Michael and I (well, mainly me) wanted to visit a European
Christmas Market, so we flew into Bologna.
It was a nice flight and a short bus ride from the airport to our hotel
where we dropped our bags before heading out to explore the city.
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| Check the lean, the back building is straight! |
Bologna is a beautiful old city with plazas and lovely
buildings with arched colonnades. We
enjoyed walking around to orientate ourselves before heading out to dinner for
a traditional ragu alla Bolognese. This
tasty meal is the signature dish of the region and we enjoyed dining in a nice
little restaurant called Osteria dell’Orsa (The Bear).
The next day was cold (-3 degrees), so we donned our heavy
boots, double jackets, hats, scarves and double gloves before venturing
outside. It has been a while since we
have experienced such cold weather and it is easy to forget how much time you
spend taking your jacket off and then on again.
Breakfast was a delicious cornetto and a coffee standing at a café counter.
We then spent the day wandering around the
city in search of the Christmas markets.
The markets sold interesting jewellery, decorations and lovely torrone
(festive nougat made with almonds and honey).
We also found a French Christmas market, which sold fabulous French food
and lavender among other things. The
markets are nowhere near as large as the German markets, however they were
charming and it was nice looking at all that was on offer. It may not have actually snowed, however it
was certainly cold enough for it!
The following day we took the little road train high up into
the hills to the Sanctuary of the Madonna di San Luca. Unfortunately, a thick fog had rolled in so
we were unable to see the spectacular views from the top. The church was built in 1723 and is quite
lovely with beautiful painted artworks and frescoes and statues. Once we had finished touring the church we
decided to walk down the hill along the 3.8 km Portico di San Luca consisting
of 666 arches. The portico was built to
protect the icon, which is paraded up the hill in a yearly procession. It was a good walk, if a little chilly.
Bologna is known as the gastronomic capital of Italy and
Michael and I can wholeheartedly agree with that description. Every meal we ate was superb with wonderful
wine, cheese, meats, pasta and pizza.
Then there was the gelato. It
didn’t matter that the temperature was below zero, we couldn’t possibly miss
out on a daily serve. The variety of
flavours was astounding and Michael found what was undoubtedly the best gelato
store in Bologna. I would love to return
to Bologna, not just for the food but also as it is such a pretty town to
visit.
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