasta made by hand in the region. So perhaps next time.

Sfoglia Rina
Via Castiglione 5A
Bologna, Italy

We were enjoying our time in Bologna!

Modena - Cotechino from Bar Schiavoni

Our train for Bologna wasn't scheduled to leave until after 1pm, so the owner of our apartment was nice enough to let us check out a bit later than scheduled.

After relaxing for a bit we headed on out. There was still one item I wanted to try before we left Modena and the Missus wanted to do some (more) shopping. We headed on back to Mercato Albinelli. But stopped to check out the cathedral on the way.

There was a lot of restoration work going on in the cathedral, so we just had a quick look and headed down the street to the Mercato.

Which was very quiet on this morning.

Right out the doors of the Mercato is Bar Schiavoni.

This little coffee and sandwich "bar" was doing some pretty good take-out business. The seating is all streetside on foldable chairs and tables. I got us two espresso and ordered something else....

When I told my Italian coworkers and friends that I wanted to try Cotechino Modena, they looked at me oddly and wrinkled their noses. But since, I was in Modena, I wanted to make sure to try this IGP (Indication Geografic Protected) sausage made of minced pork "parts" in the pork rind. The look totally reminded me of Spam®....which of course has its own...ahem,,,,designation of authenticity! The Cotechino was quite porky, rich, with a clove-wine-nutty flavor; it's almost oily, but the nice crusty bread and the sauce which featured capers and vinegar really did a great job of cutting the richness.

I'd gladly have it again....perhaps next time alongside Cotechino's "son", Zampone. The Missus and I shared a sandwich which was more than enough for the both of us.

Bar Schiavoni
Via Luigi Albinelli 13
Modena, Italy

After our "breakfast" we headed over a few blocks to a leather shop we saw the day before.

While it was closed the last time we passed by; this time it was open.

The young lady working here was amazing. She went through all the products; showed us the process, told us the story of the business, which was founded by the previous owner in 1979.  She and a partner interned at the shop and when the owner was ready to retire; took over the business. She walked us outside and showed us where the canals used to run (where the street is now) for all the tanners on the street. It was an amazing story!

The Missus bought a bag....a wonderful hand made leather backpack...with a story.

Before we paid; the young lady asked us to follow her upstairs, to the workshop and showed us the ceiling. She told us that this was the original ceiling of the building; which goes back to the 15th century! Most places have it painted or covered over. But here was the original.

She told us; "when I first walked up the stairs and saw this for the first time, I knew it was the place for me!"

We loved this place and hope to return someday.

La Vacchetta Grassa
Corso Canalchiaro 42
Modena, Italy

Yes, we hope to return to Modena someday....with that backpack in tow, and perhaps some stories of where it has been!

Thanks for reading!

Modena - Osteria Francescana

You could say that even though I as surrounded by great works of art at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam I was distracted. You see, while we had planned on visiting Florence, I had really wanted to check out Emilia-Romagna. And so we made plans; but one of the key elements to this was trying to get reservations to the restaurant proclaimed to be "the Best Restaurant in the World", Osteria Francescana, which in fact has now won that title more than once. So there I was, on my smartphone, surrounded by the works of Van Gogh, on the first day on the month at 10am trying to get reservations. I managed to get us dinner reservations; not on the exact day I desired, but a day later. It kind of messed up my planning a bit, which turned out to be a blessing since I tweaked my plans to include Ferrara for a night which we really enjoyed.

And so, after having already had an enjoyable time in Modena, we headed off to dinner at Osteria Francescana.

Things start off when you walk up to the colorful, but discreet doorway to the restaurant....and ring the doorbell?

And are greeted by....a Security Guard? Actually a fake security guard, a life-sized, and quite real looking statue.

Let me just say; the service was flawless, just the right balance of professional, yet amiable, there's nothing stuffy about the place. Dishes were brought out perfectly timed, yet you felt relaxed. The wine pairing we had with our tasting menu was excellent according to the Missus; yet only one of them was from Italy.

There's also something I like about the austere, yet tasteful dining room; well spaced, lighting sets a good mood. Yes, you can tell, Osteria Francescana has three Michelin Stars.

The bread was interesting as it had a really nice texture, but was quite plain in flavor.

Ah, this was really traditional bread, no salt added, which went nicely with the olive oil.

Soon after; the dishes started arriving.

