A Rainy Day in Bologna

Today was a little sporadic. It's been raining so I spent most of my day in Bologna sheltering inside various buildings. To try to make the most of my time, I decided to use a neat website I recently came across - Atlas Obscura - to find alternative things to do in this city. This included visiting the oldest university in Europe (specifically its anatomy theatre in which lecturers would dissect the bodies of executed criminals in front of their students), seeing the various porticoes that can be found all over the city, and spending time in a library with a Roman ruin in the basement!

During gaps in the rain, I went in search of Bologna's secret canals. These canals used to run all throughout the city, powering mills and tanneries, but for the most part they are now covered up or hidden underground, only visible today in a few spots.

While I was here, I also couldn't resist finding a Ragù alla Bolognese to eat for lunch - it's the perfect place to eat it after all! Like many Italian classics, the dish was quite simple; it only used a few ingredients but they were of excellent quality so tasted delicious!

For dinner, since I'm in the food capital of Italy, I decided to indulge a little. I had mortadela with 36-month aged parmigiano reggiano for a starter and strozzapeti emiliani con guanciale, pomodorini e pecorino romano for "primo", all washed down with a fruity Sangiovese red wine from Emilia Romagna. It was absolutely divine, epitomising the Italian culinary philosophy of simplicity with high quality ingredients.

Overall, a combination of the weather and various closures forced my hand a little today so I couldn't see quite as much, but I don't think that's a bad thing. I ate some absolutely delicious food, I saw a tonne yesterday and I'll definitely be seeing a lot tomorrow too as I go in search of Europe's least-visited country...Read more