Wrapping Up Italy - with a Fork and Knife

We’ve been back from Italy for more than 3 weeks and this will be the last post on Italy . . . until we return there in late September/early October. We’ve covered our various day trips: Verona, Modena, Ravenna, Ferrara, and Florence, all of which were terrific. But we don't think we have done justice to Bologna or to the Italian food experience.

Shana’s parents always said that if they had to choose their favorite food, or a last meal, it would be Italian. And who can argue with that? Not us after 2 weeks enjoying all that the Bologna region has to offer. Because we can’t get high quality “ethnic” cuisine in San Sebastian, we often will try to find good international food when we are traveling. But there was no way we were venturing away from Italian food while in Italy. At times Jeff thought he might be getting tired of it, but as soon as you start reviewing a menu you realize how wonderful everything is and how you want one of everything!

One night, while dining on meat, cheese, and wine, we spoke to two gentlemen in Spanish – 1 was from Barcelona, and his boss was from Argentina. We discussed which country (Spain or Italy) does various foods better. The consensus was:

Wine – depends on your preferred style, but Italy overall

Bread – Italy

Ham – Spain

Cheese – a tie, but if push comes to shove, Italy’s parmesan wins

Ice cream / Gelato – Italy

Coffee – Italy

Here is what we were eating that night:

The pink meat in the first picture is mortadella, which originated in Bologna. It is so famous that in a slightly modified version, Americans know it as bologna (or baloney).

The food in Italy was so fantastic that we decided while we will continue to eat pizza outside Italy, we may never eat pasta except in Italy again. Seriously, it was that good. Here are just two examples (out of many):

One day, we used the internet to find a pizza place near our location and it sent us to Beppe's. The restaurant was a tiny hole in the wall where Beppe makes pizza with AMORE:

After watching Beppe make our pizzas our expectations were high and the pizzas definitely delivered. They were fantastic! As one food commentator we read noted, Beppe is like the Roberto Benigni of pizza. His enthusiasm makes you want to take him home with you.

And we can’t forget the limoncello:

That’s probably enough Italian food porn for now. We are still working off the extra kilos gained while in Italy and probably will be when we embark on our next visit there.

Finally, one last photo of Bologna – the city’s beloved Fountain of Neptune, which was erected in about 1567. It is so iconic that Maserati apparently based its emblem on Neptune's trident in this statue:

Ciao,

Shana & Jeff