Italia! La mia amore! I and have fallen helplessly in love with you and your many personalities sequestered into cities and regions. You’ve shown me hot, flashy Roma, romantic yet admittedly decaying Venezia, and you even let me experience the magical Sardinia by the sea, but you have been keeping a well guarded secret from me. I have only recently been introduced to your quiet but somehow irresistibly handsome brother Bologna, who only becomes more and more charming the more you spend time with him.

I think, Italy, you were afraid I’d fall in love with Bologna first and never have the motivation to see anything else.

Bologna doesn’t try to sell you anything because it doesn’t need to. Its class and beauty understated. All Bologna has to offer is traditional pasta that has been perfected, wine sweetened with love and time, ancient and preserved Italian architecture, and the oldest university in the world.

To avoid embarrassment and to impress this classy town, here is what you should order as a civilized human in Bologna, Italy when you go on a date with him. Fair warning, this pasta is about to get a bit sexual.

Tagliatelle Bolognese

I honestly can’t eat pasta in the states anymore after eating this dish. What can possibly live up to the quality of noodles after eating here at the ravishing This particular spaghetti bolognese was indeed the best meal I had in Bologna, and It’s a classic for a reason; the pasta perfectly al dente, the sauce meaty and flavorful, the parmagene cheese melting into the sauce and merging into the soul. Notice how the Italian “tomato sauce” is more meat and less tomato sauce, the focus being the thick pasta noodles and the texture of the bolognese. The perfect lunch before a four hour walk around the city, outside on a red and white checkered tableclothed patio table no less. It’s what basic bitches like us need to feel like we are living a true cliche.

innocent and coy, she flirts with the pasta and asks it out, maybe indulging in hand holding...

but the second date? Let’s get down to business and see if we have real chemistry...

Who needs a boyfriend when you can eat pasta that makes you feel this good?

Tortellini in Brodo

Tortellini, teeny tiny homemade pasta dumplings, is enough to bring me a sufficient amount of joy on its own. But then, the tortellini in brodo, a sweet broth that has just enough flavor to balance out the meaty stuffed pasta is the perfect meal on a chilly night, a warm summer night, or whenever you need a decent comfort food option to warm your cold, dead, beautifully damaged heart. <3

Tortelloni

Stuffed with Ricotta and Spinach, covered in a lovely creamy sauce, I love how these larger versions of pasta dumplings look like happy little creatures rubbing their hands together, so excited for you to devour them in one bite. A useful factoid for sounding like an Italian; the difference between tortellini and tortelloni : tortellini is the smaller version of dumplings and stuffed with meat, while tortelloni is larger and stuffed with cheese and veggies!

Gnocco Fritto with Mortadella, Salumi

Lightly puffy fried bread with a soft cheese spread like butter, a sip of wine to marinate the flavors, and a tiny meat sandwich with the bread that could use some extra zip: an excellent way to start your meal with a perfectly balanced piatta of carbs and protein. The gnocco fritto is pastry in texture and so pillowy soft it could be a dessert.

Devouring the meat, just a typical date night

Gelato

What is more decadent than gelato in the summertime? Just eat it quickly, it tends to melt within minutes. Try this gem Venchi, which I recommend as a self proclaimed gelateria expert who is mildly obsessed with it.

this gelato should be illegal in 49 states.

Lizzie is a true Italian who understands the power of a creamy treat

Working off all that Love

I cannot lie, we really made sure that the pasta replaced any requirements for a romantic partner. What we needed after our decadence was a proper stroll around the city. 21,667 steps and almost 9 miles later, I can safely say that our cardio was sufficient to the calories consumed.

Walking along the storybook cobblestone streets, we made our way to the two towers, the only remaining members of a family of towers build a long long time ago when a competition between families challenged them to build the highest, most phallic and powerful tower. We climbed 458 steps to the very top and took in the views.

The reasonably physically fit should be fine, but we did see quite a few folks resting in certain places and dry heaving up their pasta from earlier.

Just man up and power through, only 300 steps to go!

Worth it though, to inhale this view!

There’s nothing I love more than climbing a tall thing and then looking out the top of it. Empire State Building in New York, Astronomical Clock in Prague, the top of Sacre Couer in Paris. It’s a priority of any new place you are exploring to ascend to the highest point and take a picture of the scenery. Bologna won me over because of its subtlety; I miss cities like this, which are unassumingly beautiful and natural without a tourist trap on every corner. The skyline is charming and low to the ground, skimmed in terra cotta rooftops, ugly concrete skyscrapers absent from the landscape; there are only rolling green Tuscany hills in the distance.

Portici di Bologna

Porticoes are abundant and simply grand, arches guiding you underneath a shaded walkway and hiding you from the summer heat or any other bad weather blues that might ruin your Italian walkabout around the city. Built starting from the Middle Ages, they were created post building construction to provide citizens with extra space to live above and space underneath for vendors and a casual stroll.

Brick, marble, and stone... oh my! Being near these materials is somehow comforting. The intuitive power of material is so fascinating to me. Why do we like being near certain objects, and what about marble makes us feel regal and what about wood ma… — Brick, marble, and stone... oh my! Being near these materials is somehow comforting. The intuitive power of material is so fascinating to me. Why do we like being near certain objects, and what about marble makes us feel regal and what about wood makes us feel soothed?

Around The City in 20,000 Steps

How

The colorful streets of Bologna were enough to keep us preoccupied for the day as we planned our next sensual pasta dish meal. Pizza was not an option, salads were an abomination and would be absolutely blasphemous to order. Therefore, walk we must, and walk we did until our legs and feet became jello and a bench nap by the University of Bologna was a necessity. 20,000 steps and counting, this city is not for heels or any uncomfortable bootie. Dress to not impress, but to hustle your ass across sidewalks and uneven pavement.

Bikes are extremely popular here, obviously, and I relished in the lack of cars that typically zip by as you take a walk in any city.

Each restaurant here was so cute and more charming than the last. It seems that owners take a lot of care in making them hospitable and beautiful to customers, unique and inviting.

Cobblestone Streets + Mopeds + Patio in the Background = Storybook Life.

This is the outside view of the 7 Churches, apparently it’s a very cool building to see inside because there are literally 7 Churches one inside the other; it’s like a Russian Doll for churches. We weren’t able to go inside but walked around it and used the power of imagination.

The hidden canals of Bologna, like Venice but less sinky and less stinky.

Proof that Italians eat veggies occasionally.

Obsessed with these open piazzas, sharing an aperitivo before dinner and just talking to each other. Put your phones away and actually connect!

As I said goodbye to Lizzie, catching an early train to MXP before heading back home, she caught the train to Firenze for a day before settling into her immersion Italian language course in Siena. Sounds dreamy? It is. I’m in love with these ancient cities with traditions that go back for generations. Modernity has not taken over the city in an obnoxious way; Bologna maintains its integrity as an Italian city without needing to cater to anyone else but its own. This city is worth a second look.

Eat more pasta bolognese and Happy Flying! X

Bologna, Italy : How Sexy is Your Pasta?