Over the last two years, it’s fair to say that one of my most favourite countries to visit has been Italy, and for pretty much most of my life, my first choice food-wise has been Italian. So it’s little wonder that when I still had some AVIOS points left over, and a weekend free where I wasn’t too keen to stay in London by myself, that I tried to get back there for one last chance at proper Italian food. Getting the chance to learn how to make authentic Italian food (and in my head, a Bolognese that was slightly more interesting and authentic than just slapping together a jar of Dolmio with some mince!) was something I definitely couldn’t miss out on before I went home.
I’d heard a lot about Bologna, and had previously made the connection to Bolognese sauce, and knew of its connection to good food and being a historic university town. In fact, of the three most popular nicknames for the place – la dotta (the learned one), la grassa (the fat one) and la rossa (the red one) – I’d like to think that two of those nicknames apply to me. I’m sure the unkind amongst you would suggest otherwise. However I digress. After a bit of diary juggling I managed to find a fantastic sounding cooking course, flights on Avios and a decent and cheap hotel, and with that I was ready to hop onto the mainland one more time.
Bologna as a city was everything that you could ever want for a quick weekend getaway. Compact, lively, and with lots of fantastic things to see and do – lots of art galleries, churches (surprise surprise), and leaning towers to keep you amused. But the great part was that the whole city centre was pedestrian-only for the weekend, which added to the fun vibe, and seeing everyone and anyone casually roaming the streets made it feel even more special. Just being able to amble aimlessly was an absolute joy, especially after the last few weeks of both travel and work. I headed over to the Sanctuary of the Madonna di San Luca (and walking the 666 porticos) which was also quite enjoyable, and it’s fair to say that there were many attempts to take an artsy-fartsy photo or two along the way! My reward was naturally a bit of gelato on the way down.
No post about Bologna would ever be complete without talking about the food. And yes, I can confirm that it is as fantastic as everyone goes on about. I certainly didn’t have a bad meal in Bologna, and I think that even if you were to go into a fast-food restaurant that even the quality in there would be at the top end too!
I’ll leave the post about the cooking course to another time, mainly because it was that awesome that it deserves its own post, but it’s fair to say that if you’re after a great weekend away, this is a place you can most definitely have one in!
Enjoy the photos.
Goodbye Oz, HELLO WORLD! 