When planning our trip, we constantly joked about how we were going to eat baloney in Bologna; well, it sounds almost the same in name. However, once we started our research, we discovered that baloney would be the last thing sold in Bologna.
Known as “La Grassa” or “the fat”, Bologna’s social life revolves around eating and drinking—the main criteria of our gastronomic tour. Also considered a rival to Venice for the title of “best looking city” due to its medieval buildings, red brick and expansive central square; we got more than we bargained for when we stopped in Bologna.
Still on a high from recovering our cameras and sufficiently filled from our decadent dinner in Marnello the night before, it seemed that any ol’ restaurant would be fine just as long as we could sample the famed tortellini, tagliatelle, lasagna and bolognese sauce. However, I was determined to find the essence of Venice’s architectural rival and forced everyone to blindly wander the narrow roads (we were without map) until we arrived at the center of Bologna. We were close when we stumbled upon Café du Midi, our next experience on the gastronomic tour. It was worth the stop.
Once again we found ourselves filling up on parmesan reggiano drizzled with balsamic vinegar (one taste and we swear it will become your staple appetizer), prosciutto, pizza, tagliatelle with bolognese sauce (double whammy) and lasagna. Of course what would an afternoon lunch be without wine? This time we finished off with a dish of tiramisu. It was gone in less than a minute. |
