Are you coming to Bologna by car?
Greta won’t love you, but if you park in the right place without wandering around and getting a ticket, we can make her happier.

​Here are my suggestions to park in Bologna and avoid tickets in the relentless ZTL (traffic limited zone).

There’s an area in Bologna that you mustn’t cross: it’s the ZTL.
​It’s a limited area that covers almost the whole city inside the old walls and it’s forbidden to non-residents from 7am to 8pm.

It’s important to know in advance where the area begins, because the road signs aren’t clear and well visible.

​My suggestion is to never enter the walls of Bologna with your car: you will get crazy to find parking and you can easily go to a street that is forbidden.

Let’s say it loud and clear: in Bologna there is no free parking.
Whatever you leave your car in a garage or in public parking, you have to pay.

Here are the different options:

You have to look for the blue lines. If you find it white, you’re not lucky, you’re inside a resident zone and your car will be removed.
Even worse with yellow lines that are for buses, taxi or people with disabilities.

The blue lines have different prices and time ranges according to the area where you are. Nothing cheaper than 1,5€/hour.
​Also you need coins to pay in the red machine, hopefully working.

This is the best option to park your car and safely enjoy your time in Bologna. There are many garages in good locations to visit the city center or get to Piazza Maggiore, where our Bologna food tours start:

- Garage Autostazione
Close to the train station, it’s easy to reach without risks of a ticket.

15 minutes walking to Piazza Maggiore.
Piazza XX Settembre, 6 – 40121 Bologna (BO)
Price: 18€/day (every day but Saturday), 2,2€/hour.

- Nuovo Parcheggio Stazione
Just next to the new train station, it’s a multilevel parking lot with 800 spots. Good if you need to get the train, but in an area with lots of cheaper blue lines.

25 minutes walking to Piazza Maggiore.
Via Fioravanti, 4 – 40129 Bologna (BO)
www.nuovoparcheggiostazione.it
Price: 13€/day, 2€/hour.

- Parcheggio VIII Agosto
It’s an underground multilevel parking lot in a very central location. Not cheap but worth it. Be careful to arrive at it only from Via Irnerio, otherwise you’re surely getting a ticket.

10 minutes walking to Piazza Maggiore.
Piazza VIII Agosto, 40126 Bologna BO
www.apcoa.it/parcheggi-in/bologna/piazza-viii-agosto/
Price: 20€/day, 2,6€/hour.

- Parcheggio Tanari
One of the best options. It’s huge and free if you leave the car there and get the bus to arrive in the center.

30 minutes with bus+walk to Piazza Maggiore.
Via Tanari, 17 – 40131 Bologna (BO)
Price: 5€/day, 0,6€/hour or free if you buy a 1,50€ bus ticket.

- Parcheggio Ex-Staveco
​In the southern part of Bologna, perfect to visit Giardini Margherita park.

15 min walking to Piazza Maggiore
Viale Panzacchi, 10 – 40136 Bologna (BO)
Price: 12€/day, 2€/hour.

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Maybe I was born old, but I’ve always been attracted by flea markets.
At first it was Kinder surprises, then stamps, later vinyl and furniture.

Here’s my pick of the best flea markets and second-hand fairs in Bologna.

And since walking, browsing and digging are calories consuming activities, I suggest you what and where to eat near the markets.

Night or day, Santo Stefano is the probably the most beautiful square of Bologna. 
Even covered with vintage stalls selling vinyl, antiques, jewelry, furniture and books, its allure remains untouched.

Info
Every month, on the 2nd weekend August excluded
Piazza Santo Stefano, Bologna
Tel. +39 051 204111 

What to eat
Santo Stefano Basilica, 7 churches, many religious symbols. The street nearby is called Jerusalem Street.
What’s better than a pub called L’infedele (The unfaithful) to get a beer and harmonize with the environment?

A brand new market dedicated to paper.
Only 7 stalls. But lots of books, comics, postcards, holy cards, magazines and posters, but also playing cards, sticker albums, menus and much more.

Info
On the 1st and 3rd Wednesday of every month.
Piazza Aldrovandi, 40125 Bologna

What to eat
From the first opening in Bologna’s suburbs, Berberè now spreads around Italy and Europe. But it’s still one of the best pizza in Bologna and just a few steps from the market.

Piazzola Market in Piazza VIII Agosto is almost more traditional than tortellini in brodo.
But if you visit the square every Thursday you can find vintage stalls run by collectors’ booksellers, specialized in old comics, magazines, satirical newspapers and old postcards.

Info 
Every Thursday from 8:30 am to 5 pm 
Piazza VIII Agosto, 40126 Bologna

What to eat
There’s a magic combo just next door. Pizza&Gelato. Not one of our Bologna food tour, but another great one. 
​
Forno Brisa and Galliera 49 are in front of the other. The first is a cool bakery to get squares of gourmet pizza.
The second serves one the best gelato of Bologna and a superior granita.

A good excuse to visit Savigno, the village of truffle, is its Sunday flea market.
​Go hunting for old porcelain, vintage furniture and memorabilia around the streets of the village. 
And when you find your desired item make a hole in the heart of the seller to get a discount.

Info
Every second Sunday of every month from March to December.
Savigno

What to eat
Second-hand stuff is good, but the main reason to visit Savigno is food. Amerigo looks like an old family tavern, but it’s one of the few Michelin restaurants in Bologna. 

Don’t forget Irina. A new place, owned by a young chef who trained with the king Massimo Bottura. 

One of the largest flea markets of Bologna area takes place in the village of Medicina.
+300 exhibitors under the porticoes, in the squares and gardens.
The key to scoring the best deals?
​Getting there as early as possible.

Info
On the first Sunday of every month, January, July and August excluded.
Tel. +39 339 6288710

What to eat
The legend tells that Medicina took its name from Federico Barbarossa emperor.
Coming from Milan he felt sick and decided to rest in the village. Here he healed thanks to a snake fallen in his imperial soup. 

Miraculous or not, food in Medicina is pretty great. 
Stop at Osteria di Medicina or Trattoria Via Nuova for a good dish of tagliatelle al ragù.

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Not only Sfogline.
A great part of the history of Bologna was written by women, too.
​All around the city you can find some hints to recall a parallel, feminine, story of the city.
Take a walk with us to meet them.

Once upon a time, in the oldest University in Europe, there was the first lady professor in history… Sounds like the beginning of a wonderful story, and actually, it is.

Laura Bassi was the first woman who was officially nominated professor in a University, in 1732.
Professor of what? you may ask.
Maybe literature, poetry, music? Not at all.
Natural philosophy, that means physics.

She also set up a laboratory in her house, and she was one of the first to follow Isaac Newton’s theories in Italy.

Once inside Archiginnasio, one of the best libraries of Bologna, enter Teatro Anatomico, on the first floor. There Laura took her first anatomy class in 1732.
​She was 21 years old, and she faced a class full of men, in a hall full of portraits of male doctors.
​And this was only the beginning of a brilliant career.

Where to meet her
Teatro Anatomico, Archiginnasio Library
Piazza Galvani, 1, 40124 Bologna BO

With the Nazi troops set on the hills, Bologna had a really tough time during world war II.
Partisans were tireless, and women played a crucial part in their actions.
Mostly, they carried weapons and documents between shelters, knowing a lot of information and being especially exposed.

The young Irma Bandiera was one of them.
She was blinded and tortured but she didn’t reveal anything. In a letter to her parents, she wrote:

“I died to allow others to be free and madly love life, as I used to do.”

Want to know something more about women’s role in WWII?
Take a walk in Villa Spada Park, one of the best park in Bologna. Close to the pleasing English-style garden, there’s a walk dedicated to those heroines. It ends in a small open air theatre, to keep the memory alive with acting and talking.

​You can also walk through Via Turati and meet Irma’s face painted on the wall of Bombicci elementary school.

Where to meet her
Villa Spada
Via di Casaglia, 3, 40135 Bologna

Scuole Elementari Luigi Bombicci
Via Filippo Turati, 84, 40134 Bologna BO

San Giacomo Maggiore church looks dark and solemn.
But in a corner, at the end of the aisle, an interesting painting is hidden. It’s a family portrait of Bentivoglio’s family, that ruled Bologna for almost 100 years during the 15th century.

See the praying woman on the left? The one who looks blond and devout?
She’s Ginevra Sforza, wife of lord Giovanni, and apparently the one in charge of hard decisions.

She helped their daughter Francesca to kill her unfaithful husband. Then she encouraged her son Ermes – the angelic kid in the portrait – in a cold-blooded slaughter that could have inspired the scripts of Game of Thrones.

Her husband Giovanni knew nothing about her actions: he was too merciful and could have ruined her plans.

​Only once in her life, Ginevra could not achieve her goal. It was when her friend Gentile, who helped to heal one of her 16 sons, was accused of sorcery and killed on a stake in Via Porta Nova.

Where to meet her
Basilica di San Giacomo Maggiore
Piazza Gioacchino Rossini, 40126 Bologna BO

“Il laboratorio delle cose dolci” (“The laboratory of sweet things”) is the name of the first workshop of solid chocolate.

