KCR Spring 2025 Magazine - Flipbook - Page 72
Back in Bologna
Halfway inland in the very heart of Italy is the provincial city of Bologna,
the capital of Emilia-Romagna region. Here it’s possible to experience
the real Italian art of living well. For Bologna is called three things:
la Dotta (the Learned), for the oldest university in the Western world
founded in 1088, transferred from Ravenna’s ancient school of Roman
law; la Grassa (the Fat), considered the home of Italian gastronomy
with its cuisine of tortellini, lasagne and tagliatelle al ragù and thirdly
la Rossa (the Red), for its exquisite terracotta-tiled roofs. Bologna’s also
home to Marconi (radio) and Morandi (artist), of Mortadella (ham) and
Lamborghini and Ducati (car manufacturers).
On Via dell’Indipendenza, directly opposite Bologna’s cathedral and
very close to Piazza Maggiore, the main square, is Hotel Grand Hotel
Majestic già Baglioni (https://grandhotelmajestic.duetorrihotels.com/
en). It’s Bologna’s oldest (113 years) and most prestigious (the city’s only
5 Star) hotel and follows that strong tradition of Italian Grand Hotels.
This long-time favourite for touring celebrities impressively includes
Dalai Lama, Scorsese, Fellini, Coppola, Brosnan, Sinatra, Gable, Loren,
Monroe, Bardot, Sartre, Connery, Sting, Pavarotti, Lady Diana, Bocelli,
Elton, Callas, McCartney, Minelli, Springsteen, Pele, Lopez and Carey.
It’s truly palatial with its glamorous and gleaming marble 昀氀oors, its
white Doric columns and gilded furnishings. Not to mention the gorgeous fresh 昀氀owers.
Down the long, shiny, marble corridor to my room (starting from €380)
with its Murano chandeliers, opulent drapes and linen sheets. A winning
harmony of classic Italian antique furniture and contemporary comfort.
I loved the hotel’s renowned I Carracci Restaurant: highly sophisticated and set spaciously beneath original frescoed depictions from the
beginning of the 17th century. Here, having sampled a range of olive oils
from the light and fruity to the ‘intense’, I savoured Bologna’s traditional tortellini with capon broth. Some hotel of such luxury and such
historical charm.
Bologna is a city of great religious signi昀椀cance as it’s where Saint Dominic is buried (in Basilica di San Domenico). While most churches have
inadvertent church facades within however are great baroque churches
inviting you with their insistence and theatricality. Basilica di San Petronio isn’t actually the city cathedral (with the largest church similarly
mistaken in Rome and Venice). But the real delight for me was Oratorio
di Santa Cecilia with frescoes on a par with Giotto’s Padua and Masaccio’s Florence and I also loved the sculptural masterpiece ‘Decapitation
of St Paul’ in Basilica San Paulo.
In the heart of the university area on the bustling Via delle Moline is Le
Moline Osteria (www.lemoline.it). It’s set on two 昀氀oors and o昀昀ered me
an authentic Italian lunch. I loved the selection of cold cuts and cheeses,
the local speciality that’s Tortellini and the perfect 昀椀nish of a Chocolate
Salame. Le Moline is very a昀昀ordable and clearly popular with the locals,
which is always a good sign, so it’s best to book.
The trade in wool, linen, hemp and silk brought the city its wealth.
Shops and markets now align streets typically adorned in buildings
coloured terracotta and pink with bottle green shutters. The university
was critical too and plentiful bookshops still frequent the town and restaurants are lined with bookshelves to lend a part-cafe, part-library feel.
Indeed the three rooms at the restaurant Va Mo Là, meaning ‘go there’
(www.ristorantevamola.it), on Via delle Moline are surrounded by books
and posters giving it a learned vibe. It’s full of students and equally
young sta昀昀. I loved watching the world go by through the 昀氀oor-to-ceiling
windows. From the bread that came in my brown paper bag I mopped
up an excellent vegan dish with 昀椀ve dips. This is a hearty trattoria with a
traditional Bolognese menu o昀昀ering true and honest fayre.
Bologna has 62 km of colonnades which de昀椀ne the cityscape o昀昀ering
summer shade and winter shelter where locals still sit outside in the
cold: such are their external habits. Above some are perched houses
propped up by wooden beams that still exist as do many former palaces
displaying their brown plaques. Of the original one hundred towers only
twenty two remain. They acted as symbols of family prestige. The tallest
is now a soaring 318 feet high beside its neighbour that slopes like the
one in Pisa. A sense of learnedness and culture pervades the city and
Bologna’s Pinacoteca is truly excellent with notable examples from the
three Carracci painters who saw 昀椀gurative art as “the bible for the poor”.
