Low Country Islander --
I contacted what i think is the "official tourist guides" of bologna. The website is http://www.guidedarte.com/

A lovely lady responded very quickly and thoughtfully. There will be 6-8 people in our group, and I was concerned about paying a lot of money, since 2 people are paying for everyone. This nice tour, which does go inside the buildings, is only 95 euro for all of us (half day/ 3 hours). She said we could add food tastings at Tambourini for 10 euro a person. It seems like a nice orientation to the city, if not a bargain.

Have a great trip! Can't wait to hear about it!

Eks --
Here's our plan:
BOLOGNA (2 nights),
FLORENCE (1 nt -- our 4th visit, just want to pop in since we love it so much!),
UMBRIA (7 nights) --we rented a country house outside Perugia. Have never spent any time in Umbria other than Orvieto.
ROME (1 night - have been here several times)

then off to Greece - 5 nights in Costa Novarino, the new Starwood beach/golf resort, and then 2 nights in Athens (also a repeat visit, but visiting family in Athens)

then to Istanbul for 3 nights... (1st time visit!)

(you can see Puglia got scratched from the trip, but I think we'll have plenty of adventures!)

Thanks for asking!
dina

Zeppole,

I was in shock over the price of Bologna & Emilia-Romagna, 4th (Country & Regional Guides - Cadogan) on Amazon. Does anyone know why this guide book is so expensive? I have looked at different sites and it appears that there is another book with the same title with only one author. I contacted Amazon today and they removed the new books that were listed at over $200.00. I will keep checking to see if prices change.


Thanks to everyone that has contributed information on Bologna. Fingers crossed to visit in 2011.

Wow---maybe I should put my copy up for sale when I return to the US!! It is a great guidebook and one of the only ones I found that really looks at the region.

A book that I found here that focuses on the Emilia-Romagna region is the Italian Touring Guide (something like that--kind of like the AAA in the US) and it is quite good. Not sure if you can find it in the States or Canada but it is in Englsh (or the version I saw was). I can find more details if you want them.

I just got back from Bologna, and anyone interested in a staggeringly beautiful, well-located and affordable b&b stay in the city, I HIGHLY recommend Antica Casa Zucchini:

http://www.anticacasazucchini.it/engl/

Regarding the Cadogan Guide, I don't know anything about it. But I spent a great deal of time in Bologna flipping through my 3 different guide books trying to ferret out information about artworks or architecture I was looking at -- and none of the guidebooks delivered. That said, I once again had a truly wonderful time in Bologna-- and this time I ate pinzi too. (It's cake, it's delicious, they sell it by the slice at Tamburini if you don't find it elsewhere. I regret to say I had a less than satisfactory meal at Trattoria Anna Maria. Pasta with funghi okay, and seccondi not good).

Regarding the Morandi Museum, I am not recommending it. Much of it is boring, . It is a museum. It is not a tourist attraction.

Zeppole, I JUST made our reservation there last week! I am so excited to see your recommendation! Which room did you stay in? We are actually renting all three of her rooms.

anything you recommend specifically that's close by in the neighborhood?

too bad about the books. all the more reason this forum is so valuable!!

p.s. == what kind of cake is pinzi?

Zeppole,
Had the exact same reaction to my dinner at Anna Maria (diappointing) and may have had your same pasta.

Dina4,

Lucky you! It's wonderful. I stayed in the Corniglia room, and my friend stayed in Guido -- and both were just gorgeous. We didn't see the Ceasare room because another guest was there.

Casa Zucchini is in a terrific, central location, so everything is close by. That said, you are very convenient to two sights people often don't walk the extra steps to see: The church of S. Domenico, which has a knockout tomb -- parts of which were carved by a very young student Michaelangelo -- and the choir stalls elaborately decorated with inlaid wood which are behind the main altar, and which I highly recommend you seek out. As you face the main alter, you will find a way to turn right near the end of the church (I believe there is a small sign that says "Museo Coro". Make sure you walk all the way around so you end up behind the main altar.

The other place to admire is the piazza Santo Stefano. The complex of austere churches have beautiful architectural details, inside and out -- and also be sure not to miss the palazzi Borganini which front the square. As you head away from the churches toward the due Torri, the facade of one palazzo has more than a hundred tondi (porthole-like openings) through which one heads peek out and watch the goings on the piazza below.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2158/...81380d.jpg?v=0

It is a very atmospheric quarter of the city.

By the way, Casa Zucchini itself is located in an historic building which the commune has identified by a plaque on the door as Casa Gozzadini.

Pinzi looks like strudel or a calzone. The pastry is filled with rich fruits (like cherries, dates and plums), plus what tasted to me like chocolate, but also unusually a touch of mustard. In other words, it is a very sweet mostarda filling.

kathrynj,

It's a pity we had the same poor experience. I didn't mind my pasta, but pasta in Bologna can be so wonderful, it puzzles me this restaurant continues to be recommended by food authorities. A secondo of pork shank and another of bistecca were downright unpleasant. Only one companion pronounced her secondo of tripe and beans delicious -- and I'm afraid since she was our guest, I'm not sure how much she felt the need to be polite.

For sentimental reasons, I ate at Diana as well, and the lasagna verde al forno there was a delicious delight, and my dining companion adored his passatelli in brodo. We were less taken with our primi (spuma di mortadella) and our secondi (we ordered from the rolling meat carts, and it was just a bit plain). But Diana often gets poor reports for chilly service and disappointing food, but overall we did better there than at Anna Maria.

Zeppole,
Let me know when you are back in town--would be nice to meet and thank you in person for the help you provided before my move as well as now!
Kathy

Dina,
Apertivo while you are here since you will miss the CTG?