Teresa Majani started it in 1796, on the side of San Petronio church.
Before her, you could only drink hot chocolate. Teresa’s idea was incredibly successful, as we can imagine.

Majani family soon bought a building in Via de Carbonesi to start a factory, and that is still where you can go to buy their chocolate nowadays.

See the 3 coats of arms on the factory’s logo? They’re remembering the 3 royal houses they supplied. They got ahead a lot from the first Teresa’s sweet laboratory!

Where to meet her
Majani Cioccolato Boutique
Via de’ Carbonesi, 5, 40123 Bologna B

The history of women artists is still all to be written. In Bologna there were a few.
The most famous of them is Elisabetta Sirani.

That’s surprising if we think that she lived only 27 years.
Nobody knows exactly how she died, but poison seems to be the most accurate explanation.
Who caused her death?
Still a mystery.

Probably a jealous friend with an even more friendly fianceé, or her father, also a painter, who realized that she was having greater success than himself.

​If you’re walking in the Certosa cemetery, step inside San Girolamo Church. At your left, in the internal facade, you’ll see Elisabetta’s widest painting: Jesus’ baptism.
On a rock in the bottom there’s an uncommonly big signature: she painted it to stop the rumors about her father doing her artworks, instead of her.

Where to meet her
Cimitero monumentale della Certosa
Via della Certosa, 18 Bologna

[Photo credits: MUDU, Cheap, klausbergheimer​]

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Bologna doesn’t look very green at first sight.

But like our best food, parks and gardens are not exhibited.
They’re hidden behind old gates or they look at Bologna’s skyline from the hills outside the city walls.

Don’t be lazy, wear you jogging shoes and go look for them.

Opened in 1879, Giardini Margherita garden take its name from the same queen of the famous pizza. 
​
During its glorious days, you could have found there a lake with renting boats, a cafe chantant, a funicular railway and a zoo for lions. 
Now most of these things are gone, but Giardini Margherita still is Bologna’s largest and most important park.

Why visit it
For a picnic amongst students and locals during spring weekends or for an aperitivo at Le Serre (former greenhouses).

Info
Viale Giovanni Gozzadini, 40136 Bologna

The University area hides one of the oldest botanic gardens in Europe. 
2 hectares, +5000 plants including a selection of carnivore, 2 greenhouses with tropical and succulent.

Why visit it
For a breath of fresh air inside the city walls or if you’re looking for original things to do in Bologna with your kids.

Info
Via Irnerio 42, 40126 Bologna

Tired of porticoes, towers and taverns? 
Impossible, but in case you can escape to the wild nature without renting a car. 
​
Villa Ghigi is a huge park on the hills behind Porta San Mamolo. 
Fondazione Villa Ghigi organizes educational activities for school, birdwatching and interesting trekking.

Why visit it
To have a wide view of Bologna and digest all the food you had around the markets.

Info 
Via San Mamolo, 40136 Bologna

Rent a bike and ride to this park on the feet of San Luca Basilica.
You can visit the old Chiusa: a Middle Age sluice to deviate and adjust Reno river and provide water to Bologna.

Why visit it
Because you can take the bike path that starts from Certosa Cemetery and follows an open canal till Casalecchio. Then you’ll deserve a lunch stop at Sfoglia Rina.

Info
Via dei Mille 9, 40033 Casalecchio di Reno BO
www.parcodellachiusa.it​

Hey, do you know that Bologna had a harbor? 
We’re far from the sea, but until 1889 small boats used the harbor to move goods and trade with the markets of the center.

This park arises from its rests and unveils the canal still flowing underground.

Why visit it
Because in June, during Biografilm festival, Cavaticcio becomes a place for street food of Bologna, with live concerts and a vibrant atmosphere.

Info
Via Azzo Gardino, 40122 Bologna

Take a deviation from Via Saragozza to enter the gate of Villa Spada park.
Not enough?
Ok, climb the 300 steps and arrive at 300 scalini, a nice place to relax with a glass of wine and get the best view of San Luca Basilica.

Why visit it
Because in the park you can also visit one of the strangest museums in Italy about upholstery and one of the libraries of Bologna.

Info
Via di Casaglia, 3, 40135 Bologna

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You landed in the Italian food capital but you have only one day to spend there?
Don’t panic. It’s possible to get the best from Bologna in one day if you know how to mastermind distances, sightseeing and – of course – carbs.

Here’s my recipe to have the perfect day in Bologna: amazing food, a bit of culture and something unexpected.

A whole foodie day awaits you.
The temptation to skip breakfast can be strong, but don’t fall into it. 
​
Since Italians eat a little in the morning, it will take only a few minutes, but you’re definitely going to need those energies!
There’s a full post about the best breakfasts in Bologna with the addresses you shouldn’t miss.

My tip
Sit at the counter, order a cappuccino and a savory croissant (we call it “La Salata”). It’s light, fast and with enough butter to start the day with a big smile.

Bologna is the perfect city to spend all morning looking at the shops in the food markets. 
Especially if you were wondering in how many different ways pork can be cooked (Spoiler: soooo many).

Our Bologna food tours can save you time and bad tastes, but if you prefer to go on your own walk around Mercato di Mezzo.
The medieval Piazza Maggiore, the two towers and the intricate complex of Santo Stefano are just a few steps away from the mortadella.

My tip
Is it noon-ish? Get inside the Basilica of San Petronio and see the longest sundial in Europe working.
It happens only at noon, but it has to be the astronomical noon. How to know when it is exactly? Play with maths or just look at the chart next to the entrance of Bolognini Chapel.

Make sure to take your time for lunch, it will probably be your most vivid memory.
Best way to experience the living culture of the town is to put your legs under a table, grip a fork and relax.

At Sfoglia Rina, the menu is written on a blackboard on the wall, and – apart from the very traditional unchangeable dishes – it’s renewed every week.
Pasta is the freshest you can have, and they have special attention to the details.

My tip
Since you have one day, but unfortunately only one stomach, focus on the fab four:
1. Tortellini in brodo
2. Tortelloni with ricotta and parsley 
3. Lasagne alla bolognese 
4. Tagliatelle al ragù

Impossibile choice?
​Try one and learn to make the others during our cooking class in Bologna, because new cooking skills are the best souvenir you can get here.

Bologna isn’t only famous for tortellini. 
The University here was established in 1088 and it’s the oldest in the western world. 

Palazzo dell’Archiginnasio had been its venue for almost three centuries. You can read the students’ names in the 6000 coat of arms painted on the walls, and try to guess which country in Europe they came from.

Don’t miss Teatro Anatomico at the first floor, with its wooden stands around the marble table for the human bodies dissections.

My tip
Dig into the weird old studying methods at Museo di Palazzo Poggi. Anatomical waxes, optical experiments and old maps will make your day.
Plus, it’s in the southern part of the city, so you can have a nice walk through the former Jewish ghetto to get there.

Too early to go to dinner, too late to visit anything else: it’s time to have aperitivo.

During the summertime, relax at Le Serre inside the city’s most lovely park: Giardini Margherita. 
Besides the cool location, with trees and light bulbs everywhere, the menu is getting more and more interesting every year. 
Plus, they have an exciting program of live music and new-wave cinema, a nice way to keep you thoughtfully entertained while you’re sipping your freshly minted Hugo.

When it’s too cold to drink outside, MamBo (Bologna Museum of modern art) is one of the best aperitivo in Bologna.

My tip
Aperol Spritz is the king of aperitivo.
Craft beers, natural wines or a tailor-made cocktail work pretty well too. 

If you just one night in town, you should go for something really traditional. 
At Cantina Bentivoglio, they kept the vibes of the old restaurants and the recipes of the grandmothers. Their tortellini in brodo is legendary. After dessert, you could listen to some jazz music coming out of the cellars. 
If it happens, stay and enjoy: their concerts worth every penny.

My tip
Bologna is a perfect city to walk. Its almost 40 km of porticoes will cradle you around.
​It’s even more fascinating in the night, when the red light turns on and the music comes out of the windows.

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Find an open restaurant in August in Bologna seems a jigsaw to solve.
Most of the places are closed for the summer holidays, but I won’t leave you without good food.
Here’s a list of quality restaurants open in August.

Tamburini
If Bologna’s food has a sacred temple, this is Tamburini. An old salsamenteria, meat shop, that serves generations of Bolognesi in the heart of Quadrilatero food market.

Via Caprarie, 1, 40124 Bologna
Tel. +39 051 234726
www.tamburini.com

Cantina Bentivoglio
Food + music is my magic potion. In this restaurant and jazz club you find both really well made. And if you fancy a drink with a snack after dinner, go to Palazzo Re Enzo for Round Midnight.

Via Mascarella, 4/b, 40126 Bologna
Tel. +39 051 265416
www.cantinabentivoglio.it

Bottega Portici 
Looking for tortellini in brodo even in August?
You can prepare it with your own hands on our Cooking Class in Bologna, or you can have it on a terrace with a view on the 2 towers here. 

