Picturing Bologna La dotta, la grassa, la rossa (the learned one, the fat one, the red one) Bologna gets called all three because of its university, its delicious food, and its red roofs. We spent two wonderful weeks there in early November, met some wonderful people, found some great restaurants, great markets, wonderful wine & […]
“Gelato!”: a day at Carpigiani
“Gelato!” When I mention food and Italy someone inevitably replies “Gelato!” Who doesn’t love a cone or bowl of that extra creamy lusciously flavoured Italian version ice cream? So when we were invited to Carpigiani Gelato University to learn the history and secrets of great gelato we jumped at the chance. About a 40-minute bus […]
Tartófla Savigno, Michelin star dining
Tartófla It didn’t take much convincing for us to board a bus early one morning to make the one hour trip from Bologna to a small town called Savigno. We were invited by Bologna Welcome and the organizer of the annual white truffle festival, Tartófla, to enjoy a day of everything truffles. Tartófla is an […]
Tales from the table: Drogheria della Rosa
Drogheria della Rosa “It opens at 8:30!” I said to Nat with a look of desperation. We had left our dinner plans way too late to cook anything and were scrambling to figure something out. Checking Google maps the closest restaurant to the apartment was 700 metres away, called Drogheria della Rosa. I was so […]
Bologna and a tumultuous first month
Guilty in Bologna I have been feeling a little bit guilty of not updating our blog as often as I would like, just a little. On previous trips, we often stopped to write, in hindsight we feel that it broke up the continuity of our experiences. This time we decided to enjoy every minute and write when we can. […]
Movember: men’s health month
A lifetime ago It seems like a lifetime ago since I have written something about what we are actually doing with ourselves. The truth is pretty simple and by normal standards quite boring. As we have said before, we travel on our own terms which usually means on our own dime and it takes a […]
European Markets Part One – CREAMED CHANTERELLES ON TOAST
Eating at restaurants If you’re travelling for any length of time, eating at restaurants gets a little tedious and expensive. If you want to save a few dollars and aren’t interested in eating fast food or street food every day, you can save some cash by renting a room with a kitchenette. You can often […]
The Big Wheel In Parma
Parma We woke up early to catch the train out of Rimini up to Parma where our guide for the morning, Giovanna, was waiting for us at the station. Our hosts at Emilia-Romagna Tourism had really pulled some strings for us and had planned a very exciting day. Thanks to the generosity of the Consorzio […]