Starting with the Aula in carpione, "re-imagined fish and chips" (above). A crisp enrobes a small fish topped with a fish flavored ice cream. Nice umami tones; for some reason this really reminded me of the flavor of various Japanese snacks.....so perhaps that's why we weren't really blown away by the flavors.

Next up were the Cuttlefish and Caper puff topped with a very tasty tomato powder.

The macarons were really mild in flavor and seemed to be a case of perhaps getting a bit too out there. The parmesan crisp added a much needed milky-saltiness to things.

Talking about reminding me of Japanese drinking snacks; the "Sardine that is not a Sardine", eel cream inside a fish skin bread, really tasted like Japanese fried fish skin snacks.

Which kind of made us crack up.

The "Tribute to Normandy" was an interesting play on a place and a theme. There's an interesting, yet clean and refreshing flavor to this "oyster" which is topped with a nice apple granita. The texture is interesting as well. According to the story, Massimo Bottura first had an oyster when he was a teenager in Normandy. Along with the oysters, he had lamb and cider. So this is a dish that celebrates that time; the granita is apple (cider), the foam, which was a bit too salty, is oyster water, and the oyster...is not an oyster, but lamb tartare.

Next up was an interesting dish....I mean literally, the plate looked charred as did the "paper" that topped the sole prepared three ways.

The edible "paper" was made out of dehydrated sea water, then scortched...it made for a dramatic affect and the fish was perfectly cooked, but the dish proved to be much too salty for us.

One of Massimo's signature dishes; "An Eel Swimming up the River Po".

I can sum up the flavor of the Eel in one word; "anago"....it tasted totally like anago. I did enjoy the polenta cream flavored with onion, but the apple jam really clashed with the sweetness of the eel.

"Green over Brown, over Black: camouflage rice". Basically three risottos in one, a porcini (brown), vegetable (green), and oyster (black).

We fond the risotto to be too hard for us and though on occasion you'd get a nice bite of all three working in harmony, it was just a bit too much going on.

"From Cervia to Modena - Leeks, Shallots, and Black Truffle".

Wonderful combination of pungent-sweet and earthy flavors. Great "nose" on this dish as well.

The "Crunchy Part of the Lasagne".

Think of it as a fried noodle cracker on top of Ragu Bolognese, which nice a velvety.

"Suckling Pig, Tender and Crunchy".

Like the sauce stenciled piggies? The pork was fabulous; skin perfect, meat tender, nicely seasoned. The sauces ruined the wonderful pure taste of the swine. Bad thing was; you get three pieces, so don't make too many mistakes with sauces!

About this time, the Chef came out to chat and take a zillion selfies with customers. He is quite energetic, friendly, and really knows how to work the house.

Much like our experience at Azurmendi, we were kind of at a loss when the chef came to our table...….so we chatted about, well, what else...food! I mentioned how amazed we were at the Emilia-Romagna's bounty, it was more then we expected. When Massimo asked me what I was most impressed with....I'm sure he expected something like Balsamico, Prosciutto, or Parmesano-Reggiano. So when I said that culatello had been a revelation to me; he smiled widely, patted me on the shoulder, and said something to one of the Servers. He walked into the kitchen and brought this out to the table himself.

"It is our own Culatello...aged 46 months" he said. He smiled tapped me on the shoulder and said, "enjoy"...… Man, it looked really lean, but it had such a deep, cheesy-porky flavor, and just melted in my mouth that I almost uttered a profanity. So, I now have a story...… the cranky old man can now say, "did you hear the one about when Massimo Bottura served me salumi?"

I have an even better one. "Did I tell you about the time we spent a grand for dinner and the best bite I had was a salad?" Yes indeedy. This is called the "Caesar Salad in Bloom". It is amazing layer of various crunchy textures, flavored powders, various herbs and edible flowers, mounted on a leaf of lettuce.

It is to be eaten in two wonderful bites....I have a thing about textures; this was a symphony of varying degrees of crunchiness, along with bitter-sweet-sour-pungent.... We were amazed at the complex mélange of tastes on a singe leaf of lettuce. By far our favorite item of the evening. (of course for me it was the culatello….but that wasn't on the menu).

Did I mention that Osteria Francescana serves "popcorn" for dessert?

And of course more dessert for the Missus.

So, was it worth almost a thousand bucks for dinner? I often say that at this level it can sometimes be more about the experience. The presentation are like works of art; there is playfulness, transformation, and creativity. Whether that makes for an amazing meal is truly a personal opinion. The service was among the best we've had. The personal touch was amazing. So, while I don't think we'd do this again; I'm glad we did.

