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Last week, I returned to Bologna’s historic center for the first time since the end of February. Bologna is my hometown and I live in the suburbs and, in normal times, I may go to the center once a week or, in normal tourist season, more often to run my tours. In normal times, it’s a regular experience I don’t give much thought to; in Covid times,...

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Bologna: la dotta, la grassa, la rossa: “dotta,” the learned, because home to the oldest university in Europe. “La grassa,” the fat, because of her rich, decadent food. “La rossa,” the red, because of the terracotta hue of her buildings and, Italians know it, because of the historically leftist views of her people.  This charming, friendly and hear...

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Mon, 10/26/2020 - 6:30pm. ONline event host by Casa Italiana Zerilli Marimò. General RSVP here. Participation is free. What Makes it Italian? Discovering Regional Characteristics in Music Bologna’s central geographic position and flourishing academic life give its music a distinctly cosmopolitan flair. Music includes Respighi’s “Ancient airs and da...

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On the Apennines between Modena and Bologna is a real celebrity dish: the borlengo. It is prepared by combining flour, water and salt then poured into a large hot pan called "sole" (meaning sun), greased with pork rind. After a few minutes of cooking it’s seasoned with "cunza", which is ground lard with pancetta, garlic, and rosemary. Not exactly t...

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These high-tech vaults are home to the world’s best Parmesan. In Italy's Emilia-Romagna region producers rent the ‘cheese bank’ to protect their treasure from thieves and age it in climate-controlled safes armed with alarms, infrared cameras, and anti-seismic equipment. The region in Northern Italy is the only one in the world that can legally use...

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ROCCA SFORZESCA IS A STUNNING example of the evolution of castles and fortifications between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Its origins date back to 1261 when a 10 tower structure was built on the remains of a pre-existing tower from the 11th-century. At the end of the 15th-century, the rectangular towers proved to be completely unsuitable fo...

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When it comes to her home pantry, Missy Robbins, renowned Chef and Owner of Brooklyn’s beloved Lilia and Misi, stocks her shelves like her restaurants – with basics to satisfy any desired taste. “I’m driven by cravings and ingredient inspiration – I’m just not a meal planner,” admits the James Beard award winner in her cookbook, “Breakfast, Lunch D...

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Italy offers many ways to relax and enjoy the beauty of nature. You can breathe the refreshing mountain air, or the energetic sea breeze, but surely nothing is more refreshing than a long weekend at the spa. After all, let's not forget that thermal baths are a pastime, or perhaps a real tradition, very old. It was the Romans who built the first spa...

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Bologna is a fascinating city. Large enough to never be boring, yet small enough to never feel overwhelming, it sits roughly at the tripoint between Milan, Venice and Florence, but receives only a fraction of the tourists. It gets stereotyped as a city of communists, students and pasta obsessives – which it is – but it’s also a dynamic, forward-thi...

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Romagna has a type of bread called “piada” that is soft, thin, warm and fragrant, and is always cooked on a terracotta dish called a teglia. Clay dishes have been manufactured in Montetiffi for centuries, using a technique that dates back to the distant past, perhaps even prehistoric times. Two terracotta dishes are preserved in the archaeological...

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