Halfway inland in the very heart of Italy is the provincial city of Bologna, the capital of Emilia-Romagna region. Here it’s possible to experience the real Italian art of living well. For Bologna is called three things: la Dotta (the Learned), for the oldest university in the Western world founded in 1088, transferred from Ravenna’s ancient school of Roman law; la Grassa (the Fat), considered the home of Italian gastronomy with its cuisine of tortellini, lasagne and tagliatelle al ragù and thirdly la Rossa (the Red), for its exquisite terracotta-tiled roofs. Bologna’s also home to Marconi (radio) and Morandi (artist), of Mortadella (ham) and Lamborghini and Ducati (car manufacturers).
On Via dell’Indipendenza, directly opposite Bologna’s cathedral and very close to Piazza Maggiore, the main square, is Hotel Grand Hotel Majestic già Baglioni (https://grandhotelmajestic.duetorrihotels.com/en). It’s Bologna’s oldest (113 years) and most prestigious (the city’s only 5 Star) hotel and follows that strong tradition of Italian Grand Hotels. This long-time favourite for touring celebrities impressively includes Dalai Lama, Scorsese, Fellini, Coppola, Brosnan, Sinatra, Gable, Loren, Monroe, Bardot, Sartre, Connery, Sting, Pavarotti, Lady Diana, Bocelli, Elton, Callas, McCartney, Minelli, Springsteen, Pele, Lopez and Carey. It’s truly palatial with its glamorous and gleaming marble floors, its white Doric columns and gilded furnishings. Not to mention the gorgeous fresh flowers.
Down the long, shiny, marble corridor to my room (starting from €380) with its Murano chandeliers, opulent drapes and linen sheets. A winning harmony of classic Italian antique furniture and contemporary comfort. I loved the hotel’s renowned I Carracci Restaurant: highly sophisticated and set spaciously beneath original frescoed depictions from the beginning of the 17th century. Here, having sampled a range of olive oils from the light and fruity to the ‘intense’, I savoured Bologna’s traditional tortellini with capon broth. Some hotel of such luxury and such historical charm.
Bologna is a city of great religious significance as it’s where Saint Dominic is buried (in Basilica di San Domenico). While most churches have inadvertent church facades within however are great baroque churches inviting you with their insistence and theatricality. Basilica di San Petronio isn’t actually the city cathedral (with the largest church similarly mistaken in Rome and Venice). But the real delight for me was Oratorio di Santa Cecilia with frescoes on a par with Giotto’s Padua and Masaccio’s Florence and I also loved the sculptural masterpiece ‘Decapitation of St Paul’ in Basilica San Paulo.
In the heart of the university area on the bustling Via delle Moline is Le Moline Osteria (www.lemoline.it). It’s set on two floors and offered me an authentic Italian lunch. I loved the selection of cold cuts and cheeses, the local speciality that’s Tortellini and the perfect finish of a Chocolate Salame. Le Moline is very affordable and clearly popular with the locals, which is always a good sign, so it’s best to book.
The trade in wool, linen, hemp and silk brought the city its wealth. Shops and markets now align streets typically adorned in buildings coloured terracotta and pink with bottle green shutters. The university was critical too and plentiful bookshops still frequent the town and restaurants are lined with bookshelves to lend a part-cafe, part-library feel. Indeed the three rooms at the restaurant Va Mo Là, meaning ‘go there’ (www.ristorantevamola.it), on Via delle Moline are surrounded by books and posters giving it a learned vibe. It’s full of students and equally young staff. I loved watching the world go by through the floor-to-ceiling windows. From the bread that came in my brown paper bag I mopped up an excellent vegan dish with five dips. This is a hearty trattoria with a traditional Bolognese menu offering true and honest fayre.
Bologna has 62 km of colonnades which define the cityscape offering summer shade and winter shelter where locals still sit outside in the cold: such are their external habits. Above some are perched houses propped up by wooden beams that still exist as do many former palaces displaying their brown plaques. Of the original one hundred towers only twenty two remain. They acted as symbols of family prestige. The tallest is now a soaring 318 feet high beside its neighbour that slopes like the one in Pisa. A sense of learnedness and culture pervades the city and Bologna’s Pinacoteca is truly excellent with notable examples from the three Carracci painters who saw figurative art as “the bible for the poor”. I also recommend approaching Piazza Maggiore from Via Clavature with the Clock Tower en face and the Basilica to your left. Such municipal magnificence.
