Back to John's Roots! - Bologna
We had a bit of an adventure navigating to Bologna due to construction, but no really major delays and we landed in the city mid-morning.
Parking was at a premium, so we decided to ditch the vehicle, then walk around as we have some time before our lunch reservations at Trattoria Da Me. It was tricky getting to the parking lot due to construction on nearby streets but we finally made it to the spot and had to wait for a few minutes to get a parking spot.
We had a very short walk to the beautiful Piazza Maggiore, the main square in Bologna. It is surrounded by the massive Basilica of San Pietronio that dates back to 1390. The Basilica has a gorgeous lower facade and an unfinished upper facade. Construction started on the Basilica in 1538 and it was never completed.
Bill and I toured the Basilica later in the afternoon and learned that it is the 6th largest church in Europe. It was beautiful but more plain than most of the churches and basilica’s that we have toured. It did have a cool interior meridian line, the longest interior meridian line in the world. It keeps accurate measure of the days by a small opening in the ceiling that allows the light in.
Together, we slowly made our way over to the restaurant and checked out some shops and the market along the way. The guys had a beer on a patio while Betty and I did some looking in the beautiful clothing, shoe, and jewellery stores.
The restaurant opened at 12:30 on the dot. The waiter had studied my sensitivity list with the chef and suggested a vegan starter of a salad, vegan taco, beet purée, warm squash purée with diced cucumber for me and a pea risotto with sausage and aged Parmesan for a main. It was really good!
The guys joined us after a few minutes and we ordered some wine with our lunch. They brought bread for the table and one gluten-free bun for me. Bill ordered a melon and feta salad with veal agnolotti in a veal reduction. John had a garden salad with tagliatelle and Betty had the tomato risotto and shared the vegan plate with me.
After lunch, Bill and I decided that we would explore some of the churches while Betty and John did their own tour of Bologna & shopping for our dinner.
Bill and I headed back toward the main square and fanned out from there to see Santa Maria Della Vita (dating back to 1260 and was very ornate inside with lots of gold, paintings, and statues), San Giovanni Batista dei Celestini Church (dating back to 1368 and we only saw the exterior), San Paolo Maggiore Church (exterior only), and San Giacomo Maggiore Church with huge number of incredible works of Renaissance art.
Betty and John were able to enjoy their strolling, people watching, purchasing the pasta from the sisters at Le Sfogline, and the rest of our evening meal at Mercato Della Erbe.
We drove back and stopped at the local Coop to pick up some wine and a couple of additional supplies.
Later that evening on our patio we enjoyed some vino, charcuterie, and cigars before dinner with our amazing fresh pasta with butter, Parmesan, and sage, arugula salad, fresh bread and olive oil.