We had an unfortunate start to our day, when the Trenitalia ticket collector on our regional train (akin to a commuter train for which tickets can also be bought from a train station self serve kiosk) decided that our fully paid for digital tickets were invalid because our full names had not been entered online. Instead of a warning – which would have been at his discretion – he chose to fine our leader Michela the maximum amount of triple the price of each ticket, payable immediately. What made it worse was that he spent more than twenty minutes looming over her and berating her in front of all of us, knowing that we were her tour group. To say that he made a lasting, and negative, impression on all of us (who prior to that had thought he was an attractive young man) would be an understatement. He was the epitome of a bully.
We checked into our hotel which, like the one in Venice, is in a good location but with minimal features – and in both cases the hotel breakfasts have been lacklustre. It makes for a less than stellar start to the day for a group doing this tour for the food.
From the hotel, we walked to the Piazza Maggiore (main square).
Once we had had a quick orientation, we were dispersed to go and find lunch on our own. Because Bologna is the home of mortadella and parmigiana and tortellini, we decided to have a feast of charcuterie along with a small bowl of tortellini in cream sauce.
One of the disappointments on this tour so far is that really there has not been enough food history, or local specialties highlighted, nor has our tour leader made any kind of restaurant recommendations. Talking to another of our fellow travellers who has toured with Intrepid several times on food tours in Japan and India, her comment was that this tour was unusual in the lack of food focus so far. Hopefully things will improve in the next couple of days because this was supposed to be a special treat for my DIL and it is not living up to expectations.
DIL and I toured the Basilica, the interior of which neither of us found particularly inspiring except for the structural elements.
We much preferred the Church of Santa Maria de Vita with its bright uplifting interior.
And then… tonight’s cooking class made everything better. Cristina Rossi (#cesarinecristina) hosted us in her home for a session that covered tagliatelle, Italian flatbread, Bolognese sauce, and tiramisu, all accompanied by a sparkling white wine and cold Lambrusco.
After a glass of white wine and some Parmesan cheese drizzled with 25-year-old balsamic vinegar from Modena, our hands-on cooking lesson started.
We let our balls of dough rest while we made individual tiramisus.
Then it was time to roll out our pasta dough, fold it, and cut it into strips.
Cristina demonstrated lifting the cut strips and shaking them to separate them before curling them into nests. We all did the same with our own balls of dough.
Cristina’s husband poured everyone a glass of delicious cold Lambrusco while the pasta went into boiling water, and then was stirred into the Bolognese sauce that had been simmering all afternoon (we got the recipe even though we didn’t make it ourselves) .
Cristina’s teaching was engaging, fun, and informative. We had such fun making – and eating – a fabulous dinner. It was also our first chance really to interact socially with our tour leader. Things are looking up.
Tomorrow we go to Modena to learn about balsamic vinegar and Parmesan cheese making.