Piazza di Porta Ravegnana, 2, 40126 Bologna
Tel. +39 051 296 4231
www.bottegaportici.it

Eataly Ambasciatori
Ok, you know Eataly. 
It’s not the small family tavern with a nonna in the kitchen. But you can’t blame them for quality.
Eataly Bologna is half a library and a food store with a restaurant in a beautiful location.

Even FICO, the food park outside Bologna, can be a good option to escape the warmth of the city.

Via degli Orefici, 19, 40126 Bologna
Tel. +39 051 095 2820
www.eataly.net/it_en/shops/bologna

Vetro
This vegetarian restaurant waits for you behind the glass of the old green houses of Giardini Margherita.
​Go there to find refreshment after a hot August day, and to get one of the best aperitivo in Bologna.

Via Castiglione, 134, 40136 Bologna
Tel. +39 370 333 6439
vetro.kilowatt.bo.it

Berberè
Born a few years ago in Bologna’s suburbs, now the gourmet pizza of Berberè spreads around Italy and even in London.
​It’s still one the best pizza in Bologna, so why don’t have a slice in its cradle?

Via Giuseppe Petroni, 9, 40126 Bologna
Tel. +39 051 275 9196
www.berberepizza.it

Adéguati
Pizza, but not only, also at Adéguati (literally “adapt yourself”).
​A restaurant up on the hills, you can go there by bus, by the histrionic Cesare Marretti. 

Via di Roncrio, 30, 40136 Bologna
Tel. +39 348 840 2559
www.cesaremarretti.com/adeguati

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Summer in Bologna is like a chocolate box, sorry Forrest. Rich and tasty, but ends always too soon.
Here’s my guide for the best places to enjoy and never miss any crumb of it.

You’ve drunk all the water of Nettuno fountain.
Jump between the shadows of the porticos.
Spend a full day through crypts and ice caves (yes, we have a lot of them).

But it’s hot, still.

Summer in Bologna can be very hot.
The good news is that you can find an escape in the green. 

Giardini Margherita is our Hyde Park.
People jogging in the evening, a small lake and a light, unexpected breeze.
From 2014 it also hosts my favourite place to spend a summer night in Bologna.

Le Serre dei Giardini Margherita are former greenhouses brought back to life by Kilowatt association. Photos hardly describe the atmosphere of this place. Enjoy one of the best aperitivo in Bologna, listen to live music or just relax between rosemary and thyme. 

Rudere is the next big thing.
Literally translated as “the ruin”, Rudere is another example of regeneration of a forsaken place. Free-grill, live music and craft beer on a hill with a view on San Luca Basilica. Not bad, uh?

Not exactly a place for aperitivo, but once you’ve tried Scaccomatto agli Orti then it’s hard to not talk about it.
An oasis of peace and harmony hidden behind a gate.
A secret vegetable garden where you can have dinner under fig trees.
A chef, Mario Ferrara, who greets you with a smile and surprises with his dishes.
Fixed menu that changes every evening. Be sure to book in advance.

Info

Le Serre dei Giardini Margherita
Via Castiglione, 134, 40136 Bologna
leserre.kilowatt.bo.it

Rudere
Via Gaibara 1, 40136 Bologna
www.rudeosteria.it
Tel. 051 235944

Scaccomatto agli Orti
Via della Braina 7, 40124 Bologna
Tel. 051 263404
www.ristorantescaccomatto.com

When I was 8, I used to wait for the new collection of Panini soccer stickers.
When I was 20, for the new Radiohead album.
Now, for both of them still, but also for the program of Sotto le Stelle del Cinema.

From mid-June to August 15th, Piazza Maggiore becomes a cinema. The best cinema I’ve ever seen.
 
First Cinema Ritrovato Festival brings back to life old masterpieces, restored by the lab of Cineteca di Bologna.

Then Sotto le stelle del cinema enlightens the biggest screen in Europe with old Italian movies, the hidden gems you’ve missed in the last season, and some unique events like silent movies with an orchestra. 
All movies are in original language, with English subtitles if Italian. 

June is also the month of Biografilm Festival: a month of previews, small productions and documentaries that enrich the park of Cavaticcio day and night. After the movie, you can have some street food in a park and enjoy live music near the old Cavaticcio canal. 

If you speak a bit of Italian, or you’d like to learn it, Arena Puccini is another open-air theatre to consider.
Not only because of the selection of movies, mostly last season highlights.
The park around it called DLF (former after-work railway area) now hosts beach-volley playing fields, a nice restaurant and the great pizza of Pizzartist. 

Info

Cinema Ritrovato
June 23rd – July 1st 2018
Piazza Maggiore, Bologna
festival.ilcinemaritrovato.it

Sotto le stelle del cinema
July 2nd – August 15th, 2018
Piazza Maggiore, Bologna
www.cinetecadibologna.it

Biografilm Festival
Parco del Cavaticcio, Via Azzo Gardino, 40122 Bologna
Tel. 051 219 3111
www.biografilm.it

Arena Puccini
Mid June – first days of Sept
Via Sebastiano Serlio, 25/2, 40128 Bologna
www.cinetecadibologna.it

Live music in Bologna is a big thing.
Name a rock star, a pop idol or a jazz master and you can be sure he made a walk under the porticoes.

The most important clubs move their stages outdoor during summer.
Botanique offers a wider range of concerts, but it’s also a place to get a beer and relax sitting on the grass.

Jazz lovers, we don’t forget about you. 
Via Mascarella, the street of jazz, closes for pedestrians in summer and becomes a living room.
During Salotto del Jazz Festival, hosted by Cantina Bentivoglio and Bravo Caffè, Moustache and Cinema Odeon, you can relax with a glass of wine and a dish tagliatelle al ragù while the brushes are drumming.
 
Enter the old gate of Palazzo Re Enzo in Piazza Maggiore for Round Midnight Jazz Club. A temporary jazz club with live concerts and jam session after midnight. With a view on Neptune’s fountain. Not bad, huh? 

Info

Botanique
June 16th – July 22nd, 2018
Via Filippo Re, 40126 Bologna
www.botanique.it

Bravo Caffè
Via Mascarella 1, 40126 Bologna
Tel. 051 266112
www.bravocaffe.it

Cantina Bentivoglio
Via Mascarella 4/b, 40126 Bologna
Tel. 051 265416
​www.cantinabentivoglio.it

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Why Alvar Aalto, one of the most important architect and designer of the XX century, would create a church in a tiny village of 300 people on the hills of Bologna?

The story is long and complex. Let’s start from the beginning.

1955. Cardinal Giacomo Lercaro established a commission for the creation of new churches around Bologna as a symbol of renovation.

After a first missed attempt with Le Corbusier, Lercaro asked the Finnish architect Alvar Aalto to create a church in Riola, a small village between the mountains, close to Rocchetta Mattei castle.

Aalto accepted the assignment and arrived in Riola with his wife Elissa in a snowing day in January 1967 for a first visit, welcomed by locals waving Finland flags.

It was an incredible event for the village that would have finally had a square, a church and the first and only Aalto’s building in Italy.

Riola landscape with its mountains, its stones, its river inspired Aalto’s design.
The church should have risen from Reno river, that flows a few meters from it.

But what made Aalto’s work unique was the use of light.
He designed a church without windows, but just skylights on the roof. Natural reflected light hits the white walls and paints different shapes with contrast.

Riola’s church looks like extreme and mature development of Aalto’s previous works at Otaniemi Conference Hall and Wolfsburg church.

After a few years of reworks and reviews the project was completed.
Ready to start?
No.

On February 1968 Lercaro resigned. After 50 years the mystery still floats around that decision.
The result was a cut to the budget and an immediate hiatus of the project.

10 years after the announcement, the church seemed like a beautiful sketch on a napkin, lost in the pocket of an old coat.
​But mountain folk don’t give up easily.

Contacts between the group of Italian architects who followed the projects and Aalto never stopped.
Riola citizens created a civil committee leaded by Don Luigi Borri, Riola’s preacher.
But it’s Mario Tamburini, local surveyor and entrepreneur, who gave the final push to the project. 

He decided to build the church at his own expenses.
His company Grandi Lavori worked during downtime and used prefabricated elements to lower production costs.

​Works started in 1975.
Lercaro and Aalto couldn’t see the result of their efforts.

The first Mass was celebrated on August 15th, 1977 with ​Elissa Aalto, Mario Tamburini and all the group of architects in the crowd.

Chiesa di Santa Maria Assunta
Piazza Alvar Aalto 1, 40030, Riola (BO)
Tel. +39 051 916355
www.parrocchiariola.it

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If I say Michelin starred restaurant near Bologna your first thought will go to Massimo Bottura’s Osteria Francescana.

And I can say you’re right because #1 restaurant in the world is a worth-a-plane place.
But it’s not the only Michelin star that you should check out if you are in Bologna.

It took me some time (and money) but here are 3 very different places that have more than a star in common.

Savigno is a small town inside Val Samoggia, about 25min from Bologna, surrounded by woods and hills full of vineyards.

