This is a catch-all post for all of my favorite places in Bologna. Feel free to use it as a Lonely Planet guide for anyone who might visit someday.
In order in which they occur to me:
- L’Infedele: One of my absolute favorite bars in Bologna. It’s tiny, so it can sometimes be hard to find seating, but in the winter it’s cozy inside with long wooden tables, and in the summer there are tables outside in tiny and picturesque Via Gerusalemme, just off Piazza Santo Stefano. And it has really good prices per bottle for its location.
- Celtic Druid: My favorite pub, and the most “authentic” one according to at least one English co-worker and one Irish co-worker, as it’s tiny, dark, and cozy. Perfect place for a pint in the winter. It also keeps its music volume to a minimum, something which I appreciate greatly in any bar.
- La Cirenaica: The neighborhood just behind my apartment! I haven’t spent enough time in it because it’s in the opposite direction from the city center, so I rarely pass through. But it’s a lovely little neighborhood, with tall trees shading the streets and butcher shops, bakeries, cafes with old men sitting outside sipping their grappas, and a charming little covered market that I’ve almost never been to. Sigh. There’s also a big block of social housing (for low-income families), which for some reason is designed ten times better than our hideous new development–they’re made up of simple, nice-looking apartment buildings with nice gardens and footpaths beneath, and even a little piazza with glass displays of Etruscan artifacts found there. If we ever moved back to Bologna, I’d like to move back to that neighborhood (albeit not the social housing as we’d probably be ineligible).
Pizzeria Due Torri: They sell pizza by the the big, hot, aromatic, oily slice at only $1.50 each, and it’s always packed because it’s amazingly delicous. The salame piccante is best.
Parco Talon: Even though I’ve been there every Saturday for the past two years, as Anglo American’s Casalecchio branch is situated right beside it, I only started exploring it with recently, when Riccardo would bring me lunch after work and we would eat and explore. It’s gorgeous and enormous–I suppose it doesn’t really even have boundaries, as it melts right into the Apennines beyond. You can take the low path along the river Reno, or you can take the high path uphill and see the beautiful old crumbling houses that are just begging to be restored. There’s also an organic community farm there, with goats. Or you can go even further uphill and arrive at San Luca by the long, twisting trail–an alternative route.
- Cicileo: I haven’t been back very often since I moved away from Via Parigi, but it’s a truly wonderful little bar. Crazy, kooky decor, really friendly bartenders, and a delectable aperitivo. Riccardo and I used to get coffee every day after lunch there.
- Queoaka: The first shop was in the Cirenaica behind my house (I think Mom discovered it!) but then another opened just beside Piazza Maggiore, and now there’s a third in San Felice. It’s a simple little store that sells sandwiches, salads, sushi, soups, and “wok” boxes (little Chinese-style boxes of rice, cous-cous, or the like). Everything I’ve had there has been delicious–chicken salad sandwiches, Tandoori chicken and pumpkin seeds in rice, barley with pesto, lemon cous-cous. It uses almost entirely local ingredients. It was founded by a locally famous chef Marco Fadiga, who has his own bistrot in Via Rialto and has very specific ideas about design and cuisine. You can have the food delivered, take it away with you, or eat it right there (they have little microwaves to heat things up if you choose). I thought Queoaka was some South American, possibly Incan, word, but it turns out it’s just Bolognese–”que o a ca’” (here or at home).
- Stickhouse: Popsicle shop in Via degli Orefici! I prefer the fruit popsicles–strawberry, melon, red orange, passion fruit–but Riccardo always gets banana dipped in white chocolate. Delicious.
- Il Geletauro in Via San Vitale and La Funivia in Piazza Cavour: My favorite gelaterie. Both feature a delectable fior di panna.
- Bar Farini/Sostarbene: The little cafè-bar at the corner of Via Farini, Via Santo Stefano, and Piazza San Giovanni in Monte. I enjoyed it when it was your classic bare-bones bar with Lorenzo, who was curmudgeonly but kind, and I like it now that the two new guys have spruced it up and made it into a hip, attractive little bar.
- Bar Morandi: The cafè-bar that I discovered when Bar Farini was undergoing its change of management. Friendly bartenders, good coffee, and they give you a whole glass of sparkling water with your coffee instead of just a shot glass.
- La Tua Piadina: Hole in the wall with the best piadinas made to order. Best thing to do is to take it to nearby Piazza Santo Stefano and eat it there.
There are so many others, but I’m running out of time (hence no pictures yet) so I’ll move on.
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There is one thing that America has that Italy doesn’t–wilderness. Pure, simple, wilderness. There are many areas in Italy that are extremely rural. There are several national parks where people don’t live. But as Riccardo pointed out once, it’s nearly impossible to be anywhere in Italy without seeing signs of human civilization–deforested, cultivated fields, at least. It’s one of the things I love about Italy–the ancient history, the fact that underneath your feet at any given spot are thousands of years of human history.
America has some of the most beautiful wilderness areas in the world, in my opinion, and such a variety. Of course Yellowstone, Yosemite, and the Grand Canyon come to mind, but there’s also the Shenandoah, the Ozarks, the Green Mountains in Vermont, the great plains and steppes of the west, the deserts and mesas of the southwest…there’s so much wild, raw beauty to be found in every corner. For me, this is one of the things that’s so incredibly special about America. I’m looking forward to seeing it, some places for the first time, and some places again but with new eyes.
On the other hand, I do miss bagels. Bagels have never made it to Italy; I have never been able to locate even one. They have every other kind of flour product that you can think of, but not bagels. I miss bagels, particularly when they’re just really good egg bagels toasted lightly and eaten plain,* but I like them as sandwiches too. I’m particularly looking forward to New York in this respect, as I remember the bagels there being a cut above the rest.
