Next stops, Bologna and Modena amici
We’ve left the laid-back living of Chianti behind for the bustling cities of Bologna and Modena. These two cities are similar in size with Bologna being the busier of the two. Both places have been on our must see list for a while and we finally knocked them off.
Thank God and Bologna for portico’s
After venturing down the streets in the midday heat, you will be grateful for the genius of the Portico. The network of Portico’s that Bologna is famous for, make sightseeing bearable in +33 C temps. Without them they would have had to drag my withered carcass out of the main piazza… I’m sure of it!
Bologna is an easy city to walk about and has lots of historical sites to take in. For us, the old market in the Quadrilatero and lunch at the popular Eataly were highlights.
We found Bologna to be busy, but manageable. We’re glad to have finally seen this important città and it was well worth the visit.
Feeding the parking meter monster
The hardest part of Bologna, I would say, was finding parking close to the centre of the old city. Our apartment was great, but we needed to find street parking for our car. Not as easy as you would think. We did find a spot reasonably close to the apartment, but the parking meter assigned to the lot was a hungry beast. We forked out about 60 bucks CA over the 3 nights stay to keep the beast satisfied.
Modena
A half hour or so northwest of Bologna is the city of Modena, birthplace of traditional balsamic vinegar, aceto balsamico. The city prides itself in giving the world this super flavorful condiment. I was never a fan of balsamic vinegar in my youth, but as I have aged, so has my palate. Drizzled on a mixed salad, fruit or on some aged cheese, balsamico works perfectly.
The city is a lot less busy when it comes to street and pedestrian traffic. Duomo di Modena is easily seen from a distance by its bright white bell tower. Construction started in the year 1099 and was completed in 1319.
What we found so interesting about the Duomo was the stark contrast between its exterior and interior, visually speaking. The facade is mostly white that stands out beautifully against a deep blue sky. The interior is surprisingly dark. Constructed primarily of dark brown bricks in the Romanesque style, it seems very cave-like inside. Immensely interesting!
As crazy as this may sound, we never did find a shop that did Balsamic tastings which we’ve heard so much about. To be fair though, we really didn’t try that hard either. Instead, we found a nice ristorante across from the duomo and had a great lunch. Great day trip.
