In August of this year, 2013, Ali and
myself dropped our two cats off at the cattery and hopped on a plane to the
beautiful Italian City of Bologna for our ten day holiday also taking in
Florence and Pisa.
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| The famous 2 towers |
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| The view from the taller tower |
The first thing that strikes you about this
City are the outstanding Porticos that line almost every street and act as a
canopy to keep you out of direct sunlight when its fine but also (as happened
once) to allow you to walk anywhere even in the lashing rain! From a tourist
point of view, there’s plenty to see and do and it can be done in a much more
relaxed fashion than most places as it isn’t as over-run with loud obnoxious
tourists as places like Rome or Florence.
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| Ali on the rain soaked streets |
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| Tagliatelle al Ragu |
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| Linguine ai Frutti di Mare |
So onto the main point of this blog…..The
Food!!! Bologna certainly deserves its nickname of Bologna the Fat, the food
here is outstanding. Eat where the locals do and you’re guaranteed amazing
food at very reasonable prices. I, of course, had to get the local specially,
Tagliatelle al Ragu (don’t ask for Spaghetti Bolognese!!). It is much tastier
than what we get here which probably stems from the fact that they use different
meats stewed together for hours, its also important to understand the meat is
the sauce so there isn’t loads of Tomato Sauce.
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| Prosciutto |
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| Simoni's |
I also had to try Tortellini but
unfortunately I got this in the one bad restaurant we went to on the whole
holiday, it was extremely bland! Other dinners consisted of a delicious
Pizza (you really cant judge Pizza until you’ve had one in Italy) and Guinea
Fowl with Prunes and Roast Potatoes to break up the Pizza/Pasta intake. One of
the best meals in Bologna came from the amazing “Eataly”, which is a 3 floor
bookshop with a different café on each floor. The meal was Linguine ai Frutti di
Mare and it was cooked perfectly! The addition of Shredded Spinach was a very
welcome surprise and it balanced the dish brilliantly.
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| Tomatoes! |
The other foodie thing to look out for in Bologna is the amazing food market. I cant describe how amazing these markets are in Italy, the fruit/veg is so fresh and with Fish Mongers and Butchers also present there's nothing you wont find! Look out for Simoni’s, you can't really miss it with the copious amounts of Prosciutto and Salami hanging from the ceiling and the smell of cured meats wafting from the door.
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| Guinea Fowl with Prunes and Roast Potatoes |
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