24 hours in Bologna

I joined Poul on his layover in Bologna, and we had 24 amazing hours in this beautiful Italian city. We started out with prosciutto and cheese at Roxy Bar before going for a walk to work up an appetite for our next meal, which was pasta at Sfoglia Rina.

In Bologna, Bolognese sauce is called Ragù and you eat it with tagliatelle, not spaghetti. It was a local waiter at another restaurant who recommended Sfoglia Rina, which turned out to be just what we were looking for. A perfect place for a casual dinner.

After the pasta, we were both slipping into a food coma, so while we could still move, we decided buy tickets for the Asinelli Tower, which is one of the two famous neighboring towers in the center of the city. To get to the top of the tower, you must climb the 498 steps of an old wooden staircase that is spiraling along the inside walls of the tower.

I took the lead and went a little too fast, so about halfway up the stairs, I had to stop and catch my breath, and with “catch my breath” I mean, bending over and gasping for air like a fish on dry ground. Apparently, this was quite a dramatic sight, because people on their way up started asking a laughing(!) Poul if I was ok. Though the view from the top was worth all the stairs and gasping in the world; it was absolutely breathtaking!

The morning after, we had breakfast at a really nice café, Al Tramezzino, just around the corner from the hotel. We had coffee, sandwiches and smiling service from the staff. If I ever make it back to Bologna, this is where I would go for breakfast.

Before heading to the airport, we managed to squeeze in a visit to an old gelato store called Gelatauro. Very tasty gelato and a man behind the counter who seemed genuinely interested in what we thought about the gelato. Such a wonderful city, hope to come back soon!