BOLOGNA
Just a two-hour train ride south from Venice is Bologna, a city of unsung charms and a surprisingly progressive nature. The capital of the Emilia-Romagna province, Bologna is home to the world’s very first university (founded in 1088), as well as ancient and medieval architecture marked by cobblestoned piazze, and the city’s famous porticos (which are soon expected to earn UNESCO world-heritage status).
Views from Garisenda Tower in Bologna
Photo: Adrian Cendon
In contrast to the city’s magnificent antiquity is a decidedly modern character, especially in the realm of LGBTQ rights. In 1982, Bologna became the first Italian city to designate a municipal-advisory seat to the LGBTQ community; and to allot publicly owned space to the Cassero LGBT Center (Via Don Giovanni Minzoni 18. Tel: 39-051-095-7200. www.cassero.it), which also serves as the headquarters of Italy’s national LGBT association, Arcigay (www.arcigay.it).
Located in a former storage tower within Bologna’s medieval fort walls, today’s Cassero serves as a multi-functional library, archive, and social-service center by day. The center hosts arts, performance, and cultural festivals that explore themes of gender and sexuality throughout the year. And as Denise and I soon learned, Cassero doubles as a late-night club venue with DJs that pack the house (and courtyard) each Wednesday through Saturday.
Bologna’s liberal streak shows in its LGBTQ monuments and proud support of queer arts and businesses, many of them showcased on the city’s handy website (www.bolognawelcome.com). One of our favorite spots was IGOR Libreria (www.facebook.com/igor.thegaybookshop), an LGBTQ bookstore that operates within the gay-operated retail and gallery collective that is Senape Urban Nursery (Via Santa Croce 10/abc. Tel: 39-051-849- 4530. www.senapevivaiourbano.com). We made fast friends with Senape’s owner, Giovanni Roncaglia, and IGOR’s founder, Raffaele Pancaldi (and his store’s namesake dog, Igor), who quickly made us wonder if we’d planned enough time to enjoy all that Bologna has to offer.
In due course, dinnertime beckoned. We’d been tipped off to a popular lesbian-owned restaurant nearby called Trattoria da Me (Via S. Felice 50. Tel: 39-051-555-486. www.trattoriadame.it). There we learned that Chef Elisa Rusconi modernized her grandfather’s long-running restaurant (originally opened in 1937), and today serves some of the city’s best, inventive takes on Bolognese classics. That includes the city’s famous meat-and-tomato sauce, which in Bologna is simply called “ragu.” It is only served with tagliatelle, and, for carnivores, it is as good as pasta ever could be. But at Trattoria da Me, the Bolognese pasta is especially amazing, with the chef slow cooking her ragu for 12 hours before serving it over freshly made tagliatelle, thus redefining pasta as you know it.
Tagliatelle with Bolognese Ragu
Photo: Luigi Morbidelli
We strolled the main drag that is Via San Felipe, and soon found a busy open-air social scene outside Sensa Nome (Via Belvedere 11. Tel: 39-392-516-2896), a restaurant and bar whose deaf owner employs and invites deaf patrons, and takes orders by lip reading or with small paper slips printed with drink names. The spot occupies a pedestrian-only square on Via Belvedere, and we returned there the next day to check out Mercato delle Erbe (Via Ugo Bassi 25. Tel: 39-335-597-1753. www.mercatodelleerbe.eu). The Mercato is a hip food hall housed in a historic market, where we lunched on outrageously good local mortadella and arugula sandwiches, Emilia-Romagna’s famous parmigiana cheese, and the city’s other iconic dish tortellini en brodo (ham-stuffed pasta rounds in clear broth).
Following the locals’ advice, Denise and I found ourselves on a food walking tour of our own, which included baked delights at Forno Briso (Via Galliera 34d. Tel: 39-051-248-556. www.fornobrisa.it), a locally owned chain of bakeries that also supplies bread to dozens of restaurants. We also dropped by Osteria del Sole (Vicolo Ranocch 1. Tel: 39-347-968-0171. , a bar founded in 1465, with a chalkboard listing the wine selection, and long shared tables with patrons bringing in their own food.
By dinner time, we landed at Il Rovescio (Via Pietralata 75. Tel: 39-051-523-545. www.rovescio.it), a cozy restaurant that sources ingredients exclusively from local farmers and purveyors. Its monthly menus include farm-raised meat dishes, though most selections lean heavy on seasonal produce, including excellent vegan options.
Thankfully, after so many savories, we could appreciate Bologna’s walkability, and each night got accustomed to passeggiatas (evening strolls). We found ourselves nightly enjoying the return home to our charming Art Hotel Commercianti (Via Dè Pignattari 11. Tel: 39-051-745-7511. www.art-hotelcommercianti.com) beside the city’s central Piazza Maggiore, where street musicians conjure some of Bologna’s jazz-loving nature. The family-owned boutique hotel’s understated elegance is colorful and cozy, with original art in common areas and in its uniquely decorated guestrooms. The Medieval structure itself is landmarked for its storied history, including once serving as the office for wine regulations and transportation. The hotel is also nestled beside the giant, yet never completed, San Petronio Basilica, which is well worth touring to learn more about its peculiar backstory dating back to 1390.