Since 1934, Amerigo offers the best products of his land in a family trattoria opened by Alberto Bettini‘s grandparents.
​
You won’t find any fois gras or caviar there, but only the best local and seasonal products like mushrooms and truffles (black and white), river fish like salmerino del Corno alle Scale or deer in a cuisine that celebrate tradition in combination with innnovation.

The location is very warm and cosy and it is inspired by a vintage style  with old coffee machines and liquor posters on the walls. A jump back to the ‘30s!
At the entrance there’s a small shop to buy some products, I recommend their liquors (China China or Marasca) or Saba (cooked grape must).

Prices 
50€ à la carte, 60€ fixed-price menu

I suggest you
On the first Sunday of the month, Savigno hosts the antique market. Go for a walk and take home some vintage souvenirs

One dish not to miss
Amerigo’s egg. A sort of soufflé, soft as a cloud usually served with truffle when available, I ate it with asparagus

Via Guglielmo Marconi, 14-16, 40060 Savigno (BO)
Tel. +39 051 670 8326
Email: info@amerigo1934.it
www.amerigo1934.it

Agostino Iacobucci is a Neapolitan chef who moved to Bologna in 2008 to bring the only Michelin star of Bologna city centre.

​The setting of this elegant restaurant is the eighteenth century’s caffè chantant, called Teatro Eden, renovated for the occasion.
In Iacobucci’s cuisine you can find his origins by the usage of top-notch quality ingredients, like spaghetti of Gragnano or buffalo cheese. The chef looks far from Bologna’s cuisine, creating an original fusion between the two regions.

His savory babà is a pleasant surprise and “Naples meets Emilia” (tortelli stuffed with neapolitan ragù, Parmesan mousse, Piennolo’s tomato coulis) is a dish who talks by itself.
Everything dish is a surprise at I Portici and even if 2017 just started, I can tell that I will remember this place for my top year ranking.

Prices
84€ (meat menu), 90€ (fish menu), 110€ (tasting menu).

I suggest you
Ask to eat inside the old ice cave used by the pope. A wonderful and intimate location to eat by candlelight.

One dish not to miss
Buffalo milk ice cream, peppers and raspberries with caper powder

Via dell’Indipendenza, 69, 40121 Bologna
Tel. +39 051 4218562
Email: ristorante@iporticihotel.com
www.iporticihotel.com/ristorante-i-portici

UPDATE 2018:
From March 1st 2018 Iacobucci is no longer the chef of I Portici. Emanuele Petrosino took his place. One more reason to visit it again soon.

​It’s not easy to find a woman chef with a Michelin star.

Along with his brother Massimo (whose service will offers you the best Pignoletto I ever had), Aurora Mazzucchelli is the only starred woman chef in Emilia Romagna and she keeps her star from 2008 with firmness.

The restaurant, renovated in 2016, has now a modern and elegant style, anyway you will feel at ease.

​The combination of local ingredients and excellent products creates dishes like their famous Macaroni al torchio, smoked eel, raw oysters and spinach or the turnip ravioli, goat cheese and balsamic bubbles.

In this way Aurora shows her bravery and her skills.

Prices
Menu 65€ (5 courses) 85€ (8 courses). 

I suggest you
After lunch visit Rocchetta Mattei, an astonishing castle not far from there

One dish not to miss
​Parmesan cheese tortelli with lavender, nutmeg and almonds

Via Porrettana n.291, 40037 Sasso Marconi (BO)
Tel. +39 051 846216
E-mail: info@ristorantemarconi.it
www.ristorantemarconi.it

Ok, it’s about 1,5h far from Bologna, but I promise it does worth the efforts.

We’re in the bassa, the flat humid area near Po’ river where you go to follow one myth: culatello. A heavenly cured meat, caressed by the fog raising from Emilia land.

Massimo Spigaroli gets the best from it, like for its guinea-fowl covered by culatello and cooked in clay.
Or just try it pure, just to taste how the aging changes its flavors.

If you haven’t had enough great culatello at our Parma food tour, that’s the address you should write on Google Maps.

Prices
90€ (Tasting menu)

I suggest you
Try also the Hosteria del maiale, for a cheaper experience dedicated to the pig.

One dish not to miss
Podium of Culatelli from “White Pig” aged over 18, 27 and 37 months 
​
Strada Palazzo due Torri, 3, 43010 Polesine Parmense PR
+39 0524 936539
www.acpallavicina.com

The story of San Domenico began in 1970 with Nino Bergese.
​People used to call him “the king of chefs, the chef of the kings” for his noble background. 

Flowers, abat-jours, leather sofas and baroque music create the warm atmosphere of a time when eating out was a luxury habit. Those times have gone, but 40 years later the 2 Michelin stars are still shining.

A pristine classic cuisine that picks up local ingredients like red potatoes, pigeon and asparagus and elevates them with the skills and precision that only study, repetition and experience can build.

The dish to wait for? 
Uovo in raviolo with butter, Parmigiano Reggiano and white truffle. When Anthony Bourdain was in Bologna he went there to watch the full process. Not hard to say why.

Prices
Menu from 160€

I suggest you
Go on Wednesday if you’re born after 1970. They make the same menu for a cheaper price.

One dish not to miss
The pigeon

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From North to South, you find a food market in every dusty corner of Italy. Indoor, open air, liberty, temporary, gourmet, gentrified, dirty, harsh, noisy. Surely never boring.

​This is my selection of the 5 best food markets I’ve met during my food trips.

Bologna is a market. It was in the past and it is nowadays. We start all our Bologna food tours in Piazza Maggiore because it was a market, but now it’s Quadrilatero the beating heart of our food scene.

A nest of tiny streets with signs of the past on the walls and family shops owned by generations.
Definitely one of the best food markets to visit in Bologna.

What to buy
Save space in your luggage for a mortadella from Simoni or its hidden brother salame rosa. 
Or get a quality knife at Aguzzeria del cavallo, one of the oldest shop of Bologna. 

Where to eat
Get a tagliere of cold cuts at Romanzo inside Mercato di Mezzo and ask to include boar mortadella.
​If you’re not in a hurry, you can go at Sfogliarina and wait in line for a cheap and well made fresh pasta.

Info
Open Monday to Saturday, 8 am – 6 pm
Enter from Piazza Maggiore or Via Rizzoli.

Bologna and Modena, enemies in the past, neighbours with the passion for food today.
​Albinelli indoor market is a liberty jewel still unknown by mass tourists where old ladies with their trolley are the queens of the kingdom.

What to buy
You can’t leave Modena without Balsamic vinegar and Parmigiano Reggiano cheese.
During our Modena food tour we dig deep and tell you how to choose them properly (and not overpay for them).

Where to eat
​Chiara and Sara make the best sandwich in Modena at their Bar Schiavoni. The menu changes daily, but ask for cotechino and you won’t regret it.

Info
Via Luigi Albinelli, 13, 41100 Modena MO
Tel. + 39 059 211218Open Monday to Saturday, 6:30 am – 2:30 pm
www.mercatoalbinelli.it

Less famous than its brother San Lorenzo, for sure more alive. Sant’Ambogio is an indoor market far from the aprons with Michelangelo’s David.
​If you’re looking for another Firenze, made of farmers and family business, you should head here.

What to buy 
Locals call it just bistecca (the steak), but fiorentina works too. Ask for it at Macelleria Menoni, opened in 1921 and owned by the same family for 3 generations.

Where to eat 
Inside the market there’s Rocco and his rough cuisine and wine to share.
Get the best street food of Firenze: panino al lampredotto in a food truck called Pollini just outside the market.
​For a more fancy lunch, il Cibreo by the theatrical chef Fabio Picchi waits for you.
​Here’s a list of other remarkable places to eat in Florence.

Info
Piazza Lorenzo Ghiberti, 50122 Firenze FI
Tel. +39 055 248 0778
​Open Monday – Saturday, 7 am to 2 pm
www.mercatosantambrogio.it

Testaccio is a genuine Roman neighbourhood with a pyramid, a slaughterhouse and a British cemetery full of artists.
Its old market was moved in 2012 in a modern and healthiest structure.
​Buy fresh artichokes and eat pizza romana in the indoor market and take a tour of the archaeological area under its floor.

What to buy
Samuele at Libreria del Mercato sells old books but also t-shirts and bags with original prints by her wife.
At NAT – Home Decor you find vintage furniture and artworks carefully selected by Barbara.

Where to eat
Think about the classics of Roman cuisine and push them into a sandwich. That’s the spirit of Mordi e Vai. Hard to choose between picchiapò (boiled meat with pepper), Scottona (tender beef meat) or artichokes and Roman Pecorino cheese

Info
Entrance from via Beniamino Franklin, via Alessandro Volta, via Aldo Manuzio, via Lorenzo Ghiberti.
​Open Monday to Saturday, 7 am to 3:30 pm
www.mercatoditestaccio.it

You’re sat under an elephant and you hear screaming men wielding big knives .
Relax, you’re not on the set of Apocalypse Now 2 but at Catania fish market.
​Hard to describe with words the noise, smell and atmosphere of an open-air theatre where fish is the main star.