Do you really need the address of Osteria Francescana? Ok, here it is..... And no; I haven't seen "A Chef's Table"....

Osteria Francescana
Via Stella 22
41121, Modena, Italy

And yes; Modena is stunning at night......

Modena - Mercato Albinelli and Lunch at Trattoria Il Fantino

In the end we were kind of sad that we only spent two evenings and one full day in Modena. We really enjoyed the relaxed and friendly vibe of the city.

We woke in the morning and decided just to take it rather easy. We'd visit the Mercato Albinelli, wander around and bit, have some lunch, then take a nap. Our location and the apartment was beyond awesome; modern, clean, and right around the corner from the main street in Modena, via Emilia. A just short walk; maybe a half mile or so down the street is Piazza Grande and the Duomo, Modena Cathedral.

Head down via Luigi Albinelli and you'll run into Mercato Albinelli.

Which is quite a traditional market. It was pretty quiet on this day as we browsed the aisles.

With all the standards. We really wanted to check out all the hand made pastas and weren't disappointed in the varieties.....

And we got a nice little treat when we were ogling the pasta at this stand.

The really nice woman saw us checking out the pasta and suddenly appeared with two tortellini on toothpicks for us to try. She smiled and passed it to us over the counter....the Missus and I looked at each other since the pasta wasn't cooked. But we couldn't turn down this kind gesture and ate it.....it was delici- yoso!!! Tender, cheesy, some nice savory-saltiness from the salumi…..man, it was good! The shop owner obviously knew we weren't going to buy anything, but just wanted us to try her product. It made our morning.

We ended our visit by having some espresso at a little shop around the corner from the mecato.

The name of which escapes me. But it was a nice little break.

We then walked back to Piazza Grande. The cathedral really stands out; as does Torre Dell'Orologio, the clock tower.

When you walk along the south end of Piazza Grande to the west and Corso Duomo; you pass through a really neat building that crosses over the street.

This will being you around to the front of the cathedral.

Right down the street is another Piazza. this one is the Piazza della Torre; the Torre Ghirlandina, the bell tower of Modena. Which rises 290 feet above the city. work started in 1167 and was completed in 1319. It is considered one of the symbols of Modena.

The cathedral, Piazza Grande, and the towers is considered a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We should have spent more time exploring; but I'm certain we'll return one day.

The statue in front of the tower is of Italian writer Alessandro Tassoni who was born in Modena.

At this point, the Missus was off shopping...….

She enjoyed exploring the shops in the area...... Meanwhile, I just took in the sights.

This is the Church of San Giovanni Battista.

This is the Monumento a Ludovico Antonio Muratori a famous historian.

This church is the Chiesa del Voto.

Before we knew it; it was almost past lunch time....well, at least lunchtime for us, it was edging past noon.

Where to go for lunch? Well, there was a place fairly close to the apartment I had on my list. I'm not sure where I first heard of the place. Located on a tiny side street, Via Donzi we found Trattoria Il Fantino.

The clock had just struck 1230 and the place had just opened.

The folks here were very friendly. I'd read that the ribs were a specialty, but we decided on just some pasta since we had major dinner reservations.

The Missus picked a real winner; the Strigoli con Funghi Porcini e Speck, only 9 Euros.

Strigoli, sometimes called stridoli….which I was told meant something like "fat worms", were noting of the sort......worms that is. This wonderfully toothsome and substantial pasta had an amazing chew. You weren't looking for anything stretchy here, the closest I've had in terms of texture is the Strozzapreti at Maestoso. Nice woody-earthy tones from the porcini; the speck added a touch of saltiness to the dish. Very nice.

You know what I got, right?

The Tortellini en Brodo of course! I just couldn't get enough of this dish. Bless the hen who gave her life....and by the deep chicken flavor of the broth her soul for my pleasure. The Tortellini had just the right amount of cheese and salumi. It was cooked perfectly.

And as a digestif.....well some Nocino - walnut liquor.

The place had totally filled up by the time we were half way though our meal. We'd lucked out as they had to turn people away......

This was a very nice meal; friendly service, priced right. I'd like to return to try out those ribs....and another bowl of tortellini en brodo of course!

Trattoria Il Fantino
Via Donzi 7
Modena, Italy

We were enjoying our time in Modena.