Frommers.com Community
By Stephen Keeling
The region of Emilia-Romagna is known for its elegant medieval cities, sun-soaked Adriatic beaches, and some of the best cuisine in Italy: Bologna has its pasta and meat sauces, Parma its famed ham and parmigiano cheese, and Modena the world's finest balsamic vinegar. Though it might lack the glamour and tourist cache of Tuscany and Venice it also attracts far fewer tour buses, despite boasting an incredible diversity of attractions. Don't skip it: Emilia-Romagna is full of surprises.
Photo caption: Basilica di San Petronio, Bologna, Italy.
Don't laugh: while Bologna is justly praised for its sumptuous meat sauces, the region's smaller cities do marvelous things with that Fall staple. In Ferrara they make mouth-watering cappellacci di zucca (round pasta stuffed with squash or pumpkin), served al burro e salvia (with butter and sage). Sample the dish at Il Brindisi (Via Adelardi 11; tel. 0532/471-225; www.albrindisi.net), the oldest winebar in Europe, a wood-paneled enoteca crammed with dusty wine bottles -- Titian and Copernicus both supped here. Try Modena's equally enticing tortelloni di zucca (pumpkin tortelloni) at Pavarotti's favorite restaurant, Danilo (Via Coltellini 31; tel. 059/225-498).
Photo caption: Pumpkin ravioli at H'Osteria Guisti, Modena, Italy.
Poor Lambrusco. In the 1970s and 1980s the sickly sweet, fizzy version was the biggest selling import wine in the US -- it became a bit of a joke. The good news is that the Lambrusco served everywhere in Emilia today is far superior, a tart, dry red wine that makes a perfect compliment to Italian food (it's still fizzy, though). Try Ca' de' Medici (Via della Stazione 34; tel. 0522/942-141; www.cademedici.it), a venerable producer established in 1911 in Reggio Emilia and responsible for the super velvety Piazza San Prospero and the more affordable Reggiano Lambrusco Dry. A smaller boutique producer worth sampling is Cantina Medici Ermete (Via Isacco Newton 13/a; tel. 0522/942-135; www.medici.it), also in Reggio Emilia.
Photo caption: Bottles of Lambrusco for sale at a market in Modena, Italy.
Most visitors come to Rimini -- quite rightly -- for its magnificent coast, beaches and party scene in the summer. But students of history and architecture come to gawk at the curious Tempio Malatestiano (Via IV Novembre 35; tel. 0541/51130; www.rimini-it.it/malatesta/tempio-malatesta-rimini.htm). Originally built as a Franciscan church, in the late 15th century egotistical local tyrant Sigismondo Malatesta tried to transform the building into a personal memorial and mausoleum for himself and his mistress. Short of funds, Malatesta was reduced to robbing Roman ruins to furnish the project -- it remains unfinished, a bizarre blend of pagan symbols, half-completed arches and facades, the original Gothic brick poking out of the newer classical shell.
Photo caption: Tempio Malatesiano, Rimini, Italy
The Teatro Regio opera house in Parma (Via Garibaldi 16a; tel. 0521/039-393; www.teatroregioparma.org) is generally regarded as second only to Milan's La Scala in Italy's operatic pecking order, with a local crowd notoriously hard to please. Time a visit with the annual Festival Verdi, a series of concerts celebrating local-boy Giuseppe Verdi throughout October.
Photo caption: Teatro Regio, Parma, Italy.
The region of Emilia-Romagna is known for its elegant medieval cities, sun-soaked Adriatic beaches, and some of the best cuisine in Italy: Bologna has its pasta and meat sauces, Parma its famed ham and parmigiano cheese, and Modena the world's finest balsamic vinegar. Though it might lack the glamour and tourist cache of Tuscany and Venice it also attracts far fewer tour buses, despite boasting an incredible diversity of attractions. Don't skip it: Emilia-Romagna is full of surprises.
Photo caption: Basilica di San Petronio, Bologna, Italy.
Photo caption: Pumpkin ravioli at H'Osteria Guisti, Modena, Italy.
Photo caption: Bottles of Lambrusco for sale at a market in Modena, Italy.
Photo caption: Tempio Malatesiano, Rimini, Italy
Photo caption: Teatro Regio, Parma, Italy.