What to buy
Unless you travel with a refrigerator in your bag, it will be hard to bring home some fish.
Don’t give up.
​Get Bronte’s pistachio (in autumn, where they are fresh) or dried fava beans in the stalls of Piazza Pardo.
​The price is never the one you read on the label!

Where to eat
Mm is both trattoria and street food for a fast lunch. Try their crazy carbonara with turmeric, mussel, bottarga and lemon peel. Scirocco lab offers fried fish cones until late night.

Info
Piazza Alonzo di Benedetto, Piazza Pardo
Open Monday to Saturday, 5 am – 2 pm

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Let’s say it loud and clear: Bologna is not a city of street food. We prefer to eat slowly and with our legs under the table.
​
But how great would it be to walk around the 2 towers with a cone of fried custard in your hands?

​Check out this list of the most popular street foods of Bologna and where to eat them well made.

Repeat after me: not all that is fat is bad.
In the case of ciccioli (pronounce: tchèe-tchee-all-ee), pork fat is nothing else than delicious.

What are ciccioli made of?
It’s better not to investigate further.

Something like dried, pressed and spiced lard. All you need to know is that they’re not properly vegetarian, and the chances to get addicted to them are very high.

Where to eat them
You can find ciccioli in every salumeria the shape of a brown cake.
​At Romanzo, in the covered Mercato di Mezzo market, they’re ready to take away in a yellow paper cone.

Romanzo
Via Clavature 12, Bologna
Tel. +39 051 0828070
www.macelleriazivieri.it

It looks like a taco and tastes like a pita, but with a special twist.
Do I have to tell what it is due to?
To the pork fat inside the dough, clearly. But sometimes it can be olive oil or even milk.

Piadina is an easy-made bread born on the beaches of Romagna.
It’s the bread of generations of bay-watches, the perfect snack to eat at 4am after a night of dance at Riviera, or just a delicious way to have a fast lunch.

Fill piadina with Parma ham, rucola and scquacquerone cheese.
But if you’d like to try something extreme go with sausage, grilled pepperoni and onion. It’s THE pre-football match meal.

Where to eat it
Piadina shops are easy to find, but only some of them are remarkable.
One of my favorites is Sfarinà, inside one of the best food market of Bologna: Mercato delle Erbe. They have a seasonal menu with a magical touch.
​And burrata.

Sfarinà
Via Ugo Bassi, 25, Bologna
Tel. +39 051 269282
www.sfarina.it

When summer is over, leaves are falling down, and I need blankets on my bed, only one thing can cheer me up: it’s caldarroste time.
​
Since October, small roasting kiosks appear in the streets, selling roasted chestnuts for a few Euro.

It’s hard to resist this temptation. So just don’t. Get a bag of hot caldarroste, eat them on your way home and remember: if you’re burning your fingers tips, you’re doing it right.

Where to eat it
Caldarroste kiosks are in the streets around Piazza Maggiore. I love the one in the corner of Piazza Re Enzo and via Rizzoli.
​
​If you’re lucky you can find other street foods made of chestnuts. Mistocchine and castagnaccio are less popular in Bologna but even more addictive.

Caldarroste da Nicola
Via Rizzoli, 1 40121 Bologna
Facebook page

Fish never appears in Bologna’s traditional cookbooks.
We’re far from the seaside, so the traditional cuisine focuses on meat and dairy.

But it hasn’t always been like that.

I found out there was a lot of fish in the city in the past. It was freshwater fish coming from Bologna’s canals. It was so abundant that they called it “the poors’ bread”.

Some fish has never disappeared. Fried small anchovies, for instance, have survived during the centuries.
They’re fried and sold in paper cones.
Eat them with all the head, bone and tail.
And please don’t squeeze lemon on it. Please.

Where to eat it
Pescheria del Pavaglione, in front of the old fish shops of Via Pescherie Vecchie, is perfect if you’re in a rush.
​Osteria Bartolini is one of the restaurants to eat great fish in Bologna. You can relax and snack on a bucket of fried fish under the oldest tree of the city.

Pescheria del Pavaglione
Via Pescherie Vecchie, 14, Bologna
Tel. +39 051 227798
www.pescheriadelpavaglione.it

Osteria Bartolini
Piazza Malpighi, 16, 40123 Bologna
Tel. +39 051 262192
​www.osteriabartolinibologna.com

Crema Fritta is a small cube of custard cream with a light lemon scent. It’s sprinkled with a mix of flour, eggs and breadcrumbs, then fried in seed-oil.

In the big family of salty finger food, crema fritta is the strange creative sibling that never fights with anyone: sweet and a little bit of an outsider.
Only when it’s Carnival time and the crave for fried food intensifies, it’s possible to celebrate it properly by having a whole cone of it.

Where to eat it
Order a fritto misto in Bologna’s Trattorias: crema should be included. It’s a plate that mixes fried zucchini, meat, artichokes and some cheese as well.
​During Carnival time, the best bakeries of Bologna like Paolo Atti always displays whole trays of crema fritta on their window.

Paolo Atti & Figli
Via Caprarie 7 , Bologna
Tel +39 051-220425 
www.paoloatti.com

It’s a bit like love: if it’s true, you simply know that.
If you add many things to make it work, there’s something wrong.

Bread and mortadella: best couple ever. The perfect marriage is between a soft rosetta bread and a few slices of artisanal mortadella.

Undermine the couple’s balance with a glass of sparkling Pignoletto and see what happens.

Where to eat it
In Bologna is almost impossible not to get a Panino alla mortadella. Pigro, alongside San Petronio church, it’s the modern mortadella temple. Just, you have to be lucky and find it open: Pigro in Italian means lazy, and they take their name pretty seriously.

Pigro Mortadelleria
Via Dè Pignattari, 1b, Bologna
​Tel +39 366 508 9699
Facebook page

Tortellini is exactly the opposite of street food. The experience includes broth, spoons, grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, and – hopefully – a big family and lot of time to enjoy it.

But, believe it or not, sometimes even the tortellini have leftovers.

Like a phoenix, they rise out of their own ashes, the day after. They’re dried and closed in a puff pastry casket. The name of this small pie, scrigno di Venere (Venus’ casket), recalls a goddess, and for a reason.

Where to eat it
In Via del Pratello, among osterias, kebab shops and historical pubs, two guys opened a late-night-bakery. They sell pizzas, focaccia and everything else you could fancy after a few beers. Scrigno di Venere is available only in December, because – they say – their mum never kneads tortellini before Christmas time.

Where to eat it
Brenso
Via del Pratello 44/B, 40122 Bologna
Tel. +39 051 008 5321
Facebook page

[photo credits: Dissapore, Sara Querzola]

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Italy’s wine-world is maybe as wide and diverse as Italian cuisine itself.
​But once you’ve started, you won’t be able to stop discovering.

These are my best places to drink wine in Bologna and to give your trip a sparkling twist.
And you’ll never order just the house wine anymore.

This tiny shop and winery is in Via Oberdan, just a few steps from Piazza Maggiore.
A small door on the outside, a wide world inside.

​The owners will answer to everything you always wondered about organic wine – and you were always afraid to ask.
​If you feel like drinking, that’s the place for you – they basically don’t offer food.

My tip: try bio-dynamic. The production technique is somewhat magical, and so is the taste.

Info
Via Oberdan 18/A 40126 Bologna
Tel: +39 349 00 94 427
www.medullavini.it

A short menu for food and a wide wine selection: looks like the perfect formula.

During summertime, you can sit on the outside staring at Santo Stefano on your left and the two towers on your right.

​Even if it’s located in the fulcrum of tourists’ paths, Vineria Favalli still keeps the soul of old osterias.
Waiters are rather your friends, and chatting is kind of the main course.

My tip: Pumpkin-flavored piadina is delicious.

Info
Via Santo Stefano, 5A, 40125 Bologna
​Tel: +39 051 295821

Since 1924, people come here to sip a glass of wine leaning against the bricks of the Altabella tower.

​Olindo, the first owner, had to give away the tin counter during the 2WW, to make rifles and weapons for the army. Now, behind the marble counter, Carlo has a selection of wines from worldwide.

My tip: For a radical experience, try a Georgian Chkhaveri, and compare it to an Antiqua Albana from Romagna. They were both refined in amphora, like they have been doing in Georgia for 5000 years.

Info
Via Altabella, 15/B, 40126 Bologna
Tel: +39 349 300 2939
www.enotecastoricafaccioli.it

Below the sign of Enoteca Italiana that’s the writing “Fine wine and delicatessen”.
And inside, the most reassuring sight for a wine-lover: walls covered in bottles.

This could definitely be the chance to give your wine education a boost.
​My advice is to focus on local wine like Pignoletto or Albana, since the other places give them for granted, most of the times.

My tip: don’t stop your shopping at wine. They sell great pasta like Benedetto Cavalieri or Mancini hard to find abroad.

