Bar snacks and window shopping in Bologna

Our first impressions when we arrived in Bologna was of a modern Italian city with a big city vibe. We arrived by train from Florence and walked a couple of kilometres to the hotel. Due to Mike's ailment I carried my backpack, day pack and pulled Mike's newly acquired suitcase - he did call out to say he could pull it, but being my stubborn independent self I continued on until we found the hotel.

The walk down the main street gave us the modern impression of Bologna - heaps of people out and about shopping, at bars and there were pretty lights all the way along the street. From this and also the proceeding days it also appeared a less touristed area (or at least obvious tourists), understandable with less "tourist" attractions, and so we basically spent the few days there enjoying the food, wine (and snacks served free!), wandering the streets and doing some window shopping (well Mike actually had some massive retail therapy while I only dreamed of the fabulous Italian boots I could own).

Our chosen accommodation the Hotel Montreal (Bologna renowned for being expensive and little choice) was a little tricky to find - the street was easy but with no signage and just a buzzer it took a bit of exploring. The hotel was on the fourth floor but did have a lift - a small old fashioned one where you close the door yourself. We were greeted by a very friendly and helpful English speaking staff member. Our room was clean and very spacious with a view and the share bathrooms were large and clean - breakfast also provided each day in the lobby area (yep more croissants but this time they had chocolate in them).

On our first night we headed out for a drink – after so much wine a beer was in order and of all things we found a busy Irish Pub in the University quarter, for a pint or two. Mike also watched some basketball on the big screen. The pretty lights around the city gave a festive feel but it was very cold so tried to minimise the amount of time spent outdoors. Our first pick of restaurants was closed (by now we trusted the recommendations in the Lets Go Italy book), so we found another advertising “locale clientele”. It was ok food and the waiter was very nice – alerting us to the markets that were on the next day. Of course finished the night by wandering by one of the most decadent gelati shops we had encountered to date!

The next morning we headed off to see the tourist sites. We went to see yet another Duomo, quite impressive just off the huge Piazza Maggiore, and also the statue/fountain of the Neptune God – quite amusing with larger muscles than other statues and with water spurting out of the breasts (not from Neptune himself but the female statues below!).

We tried to find a recommended museum on the history of Bologna but encountered much confusion and although free had to pick up a ticket at the correct desk... we wandered through some community art displays with the hosts following us closely directing us to view in chronological order. We tried again to find the preferred museum, but in the end it was too confusing and could not find the right ticket for that museum, so had a rest on the comfortable free couches and just admired the large frescos and amused ourselves taking silly photos in the open foyer area.

Just off the piazza we then found some great little alleyways that were buzzing with the locals purchasing fresh meat and produce. There were massive displays of the meat (including a whole pig! Which Mike said looked “peaceful”), cheeses and lots of seafood on ice. We went into an inviting little cafe where we had coffee and some lunch – some flat bread pizza and a parma wrap which was quite good. On top of that as it was after midday the usual bar snacks had appeared on the counter so while waiting for our food to be heated and served we tried a number of small appetisers.

We moved on to one of the other advertised attractions – the very tall Torre Asinelli tower in the centre of the city. I climbed up it (quite challenging at 97 metres tall and very small steps!) and Mike with his sore leg had to look on. At night it was lit with lots of lights and looked very nice, slightly more appealing than the grey day I climbed it – no good shots from the top due to overcast weather.

We then stumbled across the street markets mentioned by the waiter the previous night – it was set up on another massive piazza so cobble stone surface. It was absolutely packed with a great vibe and heaps of clothes, shoes, bags and other items to browse (some fakes and some real stuff!). As usual in most Italian cities – there were men of African origin selling stuff who all of a sudden caused some commotion when they started running – the police had been looking for them and arrived in pursuit.

That night we went out again – first stopping for a drink at a bar just near our hotel. The Scaletto Cafe was a great find as it had snacks/canapes to the max!! The bar area was completely covered and we sampled salamis, cheeses, mini toasts and/or croissants topped with egg, tuna, ham and a number of other combinations. After a couple of wines we left a little happy and headed to Mary Posa restaurant which was nice enough (I think I remember the comment being it was not in the range of the Trattoria Contadino in Florence). A little more casa della rosa (house red) to go with the meal...

The next morning we discovered free internet at the library (very easy and recommend use if in Bologna) so just chilled out for the morning, caught up on emails and kept up to date with the Australian election as the count progressed (yes this blog is long overdue as that was mid November and I am completing this in March).

On our last day in Bologna we just continued to take it easy – headed back to the busy alleyway and Mike made his retail therapy purchase. We suspected we would have few decent tools to cook with at the chalet in France, so Mike invested in a big cook's knife, boning knife and sharpener (I can confirm their sharpness and superiority having since used them and sliced myself on a number of occasions!).

That night we strolled back to Piazza Maggiore which looked fantastic by night – I think I commented it was my fave in Italy. We took a seat at an outdoor table at one of the overpriced cafes and enjoyed some red wine and snacks (something different?!?). Having dined out for so many nights we headed back to Bar Scalletto for some more wine and tuck into their fabulous array of free snacks again before calling it an early night. Venice to come still....

(By the way can't remember if we actually had a bolognaise sauce while in Bologna...)