Emilia Romagna

Once again we have moved. This time from Aosta to our new home in the region of Emilia Romagna, in a tiny town called Carbona. Here we rented a small appartment which was an old home with a large garden. The garden was looking out over the hills and a river. Apart from the train tracks on the other side of the house, the place was sleepy and quiet. Luckily the trains only ran a few times per day and that equals no problem.

Because we had moved so often the last few weeks we took a few days to relax. We hung out, worked a bit, and dipped into the river called “Reno” a few times. The day before we departed we wanted to atleast do this region some justice by visiting the city of Bologna and try to eat as much of the delicous food as we could.

Bologna food tour

So without any breakfast we took the train to Bologna. The train system here is surprisingly modern and easy. We just downloaded the Trenitalia app, bought the tickets using the payment method of and our choice and we were ready to go. Whenever you are checked by the conductor, just show the app with a QR code, easypeasy.

We did some preparation in advance of which kinds of food we wanted to try. When we arrived in Bologna we headed straight for the city center. Here are the things we tried during the day:

Espresso (ofcourse)
Tigelle (with ham and cheese)
Croissant with pistache cream filling
Pizza, a margharita with buffalo mozzarella and fresh basil and a pumpkin and sausages one. (the pumpkin one was awesome)
Gelato, we had pistache, mango, hazelnut and a ricotta and fig icecream. So good..
Ragu Bolognesa, slightly different to the “Bolognese” sauce we are used to. More meat and less vegetables.
Salumi platter with parma ham, mortadella, ricotta and parmigiano reggiano.
Crescentine and more Tigelle, these came with the salumi
Beef and potato dish, not really a italian staple but Ellen was not a fan of the pastas.
A tortellini type pasta filled with pistache, ricotta and parmigiano.

As you can imagine, it was great and we absolutely rolled into the train back home

Bologna Sights

In between the food carnage we still did some sightseeing ofcourse. There was plenty of things to see and do in this surprising city. We had to book some things in advance due to covid restrictions and we had to show our vaccination pass. In one occassion they even took our temperatures.

We made one mistake while booking one of the sights. Bologna is known for its towers scattered accross its city center and we wanted to clime the biggest one. We had booked this ascend at 16:30h. Knowing that there was no elevator and the only way up is by climbing 400 stairs. Because our legs were already mush at that time, we decided to skip the ascend. We enjoyed a slow stroll through one of the massive Cathedrals instead.

All in all it was a great day in Bologna, we enjoyed the city and its food and we were glad we took the day to check it out.