Info
Via Marsala, 2, 40126 Bologna
​Tel: +39 051 235989
www.enotecaitaliana.it

Fancy a quiet place, delicious appetizers, combined with a glass of Prosecco?
Head to Via Rialto, a winding road full of vintage shops, small bars, a cinema and the amazing Scaccomatto agli Orti.

There you’ll find Tricheco Osteria. Wooden chairs and furniture resemble your grandmother’s living room – the tasteful one.
​Food is great and mostly vegetarian.

My tip: in summertime I always look for a seat in the terrace: a good place for a date.

Info
Via Rialto, 23/a, 40124 Bologna
​Tel: +39 329 883 9885

They named this bar after nettle, the itchy plant from the fields.
And speaking of fields, here you’ll never find a wine that it’s not from organic grapes.
Furthermore, everything involved in the process is native of the production area: yeasts, sugars and wood for the barrels included.

My favorite?
​Centesimino, a grapevine that avoided the terrible phylloxera in 1879, enclosed in a walled courtyard near Faenza.

My tip: Close to the bar, a proper shop has just opened. So it’s time to buy new luggage for a “secure shipment”.

Info
Via Mascarella, 26/B, 40126 Bologna
Tel: +39 051 587 6455
www.lortica.org

If a philosopher photographer and an artist sommelier open a winery, you can expect something beautiful.

Franco and Gianluca’s winery will meet your expectations. They use their walls as a contemporary art gallery and host small concerts.
On Wednesday nights, you can bring your own vinyl disc and play it on a turntable.

My tip: Choose “meditation” wine and surrender to the good vibes.

Info
Via S. Giorgio 11/e, 40121, Bologna
Tel: +39 051 5882448
www.accavineria.com

When Mercato delle Erbe, one of the food markets in Bologna you have to visit, closes its shutter at night, the party starts in the back.

It’s hard to choose between the many places that open on the street for aperitivo. I followed my heart and chose the one with the sign Macelleria: butcher. It happens to be a small bar with a great selection of wine.

They call it “small tailoring wine bar”, and they have a choice for every mood, indeed.

My tip: ask for the grape-flavored pecorino. It will change your perception about cheese forever.

Info
Via Belvedere, 11, 40121 Bologna
Tel: +39 393 441 6674

They definitely have a thing for French wines, here.
And even if I wouldn’t stand on their barricade in a Italy VS France wine war, I always pay a visit when I’m around.

Why?
​Easy to say: I tried their fresh pasta. It’s probably the only place where to taste tagliatelle with a glass of Bourgogne.

My tip: they have a good selection of pasta hard to find elsewhere.

Info
Via Monte Grappa, 13, 40121 Bologna
Tel: +39 051 648 6561

After a hike to San Luca Basilica you’d need restoration. If alcoholic, even better. 

The motto of Mia Cantina is “the good wine is the one you like”.
Pretty reassuring, isn’t it?

Seat at a wooden table and start reading the black boards to make your choice.
​Call me old-fashioned, but in my case, it’s handmade Mortadella with a glass of Valpolicella classico.

My tip: since you are in Via Saragozza, keep it going and make a second stop at Billi Bar

Info
Via Saragozza 43/a, Bologna
Tel: +39 051 439904
www.miacantina.it

Same street, different style.

You just cross the street and flavors, colors, and even smells change. Inside the small La Fastuchera you’re suddenly feeling in a bar on the edges of a beach in Sicily.

Cous cous, sea food, oysters (if you’re lucky), ricotta-based desserts. And intense, perfumed, mediterranean Sicilian wine.

My tip: ask for a passito di Pantelleria to sip in their cozy garden.

Info 
Via Saragozza, 60/A, 40123 Bologna
Tel: +39 051 587 2739
www.lafastuchera.it

Now, for the last four, you’ll have to get outside of the gates of the city, probably taking a bus or a taxi.
Or a car – but in this case, make sure to invite that friend of yours who doesn’t drink.

The selection of natural wines and the location – inside a suburban market – made it earn the name of “punk winery”.
Don’t try yourself in intricate tasting moves, you won’t impress anyone.

Here you find the wine in all its truth – and snails to scrap.

My tip: they organize a wine festival called Gusto Nudo. If you’re lucky to be in Bologna on those days, don’t miss it.

Info
Via Francesco Albani, 40129 Bologna
​Phone numbers and websites are bourgeois.

It’s the furthest place of all, but a reference point for Bologna wine lovers, as well.
The menu is complete. Creative cuisine, story-telling wines by independent winemakers, and a lovely dehor on summer.

Giro di vite arranges themed dinners to taste and learn about wines from all over the world.

My tip: Consider it as a good excuse to visit Bologna, which is much more of you can find inside the old walls.

Info
Via Delle Fonti 45/b, 40128 Bologna
Tel. +39 051 35 46 171
www.enotecagirodivite.it

Agostino is a Neapolitan architect with passion for red wine. La Tempesta is his castle.

​Ask him to be your guide through a tablet menu with wines from all around Italy and a few selection of French.

Definitely not a place for pignoletto.

My tip: get some slices of knife-cut prosciutto

Info
Via Camillo Ranzani, 17, 40127 Bologna
Tel: +39 051 992 2636

The area between via Saragozza and via Andrea Costa is full of surprises.

​You can find the beautiful park of Villa Spada, the football stadium and the Certosa monumental cemetery.
Then, if it’s 6 pm and the unmistakable smell of fresh baked tigellas comes to your nose, you’re probably close to Zampa.

Celebrate uncorking a Pignoletto and… cheers!

My tip: they have a good Prosecco that fits great with a tagliere of salumi.

Info
Via Andrea Costa, 127/a, 40134 Bologna
Tel: +39 051 432931

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If there’s a place where you can find me after a food tour, this is a library. An oasis of silence in the desert of noise, to rest and recharge.

​Emilia Romagna is full of beautiful and hidden libraries. Here’s a list of my favorite ones to put on your travel list.

A fortress, a botanical garden, a basketball and boxing arena, a trading centre, a restaurant, a bank, a puppet theatre.
This is what Sala Borsa has been during its +2000 years of life.

Now it’s a library, probably the most important of Bologna. For its position sure, in Piazza Maggiore next to Neptune’s fountain.
​But also for the quantity and quality of books, magazines, music and more over 3 floors + a basement with the rest of a Roman street.

Info
Piazza del Nettuno, 3, 40124 Bologna
Tel. +39 051 219 4400
www.bibliotecasalaborsa.it

“I don’t like books, but I’d come here to read sometimes” said a rebel teenager during a school trip in Bologna.
Archiginnasio conquers even the hardest hearts.

A step inside the gate and you’d be back in a time where students from all Europe came to Bologna to study.

The library is on the first floor, a few steps from the astonishing anatomical theatre.

Info
Piazza Galvani, 1, 40124 Bologna BO
Tel. +39 051 276811
www.archiginnasio.it

If you’re a cinema addicted like me, Bologna is the place to be.
Especially in summer when Piazza Maggiore becomes an open air arena.

But also everyday, if you have time to spend at Cineteca di Bologna and its library. A huge selection dedicated to cinema, photography and all their relatives.

​On the first floor you can find retrogames including my first console (Sega Master System II) behind a case.

Vintage movie posters on the walls may distract your study, but warm your soul.

Info
Piazzetta Pasolini, 3/B, 40122 Bologna
Tel. +39 051 219 4843
www.cinetecadibologna.it/biblioteca

Biblioteca Universitaria is an underrated library in an underrated building of an underrated area.

It’s set inside Palazzo Poggi, in the heart of University, since the XVIII century.
You can walk under its portico without notice it, but you’d miss one of the most interesting museums Emilia Romagna, an astronomical observatory and this beautiful library.

​If you want to breathe the authentic academic atmosphere of Bologna, don’t make the mistake to forget it.

Info
Via Zamboni, 33/35, 40126 Bologna BO
Tel. +39 051 208 8300
bub.unibo.it/it

Mr Gutenberg had no doubts when he had to print his first book. Then it’s no surprise that the oldest libraries in Italy are set inside monasteries.

A XIV century Franciscan complex hosts this old library in Imola, a small city between Emilia and Romagna.

After this mystic jump, you deserve a pagan prize. Get a great gelato at Sesto Senso, just near the library.

​On the way back to Bologna, stop for a visit to Dozza, one of the coziest and charming village of all Emilia Romagna.

Info
Via Emilia, 80, 40026 Imola BO
Tel. +39 0542 602636 
bim.comune.imola.bo.it

No dragons or direwolves, but until the unity of Italy, Emilia Romagna was an impressive Game of Thrones.

Biblioteca Estense takes its name from the noble family of Ferrara. When Modena became capital of the dukedom, the library changed location.

​Borso’s Bible is its best kept secret. A full gallery in a miniature book that took 6 years of work by masters of Italian Renaissance.

Info
Largo Porta Sant’Agostino, 337, 41121 Modena
Tel. +39 059 439 5711
www.gallerie-estensi.beniculturali.it/biblioteca-estense-universitaria/

No excuses.
Visit Palazzo della Pilotta is one of the best things to do in Parma.