I had dinner on Via Santo Stefano at Camera con Vista (www.cameraconvista.it) It’s another time-honoured phrase meaning ‘room with a view’. For this bistro is right opposite the remarkable complex of cloister and crypts that’s the Basilica Santo Stefano. Seven years-old, this former antique shop has kept its oriental screen adornment, and then became a tapas and cocktail bar (hence it’s impressive cocktail list). It all felt very homely and intimate as I sat under the chandeliers to choose from its confident, mid-price ranged menu offering much that was light on my stomach including delicious grilled vegetables followed by a passion fruit dessert with aromatic tonka beans.
For an away-day excursion I took a one hour train journey to Ravenna. I loved the cobbled back streets of this serene and tranquil town. It was, in the fifth century, the capital of the Western Roman Empire and where the first Christian art of the Byzantine era emanated with the finest mosaics ever made. How stunning to witness them in their octagonal baptisteries and mausoleums. So startling were their colours: plenty of gold on the walls of San Vitale and Sant’Apollinare Nuovo but more dazzling are the depictions of deep blue skies and rich green meadows. In Ravenna I recommend Ca ‘de Vèn (www.cadeven.it) (‘the house of wine’), with its three rooms set in a beautiful, calm building. This family-owned concern proudly declare that “the food is seasonal, fresh and local” and indeed it’s a proper authentic fixture in the heart of the town.
Back in Bologna I loved my lunch opposite the theatre on Via Augusto Righi at Donatello (www.ristorantedonatello.it). This gorgeous, lofty, square room, has been a dining hall since 1903. Dominating the room from top-to-toe and from wall-to-wall are signed framed photos of celebrity clientele that include Pavarotti and Domingo, Puccini and Josephine Baker. On my square table under the square, coffered, painted ceiling I savoured a ‘gramigna alla salsiccia’ (fresh pasta with pork sauce) and finished with an amazing ‘tartufo al cioccolato’ (chocolate ice cream – Italian style). With its white tablecloths and crumbers overseen by the charming and capable, crisply-waistcoated Francesco, Donatello is a true testament to the test of time. An enduring, traditional ristorante for a discerning clientele.
I stayed also at Hotel Roma (www.hotelroma.biz) on the pedestrianised via d’Azeglio. It’s right amongst the many shops and seconds from the main square. First mentioned in 1800, this sequence of seven buildings is a perfect base and very good value. In my room (starting from €150) I felt very cosy and comfortable beneath its wooden beams. The affordable and spacious restaurant C’era una Volta (meaning ‘once upon a time’) chimes with the hotel’s pride in its long history. Throughout the staff were highly attentive and extremely obliging.
Tucked away, in the smallest of squares off Via San Nicolo, is Casa Azzoguidi (www.casaazzoguidi.it). On entering this new restaurant, part of the Hotel Corona d’Oro, I was struck by the chic, coffered ceiling propped up by Corinthian pillars, and by the spacious setting of the marble tables. Here I sat on my elegant, green-grey, rounded, velvet banquette to witness from the open kitchen where the magic would come. What an amazing first course of grilled tuna with roasted pine nuts and how delicious my chocolate ganache with caramelised pears, cocoa crumble and walnuts. Casa Azzoguidi truly has a delightfully refined atmosphere.
For tips: from Bologna Airport it’s 30 minutes to the centre by bus (€6) or taxi (€22) but best and quickest is the train (Marconi Express (€12.80). Bologna’s an hour by train to Florence and Milan and 2 hours to Rome and Venice. Once in the city it’s all manageable by foot, all safe and mercifully very light on traffic with only the occasional bicycle, vespa and car.
I must go back: whenever but soon!
FACTBOX
Adam had support from Welcome Bologna Tourist Board (About us) and the Bologna Welcome Card (Bologna Welcome Card) and Ravenna Tourist Board (www.turismo.ra.it ). He had further support from Holiday Extras www.holidayextras.co.uk (0800 316 5678) who offer airport lounges at all major UK airports and many international destinations). He used Heathrow Express www.heathrowexpress.com where people automatically get 10% off a range of tickets when they book direct. He was covered by online travel insurance specialist, CoverForYou www.coverforyou.com, 0207 183 0885)
grandhotelmajestic.duetorrihotels.com/en)