PS kathrynj: brace yourself for scaffolding surrounding the duomo in Parma. ( The church interior is still open and no less astounding.) If seeing specific works inside San Giovanni is a priority for you, there is work going on in the interior and you need to bring a flashlight.

Also, I wanted to underscore that if you hope to see the interiors of the theaters, they are only open in the morning. A great many shops in Parma close on Thursday afternoons, but Salumeria Garibaldi is open and it is easy to visit to and from the train station.

I ate a blowout lunch in Parma at the restaurant of the Hotel Daniel (bollito misto is the specialty, braised beef cheeks are terrific, antipasti and primi all sublime). If you'd like that for a lunch, best to reserve (I lucked into the last table) and take a taxi from the train station (about 5e). From there you can walk off some of the indulgence through the parco Ducale into the centro of Parma, about 20 minutes.

Kathrynj,

Thanks for the nice invite! I am definitely NOT going to be there next week, but hope to resume weekly visits shortly after that. At some point I am going to have tear myself away from Bologna to get to Ferrara and Modena and I even hope Rimini.

zeppole - so there's scaffolding around the duomo in Parma? I'm trying to narrow down day trip options for my short time in Bologna next month. I really have only two full days available for day trips and am trying to decide between Modena, Parma, Ferrara and Ravena. I also read there was scaffolding on the tower in Modena (but that it was scheduled to be done about now). Since once of my main interests is photographing these towns, if the main sites have scaffolding then there is less interest for me. (For someone whose main interest is museums and interiors it's not as much of an issue). So - can you offer any other info on any of those towns and their current state of scaffolding - or anything else? Thanks

The scaffolding in Parma looks like a long term affair. The scaffolding in Modena was skedded for removal by now, but I have no inside info.

I recommend that you ask on the Tripadvisor message boards for Parma and Modena -- and Ravenna and Ferrara while you are at it. There is a resident of Modena who posts over there. If you don't get an immediate answer, keep asking over the course of a few days. Those posters don't log in all the time.

It is really hard advise and really hard to convey to someone else how atmospheric the neighborhoods and interiors of Bologna or Parma can be -- or even Ravenna -- although you do say you want to photograph the exteriors of the main sights. Most people who describe themselves as being less attracted to touring church interiors and museums are saying that (understandably!) based on past experiences of being marched past countless famous paintings and freschi until they blur, and having their happiest memories being the time they spent of wonderfully preserved centuries-old piazze with magnificent bell towers and such.

But such forced march art tours really don't prepare you for the stunning, life-long impact of the interiors of Ravenna, or the bapistery and duomo of Parma -- or even the staircases inside the Palazzo Communale in Bologna, ascending to frescoed interiors and pretty views, or the city's winding red alleyways with half-timbered supports.

Even though there is scaffolding in Bologna's Piazza Maggiore (never finished at any point in its history anyway!), in Parma, in Modena, you can be stopped in your tracks at many many turns by the casual but very affecting beauty of these towns (I was yesterday, walking through the Parco Ducale as an afternoon mist settled in). so I think wherever you go, you'll find more to photograph than you can easily do so in the space of a day.

You might be interested in clicking your way through this webiste of photos of Parma

http://parma.arounder.com/

Isabel,

I liked Ferrara a lot but between it and Ravenna, no contest. I didn't realize how wonderful Ravenna was until I had spent the time viewing the mosaics. There is no way to express how magnificent they are. Can't speak to Modena or Parma (most likely will go there on the 13th).

Kathy

bookmarking

Zeppole, in the last couple of months, I've found out which buildings our tour guide will take us into.

While visiting Piazze Maggiore, Nettuno, Galvani and Mercanzia, it looks like we will actually go inside the Palazzo Comunale, the Basilica di San Petronio, The Archiginnasio and Anatomical Theater, and the Basilica di Santo Stefano with our guide -- which is great news to me.

So I'm thinking our afternoon of arrival in bologna (the day before this tour), we can take a walk...
--along Strada Maggiore
--to due torri -- climb the tower
--toward university on via Zamboni
--Santa Maria della Vita
--to Piazze Maggiore and Piazza Galvani and along Piazza Farnini
Our hotel is near Piazza Santo Stefano, so we'll want to get acquainted with that area, as well.

Questions and comments?

And what else not to miss on Saturday morning before we depart for Florence.

(We only have 2 nights!)

Thanks so much!
dina

That sounds like a good, easy itinerary. Enjoy yourselves! It really is a beautiful area. If you still have time on your hands, this guide http://www.sletoh.com/plan/Bologna-guide-191703.html is good for things to do.

Buon viaggio!

The plan sounds good to me. On Via Zamboni see if you can visit the church of San Giacomo Maggiore in which you'll find the Cappella Bentivoglio and its lovely Renaissance frescos.

Just under the due torri there's a branch of Giani, which sells great gelato - I had it in a different branch but I'm sure it will be good there as well.

Between Strada Maggiore and Piazza Santo Stefano, visit Corte Isolani, beautifully resotred:
http://www.ilcaffedellacorte.it/index.html?pg=2

Also, I wonder if the Basilica di Santo Stefano will be under scaffolding; 6 months ago I attended a fundraising concert which tood place in the piazza. The money collected was supposed to help them launch a renovation program of the whole complex.

Keren - I was also going to recommend Giani for gelato. Yes, it is great there too.

BTW, my niece is named Keren too. Lovely name.

travelofficionado -- thanks for the link! interesting...

keren --looks like a beautiful street. is the whole street restored or just the cafe?

thanks also to basingstoke -- i've put Giani on my list for gelato!