Staying at the Hotel Il Guercino, which is located five minute walk from the train station of which has fantastic links to Italy, the hotel is basic but a good base for a city break and exploring. The breakfast at the hotel is impressive, some hot options, but mostly continental, good quality cheese and hams and a large fruit selection.
We started the day with a trip up the ‘two leaning towers’, word of warning, only do this if you’re fit and healthy, its higher than you think, but the views pay off at the end and you can see over the whole of Bologna. Working up an appetite from the climb we found a restaurant called Pino, five minutes from the tower, a slight language barrier, we thought we had ordered a pizza, but instead got a three-course meal with drinks! I’m afraid to say the meal was very mediocre and a bit of a tourist trap, so best avoid if you stumble upon it.
Once back, I took a stroll in the sun around the local residential area and stumbled upon a wine shop called La Cantinetta selling natural wines. Poured straight from stainless steel vats in store, some of the wine is made in the small area at the back of the building, which is fully equipped for wine making. The grapes come from either co-operatives for the house wine or their own vineyards for single varietals, your free to taste all of the wines on offer and will set you back about eight euros for 3 litres of pinot grigio.
We started the day with a trip up the ‘two leaning towers’, word of warning, only do this if you’re fit and healthy, its higher than you think, but the views pay off at the end and you can see over the whole of Bologna. Working up an appetite from the climb we found a restaurant called Pino, five minutes from the tower, a slight language barrier, we thought we had ordered a pizza, but instead got a three-course meal with drinks! I’m afraid to say the meal was very mediocre and a bit of a tourist trap, so best avoid if you stumble upon it.
After lunch, we had a whole afternoon of rain so stayed under cover for most of it sampling the delights round the local markets. Most stalls alone had around 10 different varieties of tomatoes; the best was the variety ‘Cuoreabue’. Parmesan cheese as you could imagine was a lot cheaper than the UK, around £10 for a kilo and would get you 36 months of age. Most of the locals buy all their food from the markets, as there aren’t many large supermarkets in the city, something that we in London should do more often.
Once back, I took a stroll in the sun around the local residential area and stumbled upon a wine shop called La Cantinetta selling natural wines. Poured straight from stainless steel vats in store, some of the wine is made in the small area at the back of the building, which is fully equipped for wine making. The grapes come from either co-operatives for the house wine or their own vineyards for single varietals, your free to taste all of the wines on offer and will set you back about eight euros for 3 litres of pinot grigio.
Pizzas again on the menu for our final night, this time from a takeaway called Pizza Mia, five minutes from the train station. The pizzas were very good, crusty thin base, wood fired, with delicious toppings, the artichoke was cooked to perfection and the meats are of very high quality, it also meant I could try to get through some of my three litres of wine.
If your looking for a holiday packed with food and lots of wine, then Bologna is the destination.
If your looking for a holiday packed with food and lots of wine, then Bologna is the destination.
I went to Da Enzo when I was in Modena and absolutely loved it! http://dinnerathon.blogspot.co.uk/2011/07/da-enzos-of-modena.html
ReplyDeleteBoth the Zampone and the Cotechino were absolutely incredible.
Did you make it to Osteria Francescana when you were there?
Da Enzo was very interesting, was like walking into someones home, i should of tried more i think. Unfortunately Osteria Francescana was closed, going under some renovations i think.... How was it?
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