I also recommend approaching Piazza Maggiore from Via Clavature with
the Clock Tower en face and the Basilica to your left. Such municipal
magni昀椀cence.
I had dinner on Via Santo Stefano at Camera con Vista (www.cameraconvista.it) It’s another time-honoured phrase meaning ‘room with a
view’. For this bistro is right opposite the remarkable complex of cloister
and crypts that’s the Basilica Santo Stefano. Seven years-old, this former
antique shop has kept its oriental screen adornment, and then became
a tapas and cocktail bar (hence it’s impressive cocktail list). It all felt
very homely and intimate as I sat under the chandeliers to choose from
its con昀椀dent, mid-price ranged menu o昀昀ering much that was light on
my stomach including delicious grilled vegetables followed by a passion
fruit dessert with aromatic tonka beans.
For an away-day excursion I took a one hour train journey to Ravenna.
I loved the cobbled back streets of this serene and tranquil town. It was,
in the 昀椀fth century, the capital of the Western Roman Empire and where
the 昀椀rst Christian art of the Byzantine era emanated with the 昀椀nest mosaics ever made. How stunning to witness them in their octagonal baptisteries and mausoleums. So startling were their colours: plenty of gold
on the walls of San Vitale and Sant’Apollinare Nuovo but more dazzling
are the depictions of deep blue skies and rich green meadows. In Ravenna I recommend Ca ‘de Vèn (www.cadeven.it) (‘the house of wine’),
with its three rooms set in a beautiful, calm building. This family-owned
concern proudly declare that “the food is seasonal, fresh and local” and
indeed it’s a proper authentic 昀椀xture in the heart of the town.
Back in Bologna I loved my lunch opposite the theatre on Via Augusto
Righi at Donatello (www.ristorantedonatello.it). This gorgeous, lofty,
square room, has been a dining hall since 1903. Dominating the room
from top-to-toe and from wall-to-wall are signed framed photos of
celebrity clientele that include Pavarotti and Domingo, Puccini and
Josephine Baker. On my square table under the square, co昀昀ered, painted ceiling I savoured a ‘gramigna alla salsiccia’ (fresh pasta with pork
sauce) and 昀椀nished with an amazing ‘tartufo al cioccolato’ (chocolate ice
cream - Italian style). With its white tablecloths and crumbers overseen
by the charming and capable, crisply-waistcoated Francesco, Donatello
is a true testament to the test of time. An enduring, traditional ristorante
for a discerning clientele.
I stayed also at Hotel Roma (www.hotelroma.biz) on the pedestrianised
via d’Azeglio. It’s right amongst the many shops and seconds from the
main square. First mentioned in 1800, this sequence of seven buildings is a perfect base and very good value. In my room (starting from
€150) I felt very cosy and comfortable beneath its wooden beams. The
a昀昀ordable and spacious restaurant C’era una Volta (meaning ‘once upon
a time’) chimes with the hotel’s pride in its long history. Throughout the
sta昀昀 were highly attentive and extremely obliging.
Tucked away, in the smallest of squares o昀昀 Via San Nicolo, is Casa
Azzoguidi (www.casaazzoguidi.it). On entering this new restaurant,
part of the Hotel Corona d’Oro, I was struck by the chic, co昀昀ered ceiling
propped up by Corinthian pillars, and by the spacious setting of the
marble tables. Here I sat on my elegant, green-grey, rounded, velvet
banquette to witness from the open kitchen where the magic would
come. What an amazing 昀椀rst course of grilled tuna with roasted pine
nuts and how delicious my chocolate ganache with caramelised pears,
cocoa crumble and walnuts. Casa Azzoguidi truly has a delightfully
re昀椀ned atmosphere.
For tips: from Bologna Airport it’s 30 minutes to the centre by bus
(€6) or taxi (€22) but best and quickest is the train (Marconi Express
(€12.80). Bologna’s an hour by train to Florence and Milan and 2 hours
to Rome and Venice. Once in the city it’s all manageable by foot, all
safe and mercifully very light on tra昀케c with only the occasional bicycle,
vespa and car.
I must go back: whenever but soon!
Adam Jacot de Boinod
