Bologna

Bologna goes by many nicknames: "la grassa" (the fat, lots of pork and pasta here), "la dotta" (the learned one), and "la rossa" (refering to the red roof tops) and during our short day trip, we found them all to be true.

The "Due Torre" or two towers of Asinelli and Garsendaare at the center of the city and represent the power struggles of medieval Bologna. While you can usually climb the Torre Asinelli (335 ft tall) it was off-limits during our visit, meaning we couldn't see first-hand the tiled red rooftops that Bologna is so famous for. Instead, we started at the Piazza Maggiore, the main square that is surrounded by famous buildings including the Palazzo d'Accursio with a 13th centry bell-tower, elaborate porticos, and the basilica of San Petronio (above). Construction on the basilica began in the 14th century but the Bolognese never got around to finishing the facade, leaving the dark red bricks exposed. Inside, there's a mixture of unpainted walls and dramatic frescos.

The church of Santo Stefano was another amazing view of the day. It's not quite a church, more like seven churches built on a single complex. According to my visiting aunt, making a wish every time you enter a new church for the first time will bring you luck. I wish I'd known that when we first moved to Italy! The church(es) were amazing to see and the progression of architectural style is evident when you can literally move through different rooms and periods.

So, what about the learned reputation? The oldest university in the Western world (University of Bologna, founded in 1088) is located in the heart of the city and still plays host to tons of international students each year. We paid a visit to the Anatomical Theater where Bolognese medical students studied human anatomy on corpses laid out in the center of the room. The decorations are quite ornate - the maple walls have risers built out from them and there are bronze sculptures of mythological creatures surround the room. The bodies were laid out on a marble slab though very little of what's pictured above is actually original. The Archiginnasio complex (original center of the university, now home to a library and exhibit areas) was bombed by the Allies in 1944 and had to be nearly completely rebuilt. That means the frescoes lining the portico ceilings near the courtyards were also painstaking reconstructed (see below).

Bologna is deservedly well-known for its culinary reputation. Bolognese sauce (ragu alla bolognese) has gone international and the capital city of the Emilia-Romagna region is the center of the production of cured pork products like salami, mortadella, and prosciutto. Mortadella, by the way, is the far back ancenstor to modern American baloney but bears little resemblence these days. Mortadella is a SPECTACULAR sausage seasoned with black pepper, pistachio, nutmeg, coriander, and myrtle berries and likely dates back to the early 1300s - it's no Oscar Meyer (thank goodness). So you can see where the "la grassa" reputation comes into play. We enjoyed a fabulous lunch at Da Cesari, sampling the mortadella, famous ragu, and homemade tortellini stuffed with pumpkins and ricotta (two separate dishes).

After lunch, we wandered around the narrow streets behind the Piazza Maggiore that still host butchers and fishmongers, though not quite in the numbers they used to. Nowadays, the streets are lined with small pastry and bread shops, selling homemade tortellini to take home and tons of Easter treats (well, at least in the weeks prior to Easter). I even found the Bologna outpost of Eataly, the slow-food centric shop that I first visited last year in Turin! While visiting Bologna meant that we could cross another city off our "list" before leaving, it was a bittersweet moment as we realized we should've come here long ago and returned many times in between.

Da Cesari, Via de'Carbonesi, 8 (at Via Massimo D'Azeglio), tel: 051 237 710

Spilamberto, home of balsamic vinegar

After a visually intense visit to the Galleria Ferrari, our group of four decided to make the most of what had been a two hour drive south to visit some other sites in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. Since we were just outside of Modena, we drove into town to grab a quick lunch. Since it was Christmas weekend, nearly everything was closed but we did managed to get some pasta and AMAZING hot chocolate at a cafe near the center of town. This hot chocolate appeared to be nothing more than a melted candy bar - who needs milk? On the way back to the car, we passed a bakery selling all sorts of treats. My favorite was this Chantilly cake with a Nativity scene set up on top.


The Modena region is particularly know for being the home of basalmic vinegar. However, in order to learn more about the manufacturing procedure, we had to drive to a little town called Spilamberto. This small and picturesque town centered around a castle is probably worth a trip on it's own (though in warmer weather than what we experienced!).


We quickly found the museum and discovered that we were the sole visitors at this small facility. After watching a short introductory video, the museum clerk/guide gave us a personal tour of the museum. She was incredibly accommodating, answering all of our questions and explaining to us how pretty much all families in her town made their own traditional balsamic vinegar in their attics.

