I’ve been waiting for this trip for a very long time.. well, I was in Italy in 2013 so I guess it hasn’t been that long but I feel I need to visit this fascinating country at least once a year! This year, I am lucky enough to be here twice.. as I will be back in October! Since we come here often, I was specifically interested in areas we have yet to get to know. I have been wanting to visit the Amalfi Coast and so we decided to do Sorrento. Since we were in the area- I had to do Naples… I wanted to experience the city and the food. I always had Bologna in the back of my mind- I checked some flights and decided to fly into Bologna, take a train down to Naples and Sorrento- so that is our plan.

We took the flight from Newark and flew direct to Munich. We were in Munich last year and I was looking forward to the delicious pretzels- of course there is a lot more food Munich has to offer but since we were only there for an hour, I wanted a quick, delicious pretzel.. very different than the ones we get in NYC. We got off our plane, I had already brushed my teeth in preparation.. we went through immigration and I quickly made our way to the gate. On the way, we found a yummy looking bakery where I purchased a pretzel sliced in half and with butter and chives in the middle! Yum! I sipped my cappuccino as we made our way to the next flight. Within the hour we landed in a small airport… we were in Bologna. A short cab ride later, we were walking to our small hotel (Metropolitan).. on the weekends the main square is sectioned off to cars, etc- even better! We were right in the middle of the action! Our room was not ready as yet so we dropped our luggage off and walked around to find a lunch place. We found a place called Prima Della Pioggia, a lovely little place with outdoor seating. We enjoyed duck Bolognese, spaghetti with octopus and a lovely spring pea and pancetta. We ordered a half carafe of local red wine and sat there for a couple of hours, enjoying the passers by and soaking in the Italian experience.

After walking a bit more, we returned to our room, showered and rested a bit. Unfortunately, it started raining a bit.. we waited a while and ventured out to get a yummy gelato at Gelateria Gianni, a very highly rated on in the area- and of course it was delicious, especially the salty pistachio one!

After more strolling we stopped for dinner at Cinque 50, a bar/restaurant. A very friendly gentleman and a young lady greeted us and asked if we had reservations- we didn’t but they welcomed us in.. we ordered a bottle of local sparkling wine as well as a fried bread- which was yummy. We also enjoyed a fish ravioli.. filled with sea bass.. it was delicious and some local roasted pork. The plate looked very simple with slices of pork and a fresh salad on the side. The pork was tender and filled with flavor.. absolutely delicious!! We were very happy indeed. We walked out and chatted with the owners, the lady gave my daughter a big hug and a kiss… one of the reasons I love this country.
I like to wake up early on vacation and not waste any time- my family on the other hand, does not like to do that. So, I woke up, exercised, showered and then woke them up to go down for breakfast that consisted of, eggs, cheese, cured meats, fruits, yogurt, etc. Of course there was excellent coffee and cappuccino. We headed out soon after to walk around and try yummy foods. We saw a few cathedrals and walked to the main square- Piazza Maggiore. Bologna is a beautiful, historic city with amazing architecture. We stopped at Eataly and drank delicious glasses of Lambrusco and ate some yummy crostini and delicious lasagna! We walked around some more and stopped for gelato at La Sorbetteria Castiglione– delicious hazelnut, pistachio and cream gelato!!!

So far so good…. we walked around some more and returned to our hotel for a much needed break… After a few hours of resting and walking around, we made found a restaurant called Ristorante Vicolo Colombina, it was recommended by our hotel concierge. We walked over and it was still closed… I knocked on the door to find out if they had any space for us. He said all table were taken but they had a table with a couple of couches right in the front- it looked really comfortable and we took it. We came back half an hour later and sat down – we were the only ones in the restaurant. We started with a Rose lambrusco and continued with some red lambrusco- so yummy… We had the mortadella and potato shuffle, a plate of cured meats, pasta with bolognese sauce and a couple of lasagnas- all was very very delicious… we ended with a plate of caramel panna cotta- more like a flan. It was a great evening.. we weren’t done yet… stopped at a gelato place and indulged in some yummy frozen treats.

It has been a great couple of days in Bologna- we take a train down to Sorrento and Naples tomorrow- stay tuned!