60 hours in Italy’s most famous food region.

In order to position ourselves closer to Civitavecchia, we stayed 3 nights in Bologna.

We had hoped to visit this area back in April 2020 when we were planning Corey’s first European adventure, which was then cancelled because of the start of the pandemic.

Our short time here did not disappoint but it did put a dent in our budget! We grazed delightfully through Bologna, as well as Parma and Modena. I’d absolutely come back to this region again as we did not give it enough time.

Hotel and AirBNB prices have bloated since 2020, seemingly a product of pent-up demand and overall inflation. I was really surprised to see that there was basically no lodging under $100 a night, even in what is traditionally the off-season. Based on my research from 2020, everything now is about 30% higher than it was priced then.

Side note: We have been shocked to see that off-season has not really kicked in. Florence and many parts of Italy were packed throughout October and November. Long lines to museums and crowded cobblestone streets were common throughout the various regions.

So, with all lodging options on the pricey end, we prioritized a property close to the train station so we could easily move throughout the region. We were pleasantly surprised to have an enjoyable stay at the Bologna Social Hub, part of a chain formerly known as the Student Hotel.

We had a large, quiet room with an espresso maker stocked with pods, a mini-fridge with bottled water, and a completely free laundry room onsite. It was an ideal place for students, digital nomads, and 40-something travelers alike!

We woke up after a good night of sleep and strolled through Bologna. We stopped first for a pistachio cornetto (croissant) and coffee.

Then we walked through the old town to see the church and towers.

Bologna is striking because there are miles and miles of grand porticos, around 24 miles of which are in the center of town. These are great for rainy days but we had nice sunny weather!

It’s fun just to explore the art of the architecture…and door knockers!

Again we struggled to see the places on our list because of strange opening hours but we made the most of our day.

We spent some time walking around the narrow streets of the old town, and then stopped for lunch at a place serving fresh meat and cheese platters along with freshly-baked tigelle, a round and slightly-leavened bread slightly similar to an English muffin.

When in Bologna, mortadella is a must-try, and I finally found mortadella that I actually liked!

After filling up on my favorites, meat and cheese and bread, we continued to walk around and sightsee. One of the highlights was touring a palatial building that formerly housed part of the oldest university in the world, the University of Bologna.

Inside is the Anatomical Theater, an old wooden classroom that was used for medical lectures, and had to be completely reconstructed after World War II. The courtyard, halls, and library were also highlights. The entire building was impressive and definitely worth a visit when you’re in the area!

We stopped for a Campari spritz since we had found ourselves in the part of the day between lunch and dinner – aperitivo hour – and the sites we wanted to see were also closed. It was a nice way to relax for a moment and develop plans for the next day.

We then toured Bologna’s most important church, the Basilica of Saint Petronio. It was ginormous with 22 side chapels! Exhausted tourists often cry “ABC” after visiting so many cathedrals, but this is not just “another big church”. Saint Petronio was intended to be the largest church in the world, but the then-pope blocked the construction by purchasing some of the nearby land, thus ensuring that St. Peter’s in Rome would stay the largest. It is still one of the largest churches in the world, and is similar in size to the famous Duomo of Florence. Saint Petronio also has the longest indoor meridian line in the world, a meridian line being a way to use the sun to measure astronomical events. It was really neat!

After leaving the church we walked past the Neptune Fountain in the same piazza and meandered the streets back to our hotel. It was still early but my feet were hurting a little and overall I just felt tired after running around Italy for a month. If you haven’t caught up on our adventures in Florence, The Veneto, or Friuli Venezia Giulia, check out those posts.

So we embraced European culture and took a wonderful nap back at the hotel. Upon waking up we walked to a nearby restaurant for an outstanding dinner of local specialties.

While we were walking back to the hotel, we heard some music playing from an outdoor venue lit up with bright rainbow colors. It turned out to be an old wholesale produce market, recently renovated and converted into a fun outdoor space. There was great music and an outdoor bar, with a stage and places for kids to play. We liked the vibe and stayed for a nightcap. It was a fun scene and a great way to activate a public space.

Modena

The next day we got up a little early and took the train northward to Modena. We were fairly rested after taking it easy the afternoon before.