We learned the difference between traditional vinegar and "the rest". All other forms of balsamic vinegar (and pretty much anything you'd ever buy in a grocery store, even in most of Italy) is mass produced in machines. The traditional production, however, takes places in the attics (always the attics) of homes and places of business in the Modena region. Using a set of nine wooden barrels that decrease in size, the vinegar is aged (in the barrels) for a minimum of 10 years in order to reach the "traditional" standard. The best vinegars are produced in barrels that are aged themselves, as barrels can and should last several generations. Each spring, the liquid in poured from the larger barrels into the proportionately smaller, with the smallest getting drained. Only a small amount of the liquid can be used so this production is on a small scale.


Our guide explained how her family produced their own vinegar for personal use and how she basically serves as a sommelier for balsamic vinegar and helps to judge the yearly tasting contests. Using the below score sheet, each judge tastes and rates four vinegars (out of 70 total vinegars entered). The vinegar produced by (and in) the museum we were visiting won the contest several years ago and still receives consistently high scores.


Once a vinegar has attained the standards to be labeled "traditional balsamic vinegar", it is bottled into (small) 100ml containers and sold for a government regulated price of 42 euros for the 10 year aged and 70 euros for the 25 year aged. Naturally, vinegars can sell for more. In a store across from the museum, I saw a bottle retailing for 150 euro (still just 100 ml) since the 25 year vinegar had been aged in 100 year old barrels. This store also allowed our group to taste several different types of balsamic vinegars. We began with a six-year, mass-produced version which didn't seem so bad....until we tasted the ten-year! Just a drop on the spoon, this vinegar had a thick and almost creamy appearance with a much less pronounced tartness (i.e. the acidity) to the aftertaste. But the twenty-five year was the clear winner, no contest, especially in comparison. The sweet and acid were perfectly balanced and created an amazing flavor. The shopkeeper had us taste another mass-produced version afterwards and it was striking how inferior the quality was.

After our friends bought vinegars to take home with them, we headed out for a quick gelato. Both of our friends tried the gelato flavored with traditional balsamic vinegar and one of them even let me have a taste. Delicious! It is pictured below on the right, with pistachio.


After our delicious day, we settled back into the car for our return to Milano. Passing Parma, we lamented how short the day was (not enough light in the winter) and abbreviated schedules around Christmas-time. I supposed we'll have to visit the home of Parmesan cheese and prosciutto another day....

Maranello and the Galleria Ferrari

We were prepared for our first married Christmas to be a quiet kind of holiday. With family and most friends an ocean away, we figured that we'd be hanging out with the dog for our long weekend. But, you know, things change. We decided to throw a party on Christmas Day and had our home filled with local friends. Things improved upon the arrival of two friends from Lagos who decided to come in from their current Western European postings to spend the holiday in Milan. After a quiet dinner out with our friends on Christmas Eve, followed by a 2 hour mass at the Duomo, then a big dinner party on Christmas Day, you'd think we'd just spend the weekend eating leftovers and recovering.

Instead, we hopped in the car and the four of us headed south - towards the Galleria Ferrari!


The Ferrari Museum is located in Maranello, Italy and all three boys seemed very excited about our little field trip. Though the autostrada lacked scenic views, the provincial roads from Modena to the Ferrari Museum was very much improved. When we arrived at the museum, we were surprised to see so many visitors just two days after Christmas.

As you might expect, the Galleria was filled with Ferraris! The entry level floor showed all the racing vehicles and the progression of the technology over time. The walls were littered with photographs of the cars - shown during racing, on the road, and in advertisements. There wasn't too much on the history of the company, this was clearly a museum devoted to the visual representation of the Ferrari!


Founded in 1928 by Enzo Ferrari, the company was initially involved strictly in the production and sponsorship of racing cars. The first road car wasn't produced until 1947. At that time, the company only produced street-legal vehicles in order to fund the development of the racing vehicles. Enzo Ferrari allegedly remained contemptful of his road car customers up until his 1988 death.


My favorite (i.e. the one I claimed I'd buy if I could have any one of the cars in the showroom) is pictured below. It's one of the initial street-legal Ferraris produced in the 1950s. I think it looks like something James Bond would drive, if he drove Italian cars.


However, since I don't know how to drive a manual transmission vehicle, the below Ferrari is more in my range of abilities (and price range, I suspect).