A huge wooden theatre, a surprising typography museum and a sketch by Leonardo, THAT Leonardo, aren’t enough to convince you?
Ok, Biblioteca Palatina will do the rest.

Created in 1761 has 4 main halls:
- Sala di Maria Luigia, a reading room with 26.000 books
- Sala Dante, to look up at frescos inspired by the Divine Comedy
- Sala De Rossi, with sumptuous furnishings Impero style
- Petitot Gallery, covered of original walnut bookcases.

If you need to relax after the food feast of our Parma food tour, this is a great place.

Info
Piazza della Pilotta, 3, 43121 Parma
Tel. +39 0521 220411
www.bibliotecapalatina.beniculturali.it

Another monastery, another unique library.

If you’re going to Ravenna only for its beach, you’ll get disappointed. But if you’re looking for art and culture, it’s one of the best day trips you can take from Bologna.

Monks spent about 300 years to built Biblioteca Classense.
Aula Magna, decorated with statues, frescoes and finely carved wooden shelves, is its jewel. Then visit the large refectory, the ancient sacristy (Sala Muratori) and the monumental cloisters.

The real gem?
​Raccolta Dantesca, the most complete collection of Dante’s works bought from the German bookshop Olschki.

Info
Via Alfredo Baccarini, 3, 48121 Ravenna RA
Tel. +39 0544 482112
www.classense.ra.it

“Indian elephant don’t fear mosquito”

It’s written above the wooden gate of Biblioteca Malatestiana.
I can’t speak for the big mammal with the trunk, but I’m sure that this incredible library isn’t afraid of time.

It’s the first Italian civil library and the building, the books and the furniture are in perfect shape.
Credits to the architect Matteo Nuti, able to create an environment with a natural air recycle to preserve the books.
For this reason only small groups with guided tours can enter and for a short time.

​If you have to choose only one library from this list, this is the one.

Info
Piazza Maurizio Bufalini, 1, 47521 Cesena FC
Tel. +39 0547 610892
www.comune.cesena.fc.it/malatestiana

The name of Alessandro Gambalunga won’t tell you much.

Humble origins, law degree, married to a noble lady.
He gave to Rimini his family palace with a collection of Latin and Greek classic books.
But his legacy to Rimini goes beyond that.

At his death in 1619, he donated the full library to the city and left money for the improvement, binding and restoring of books and for the librarian wage.

​After 400 years the library still stands there in the centre of Rimini with more than 300.000 books. Only waiting for curious readers to look for them.

Info
Via Alessandro Gambalunga, 27, 47921 Rimini
Tel. +39 0541 704486
www.bibliotecagambalunga.it

These are the libraries to put in your travel list. But every small city in Emilia Romagna has a hidden library. Now it’s your time to look for it.

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I’m sure you already know Parma. You met it in the unique taste of Parmigiano Reggiano cheese or in the sweetness of culatello and Parma ham.

But food, and our new Parma food tour that celebrates it, isn’t the only masterpiece there.
​
​Here are some reasons why you should put Parma in your travel bucket list.

Chubby men, dressed up with costumes, singing to each other instead of talking. It can look weird, I know.
But if it takes place in a theatre and the music is by Giuseppe Verdi, it becomes Aida, Nabucco or Rigoletto and the tickets get sold out in 20 minutes.

It happens every year at Teatro Regio, an XVIII century theatre with a breathtaking painted curtain.

If you visit Parma in October don’t miss Festival Verdi: days of concerts, music and celebrations in different theatres around the area.
Why all this love for Giuseppe Verdi?
​The grumpy composer was born and lived here in the countryside. It appears that he never wanted to leave Parma without a culatello in the suitcase, put next to the sheet music.

Info
Teatro Regio
Strada Giuseppe Garibaldi 16/A, 43121 Parma
Tel. +39 0521 203999
www.teatroregioparma.it

​Teatro Regio can be visited all year with guided tours, also in the backstage.

When in 1522 the painter Correggio received the commission for the big Cathedral’s dome, he felt truly honoured. It was the greatest undertaking he could ever go into, and he tried hard to do his best.
He created a crowd of angels climbing on the clouds, seen from beneath, all intertwined and dizzying.

But Parma citizens knew much more about food than art technique. They couldn’t help to see just a tremendous, golden, swirling “broth of frog legs”.

​Correggio never received another commission for a fresco after that, but the dome is still amazing.

Info
Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta
Piazza Duomo, 7, 43121, Parma
Tel: +39 0521 208699
www.piazzaduomoparma.com

Since I was a kid, I always loved animals. First like plastic tyrannosaurus to play with, and then, you know, in shape of salame. So I feel kind of stepping back in time when I turn around the Baptistery and look at the 75 different sculpted animals of zooforo series.

Like the whole building, they were designed by Benedetto Antelami, one of the first that dared to call himself an artist. Before him, only talented anonymous bricklayers.

A monkey, a dear, a camel, a war-elephant, a duck, a bull, a peacock, a hawk, a wolf and an eagle, but also two harpies, a centaur, a griffin and a mermaid.

​You could spend all day looking at them, and your whole life looking for hidden meanings.

Info
Baptistery of San Giovanni Battista
Piazza Duomo, 43121, Parma
Tel: +39 0521 208699
www.piazzaduomoparma.com

Unfinished doesn’t always mean unpleasant. We know much about it in Bologna, where the biggest church, in the biggest square, still lays uncompleted.

Something similar happened in Parma with Palazzo della Pilotta.

It’s a huge building, a town in the town, that changed its shape lots of times during the centuries. It takes its name from the Spanish game of pelota and hosts three museums, a high school, a library and a theatre.
As well as an unexpected dreamy drawing by Leonardo da Vinci, called La Scapigliata.

But the biggest surprise waits for you on the first floor.
There you find Teatro Farnese: a massive arms deposit turned into a 87 meters long baroque theatre all covered in wood.
Lucky were the ones who saw a play inside this astonishing structure. In fact, Teatro Farnese was used only 9 times in almost 300 years.

Info
Palazzo della Pilotta
Piazza della Pilotta, 3, 43121 Parma
Tel +39 0521 233309
www.pilotta.beniculturali.it

After a class in calligraphy during college, Steve Jobs upgraded his computers with different typographies, to make the technology a little bit closer to human creativity.

That’s one of the reasons for Macintosh big success. And it’s also why I think he would have loved to visit Museo Bodoniano.

The museum is all about the work of Giambattista Bodoni and it’s one of the best museums to visit in Emilia Romagna.
Bodoni was an elegant typographer that made Parma the capital of printing in the late XVIII century.

Just another old dusty bookmaker?
​Not at all. Bodoni’s font is still used in logos of Vogue, Giorgio Armani, Valentino, Mamma Mia! and even Nirvana.

Info
Museo Bodoniano – Biblioteca Palatina
Strada alla Pilotta, 3, 43100 Parma
Tel +39 0521 220411
www.museobodoniano.it

Looking for the coolest neighborhood?
Go on the other side of the river.
It applies to Paris’ “rive gauche”, Florence’s “Oltrarno” and Rome’s “Trastevere”. And Parma is no exception.

​It’s called Oltretorrente, literally beyond the torrent, and there’s no room for fancy restaurants. Just bookshops, farmers markets, osterias, great food and the atmosphere of a small village.

My favorite place to go? Parco Ducale to rest, or even have a picnic, under the shadow of a secular tree.

[photos: Stefano Corrias, Adrian Scottow, Atsje Bosma-Prins​]

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No, it’s not THAT one you’re already thinking about.
​It’s called Ristretto Vicolo Coccapani and let me explain why I’ve been there 10 times in the last month and I can’t get enough.

First it was the name.
​Ristretto. Like the short coffee you take at the counter while arguing about football.
Vicolo Coccapani. It’s the name of the street where it’s set, with one of the best views you can get of Ghirlandina tower.

​Then were the rumors I heard from different people, one of which is Massimo Bottura.
He said that “after service ends at Osteria Francescana around midnight, we all go there together and he [Gianluca, one of the owners] usually wants us to taste something, so we let him surprise us”.

​But if Osteria Francescana is that bottle of Bordeaux, stored for years in the cellar, that when you finally open it, it has to be great; then Ristretto is the flask you always put on the table and that you fill with the red wine bought from a local farmer, too good to be true.
​
Usually big expectations bring big disappointments. That’s not the case.

Ristretto is open from 11 am to 1 am.
During this time you can have:

- lunch. For a seasonal daily menu with classics like passatelli, garganelli, or pastrami burger. You won’t spend more than 16€ with a glass of wine and coffee.

- aperitivo. You can get just a cocktail, or beg Marcello to prepare an insanely good tagliere with cured meat from Antica Ardenga (second only to the one prepared by Rita at our new Parma food tour), cheese and gnocco fritto.

- dinner. The prices rise a bit, like the fantasy of the chef. It won’t be easy to choose between ravioli with goat cheese, artichokes and rosemary or potato gnocchi with kale. Low lights, relaxed atmosphere, great food.

