I have a new favourite Italian city. Well, until I arrive in the next one…

Bologna. Beautiful, gorgeous, civilized Bologna. 

Home of the oldest university in the world, I am lucky to be here during ‘Reunion’, their version of Homecoming. 

What did I do? 

I took a cooking class. Most Cities now offer cooking classes, food walking tours, photography classes … you name it. It’s a growing industry and is such a great way to jump into a culture. 

 

In which we used the freshest ingredients – including ginormous amounts of freshly grated Parmesan cheese – to make stuffed ravioli and tortelloni.

 
   

Yes, totally from scratch! Did you know that the Italians have special eggs for making pasta? The hens eat a diet that includes carrots, making the egg yolks an incredible dark orange in colour. That leads to that gorgeous dark yellow colouring in the pasta. Such a fun experience! I also made a delicious eggplant parmigiana and stuffed zucchini flowers. Yes, more cheese. 

Extra bonus, meeting a lovely mom & daughter travelling together from Denver. We had a great time cooking together and the two bottles of vino rosso we had with dinner was pretty good, too! 

Lesson of the day – travelling solo is always an adventure if you are open to doing new things and meeting new people. 

I finished off the night in the Piazza Maggiore – the main public square in Bologna – which houses the Basilica and all of the main public buildings. 

This guy lives there. You know who he is.

  
I joined about 3000 happy people for the nightly outdoor movie. Does it get better than this? It was incredible to be in this spectacular, ancient space … with a massive digital projector and a 100 ft wide movie screen. 

  
An incredible start to my summer travels. Ciao from Bologna!