We started our morning with a walk in the park and donuts. The park was slightly underwhelming but the pastries hit the spot.

We wove our way through the streets. Modena looked a lot like Bologna with long porticos and similar architecture.

Corey directed us to La Consorteria 1966, a shop recommended by Lonely Planet that focuses on small producers of traditional balsamic vinegar. It was my first time formally tasting the “real” balsamic, all of which were aged for at least 12 years.

It was so fun and similar to wine tasting. We tasted a handful of different balsamics of various ages. We learned about the grapes and barrels used in production, and everything that makes a true DOP vinegar from Modena. Corey and I had different preferences, but we agreed on one bottle that we purchased to take back home. The tasting fee was waived with a bottle purchase, and although good vinegar is not cheap, they offered bottles at various and reasonable price points.

We walked around the city and looked at the shops, churches, and piazzas. Then we headed out of the main area to a restaurant. It was so hard to choose a restaurant in this town!! We separately selected a few places and compared notes, and none of our choices matched.

We started the walk to a spot on my list, but along the way we passed by an osteria (tavern) that had open seats on a covered patio, with zero tourists. It ended up being an okay culinary experience. We loved the local fall specialty, pumpkin ravioli.

After lunch we walked back through town the long way and boarded a train heading north again, to Parma.

Parma

We exited the station and tried to find a supermarket to get some water. It was a long day already and I was parched. Throughout Europe, we have seen corner stores selling bottled water for €1 or more, but in a supermarket, bottles are less than 25 cents. This supermarket detour took us out of town a bit, but then we walked through a large beautiful park to backtrack into the cute old town.

Parma looked a little different than Bologna and Modena. The buildings seemed to have a French flair and the streets were just a bit more charming overall.

Since the daylight hours were quickly expiring we beelined to the Parma Cathedral (Duomo) which was free. This large church has a massive cupola painting by Corregio, as well as beautiful massive frescoes and many lovely chapels.

We then visited the monastery next door which lured us in with live organ music, where we discovered another enormous church, the San Giovanni Evangelista! The music stopped a few moments after we entered but we stayed to enjoy the decor before moving onward, which included numerous frescos and friezes by Corregio and his students. How amazing to have two stellar churches practically next door to each other!

Parma is known for their meat, so our next stop was to find some of the town specialties. We meandered the streets until we found a meat shop that looked interesting. We bought some Culatello di Zibello (arguably the best cured ham in the world), some Parmigiano cheese, and some focaccia and set up our own picnic right outside the store. We couldn’t decide if it was our dinner or not but it hit the spot. Corey was very excited to try the Culatello, which is nearly impossible to find in the United States. It was nearly $50/pound but was a truly special culinary experience.

We liked this area enough that we sat at a table next door for aperitivo hour. The wine was a little overpriced and not local, but we had a great perch for people-watching in the piazza and were provided a plate of tasty snacks.

After a glass of wine (or two) we walked around a little more and decided to get an actual dinner. The restaurant we had in mind had no outdoor tables available. We had passed a cute place along the walk and I had gotten good feelings about it, so we went back. It was a home run!

Two guys were running around supplying wine and food to the tables inside and out. Our server was knowledgeable about the local wines and we were able to try a few different wines that night. (Our “real dinner” ended up being more meat and cheese: an assortment of hams and salami, and a sampler of burratas. No complaints from us!)

Time went by quickly and although our server wanted to pour us some local grappa, we had to decline and speed walk back to the train station. The ticket machines were all slow and malfunctioning and we barely got tickets printed out before “all aboard”. A little breathless and flustered we heaved our full bellies onto the train and spent the next hour riding back to Bologna.

Packing Up

We totally crashed and slept well that night, which was good because our least favorite day was next…moving day. The day when we have to get all of our clothes back into our stuff sacks, compression bags, and packing cubes, then zip everything into our tight backpacks.

We gave ourselves enough time (about two hours) to pack stress free. We then went back to the train station and headed for Rome on a fast train, with a quick transfer to the port of Civitavecchia to embark on another cruise.

Boarding Regal Princess was a breeze and took less than ten minutes once we entered the port terminal building. From here we will again cruise the Mediterranean to close out our six month European adventure.