Please convince me to either go to Bologna or suggest somewhere else on the way back to Milan after Siena. We are not foodies and I know Bologna is well known for the food. We are vegetarians and that leaves out a lot. What else is wonderful about Bologna? We have three nights to stay and have been to the bigger must-see places. Will be traveling by train. Any suggestions appreciated.

Maybe this helps:

Bologna has four nicknames:

"La grassa" - the fat. This is for the food which is so praised by people who regularly feed on hamburgers, fried chicken, doughnuts and pork skins. BTW, the vegetarian's nightmare is called "bollito misto".

"La rossa" - the red, because of the color of the rooftiles and the predominant political orientation.

"La turrita" - the towers, because of the medieval towers of whom two have survived.

"La dotta" - the learned, because there is Europe's oldest university.

Other options would be either Torino or Verona.

I would prefer Verona.

traveller-very interesting. I will have to look up the veg nightmare. At the moment still considering Bologna with day trips to Ravenna, Parma and ? Started planning this trip with Torino being first stop and changed to make train travel a bit easier coming from Geneva. Hope to get there one day. We have been to Verona. Thanks for your help.

bob-Already been to wonderful Verona. That was a great
tip, however. Many thanks.

Verona is BEAUTIFUL. If you have time-why not see both? I found Verona to be great just to walk around in and pop into various beatiful quaint buildings and museums. I also bough my mask here for Carneval. Bologna seems at first like just another city-but any place in Italy can turn into an adventure and there are treasures hidden in Bologna as well. I saw my first opera ever in Bologna 6 years ago. We caught 'Madame Butterfly' (in Italian of course) for $10. We had to lean over the railings in the farthest seating but it was still absolutely amazing. The theatre was gorgeous and the University is not only historically significant, it's also amazing. If your vegetarian-just remember that Italians really don't get it. I've heard an Italian say numerous times when told, 'I'm a vegetarian', 'soooo you can eat chicken no?' Be specific and list every animal you cannot eat or you may find something in your food (not in a wicket spirit by any means)that you don't want to be eating.

you can still eat gnocchi with gorgonzola and hazelnuts, butternut squash raviolis, sage/butter raviolis, la pizza margherita, etc.

Buon Voyage

violet duck-
sorry I missed your parma and ravenna comment. yes! go! Ravenana is absolutely amazing and has I think the largest concentration of Byzantine style mosaics in Italy! Gorgeous nad quiet.
Parma has the obvious cheese factory where you can see how the make their amazing Parmesana, and buy vacuum sealed hunks of years aged yummy cheese. you can also visit Verdi's house which is settles on some gorgeous property

Brooke

Don't miss Ravenna -- spectacular mosaics and a nice little town to boot. We loved Bologna -- walking under the porticos, window shopping and just wandering around. Another nice town is Vicenza about an hour East of Verona. What about Padua -- been there? Also Mantova is a wonderful gem.

Here is the veg nightmare:

http://www.bolognacookingschool.it/D...to%20misto.php

I have eaten it once. As appetizer, I had mortadella cubes (95% fat). Then pasta with ragu. Then bollito misto. Then Vomex.

BTW, the truth about spaghetti bolognese:

"This is the italian dish mostly known by foreigners, as it is found in all the menus of restaurants from all ever the world. However we can fid it only abroad, since it does not exist in Italy. This is not a Bolognese dish."

(From the Bologna Cooking School website)

I enjoyed Bologna and am not at all a foodie. It's a beautiful, mid-sized Italian city that is not touristy. Have a look at my photos, this gallery also includes Verona and Padua which would be other possibilities. I think Verona is more enjoyable in some ways, smaller but just packed with wonderful architecture, beautiful setting. But definitely more touristy. Padua is actually a nice compromise between the two. With three days I'd personally base myself in one of those towns and do both the others as day trips. I stayed in Padua for a week and did day trips to Bologna, Verona, etc. www.pbase.com/annforcier/veneto_and_bologna

We spent 2 nights in Bologna last year, wished we'd stayed longer and want to go back. There were plenty of interesting historic sights to see but mostly we just really liked the whole ambience - it was a great place just to wander round, and never know what may be round the next corner. I've visited Lucca a couple of times and while it is lovely, it's much smaller and to be not as exciting. Our whole itinerary for that particular week was Subiaca 1 night; Assisi, Bolgna & Pasua 2 nights each - and we would happily have stayed in all those 3 for longer. If you like frescos, Padua is the place.

Sorry, that 'Pasua' should have been Padua.

Little known-Vicenza is a gem.

Thanks to all for your suggestions and encouragement. Bologna now seems the place to go and take those great daytrips. I was just having some second thoughts. We have been to Lucca and want to go again and be lazy for a couple of days, bike ride and eat gelato! Looking forward to visiting some of the other suggested places.

traveller-Gads, now I know for sure why I am a vegetarian