I can say for their passatelli with squids, but you can’t taste the flavour through your phone screen.

I can say for the kindness of Marcello and Emanuele, but you can’t hear their big laugh from your headphones.

​​I can say because of the perfect quality/price ratio, but you can’t imagine how great Ristretto is until you’re there.

If you’re looking for a traditional menu with taglietelle al ragù and tortellini in brodo, Ristretto is not the place.
You can find them sometimes on the menu, but there’s always a pinch of creativity in their dishes.

Thinking of that, they opened Cucina di Quartiere, a bigger restaurant just outside the city centre focused on regional food.
​Of course I’ve tried it, of course it has to be on your list.

Ristretto Vicolo Coccapani
Vicolo Camillo Coccapani, 5, 41121 Modena MO
Tel. +39 059 839 6497
Closed on Sunday

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Somebody said that traveling together is all about the art of compromise. That’s why, sometimes, it’s wonderful not to.
I’m a solo traveller sometimes and I enjoy my total freedom in making plans and turn them upside down.
It’s fun to think about your own city as a solo traveler. But I figured out that Bologna can be one of the best cities in the world if you want to spend some quality time with yourself.

Take a walk

They call it Bologna la rossa, because of the colors of the walls and roofs. (Then the political orientation came, but I will tell you this story another time, maybe). The soil around here has always been full of clay, perfect to get terracotta tiles for roofs and paint with warm colors.

My tip is to stroll under the porticoes and explore the parts just outside the Roman city center. Start from the two towers and take Strada Maggiore, Via Santo Stefano or Via Castiglione. Here you can find some of the most fascinating corners, such as Piazza Aldrovandi, Via Rialto, San Giovanni in Monte.

See Bologna from the top

There are some magnificent ways to have a look at the city from the top, too.
Climb the steps to reach the rooftop and play the bells of the tower of San Pietro Cathedral: especially during sunny days, the view is breathtaking.

​If you feel like walking a bit, follow the world longest portico to reach San Luca Sanctuary. This is so far one of the best walks you can have in Bologna.

Or make your way to San Michele in Bosco, a former convent and then one of the first specialized hospitals in Europe in the early 1900s. During the daytime, the historical part of the hospital is open to visits.
​No spoiler but look outside the window at the end of the corridor on the first floor.

Info
Santuario di San Luca
Via di San Luca, 36 (Bus n. 20 until Arco del Meloncello and then follow the portico)
Opening times: 7.00 – 12.30 / 14.30 – 19.00 The portico is always open, but the sanctuary area closes at night.

San Michele in Bosco
Via Pupilli, 1 (Bus n. 30)
Opening times: 9.00 – 12.00 / 16.00 – 18.00 (church)
You can go also by night, just follow the street on the right and enjoy the view.

San Pietro Cathedral bell tower
Via Altabella, 2/4, 40125 Bologna BO
Tel. +39 051 222112
Opening times: Saturday 2pm 4:30pm
Ticket: 5€

Explore the University

Explore the University No Botticelli’s Venuses, no Monna Lisas, no Guernicas. You won’t find famous and overcrowded museums here, but still, Bologna is the paradise of culture-passionate.

Bologna’s University is the oldest in the western world, and one of the few that keeps the facilities in the city center. You shouldn’t miss Archiginnasio, with its creepy anatomical theatre.
And why not take advantage of the fact that you own your time schedule, and request for consulting one of the many manuscripts of the library?

At the end of Via Zamboni, you find Palazzo Poggi. It’s one of the strangest museums in Europe and surely one of the best museums in Emilia Romagna.
XVIII century students didn’t care too much of how creepy their work looked like.
They studied everything: from the inside of the insects, to the inside of the humans, that they represented carefully in a series of anatomical waxes. And then dioramas, warships models from the struggles against pirates, paper globes, and pretty much everything your science fantasy could ever imagine.

University wasn’t the only important school in town. W.A. Mozart himself cheated on the entry test for Bologna’s Conservatory. Apparently, Father Giambattista Martini made some corrections on the exam-sheets and let the young Austrian genius come in. Martini’s collection of musical instruments and charts are now in Museo della Musica, located in delightful Palazzo Sanguinetti. Even if you’re not a music expert, the beautiful garden at the entrance and the curious XVII century horns worth the visit.

Info
Biblioteca comunale dell’Archiginnasio
Piazza Galvani, 1, 40124 Bologna
Tel. +39 051 276811
Opening times: 9.00 – 19.00 closed on Saturday afternoons and Sundays.
To access the library, check the rules on www.archiginnasio.it

Museo di Palazzo Poggi
Via Zamboni, 33 40126 Bologna
Opening times: weekdays 9.00 – 16.00 / weekends 9.00 – 18.00, closed on Mondays
sma.unibo.it/it/il-sistema-museale/museo-di-palazzo-poggi

Museo internazionale e Biblioteca della Musica
Strada Maggiore, 34, 40126 Bologna
​Tel. +39 051 275 7711
Opening times: 10.00 – 18.30, closed on Mondays
www.museibologna.it/musica

Enjoy the show

They call it “the most beautiful cinema in the world”, and it is definitely true for me.
Every summer, starting from the half of June to the half of August, Piazza Maggiore turns into an open-air cinema, and movies of all kinds are projected on a big screen just in front of San Petronio façade.
You could be as lucky as to be there the night when the silent movie and live Orchestra are scheduled to play together. All the movies are in original language, with subtitles. Plus, they’re totally free.

During the rest of the year, the programming continues at Cinema Lumiere. Movies are selected by Cineteca di Bologna, usually one or two best new releases and a bunch of old classics. Still no dubbing allowed.

At Cantina Bentivoglio you find great live jazz music, as well as a good bowl of homemade tagliatelle al ragù.

Locomotiv, Covo Club and Estragon are the best rock and indie clubs, in my order of preference.

Info
Sotto le Stelle del Cinema
Piazza Maggiore, Bologna
From June to August, every night at 21.45
www.cinetecadibologna.it/sottolestelledelcinema

Cinema Lumiere
Via Azzo Gardino, 65/b – 40122 Bologna
Tel. +39 051 2194810
www.cinetecadibologna.it

Locomotiv Club
Via Sebastiano Serlio, 25/2, 40128 Bologna
Tel. +39 348 083 3345
www.locomotivclub.it

Wondered how we developed the art of cooking?
We had to feed hungry students and professors coming from all over Europe to study at University. You’ll never feel strange while you share your dinner with your book in Bologna. They’ve been doing that for almost a thousand years.

For sure you won’t feel alone at Osteria dell’Orsa. The queue begins a few meters from the main door and it’s a good way to make new friends. Big tables to share with the students and simple local cuisine. Cheap prices too.

Speaking of queue Sfoglia Rina has nothing to envy. Ask for a place at the counter and watch the lively street outside while you try your tortellini in brodo, or passatelli with seasonal vegetables. Or both. There’s nobody around to judge you, after all.

​No time to sit? Check the menu of Ragù. The tagliatella will do only 3 steps: from the cutting board to the stove, from the stove to the carton. Then to your mouth.

Osteria dell’Orsa
Via Mentana, 1, 40126 Bologna
Tel. +39 051 231576
www.osteriadellorsa.com

Sfoglia Rina
Via Castiglione, 5/b, 40124 Bologna
Tel. +39 051 991 1710
www.sfogliarina.it

Ragū
Via Goito, 9/b, 40126 Bologna
Tel: +39 051 268585
www.ragubologna.it

Bologna is a really safe town, for everyone, everywhere, so you can choose your accommodation in every area.

Try one of the hostels and you will never feel alone: big common rooms where to find new friends, relaxing gardens with chairs and tables where to fill your sketchbook, shared bikes to explore the city with.

Albergo Pallone is young, close to the city center and with an osteria inside. The newborn WeBologna is just on the back of the train station, in the lively Bolognina area.

Airbnb in Bologna are becoming more and more popular in Bologna, so you have a wide choice.
Book an entire apartment if you want to enjoy your solitude as its best, or a room in a house if you prefer to meet some locals. Bolognese people are known to be very warm: ask for the recipe of ragù, it will be the beginning of a beautiful friendship!

If you prefer traditional hotels, my personal advice is to choose between the ones with a rooftop, like Hotel Metropolitan, in Via Indipendenza, or Hotel Touring, close to Piazza San Domenico. To look at the city from the top of a roof is the best way to understand why they call it “Bologna la rossa”. Spoiler: it’s not for salame. Not only.

Albergo Pallone
Via del Pallone, 4, 40126 Bologna
Tel: +39 051 421 0533
www.pallone.lapiccolacarovana.net

We_Bologna
Via de’ Carracci, 69/14, 40129 Bologna
Tel: +39 051 039 7900
www.we-gastameco.com/we-bologna

Hotel Metropolitan
Via dell’Orso, 6, 40121 Bologna
Tel: +39 051 229393
www.hotelmetropolitan.com

Hotel Touring Bologna
Via dè Mattuiani, 1, 40124 Bologna
Tel: +39 051 584305
www.hoteltouring.it

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