Day 12: Driving to Bologna early morning, Autogrill and a surprisingly good lunch at Ristorante Colombina
The food products people can get in Autogrill in Italy. Wow...
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Restaurants visited:
Ristorante Colombina, Bologna: 5 star. Surprisingly delicious food and great wine. Friendly service.
Early morning drive to Bologna and my first visit to Autogrill
I wanted to check out Bologna's farmers market and it's only on Saturday morning, so I got up really early, had a quick breakfast with Caterina at 9 Muse B&B, and I was on my way. I was the only person that morning, but Caterina still prepared many different cakes/cookies and different types of drink for my breakfast. The one in the photo, she told me it is called "grandma's cake" in Italy. What a luxurious morning. Thanks, Caterina! Before I left the place, I snapped a shot of all the recognitions that she has gotten. When I come back again to this area to dine at Dal Pescatore, I will definitely stay here again.
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The drive from 9 Muse B&B to Bologna is about 2.5 hours. I decided to stop by an Autogrill and check out what it is all about. Remember that I mentioned about the toll check-in/check-out ticket system in Italy? Apparently, people still speed, but they stop by Autogrill to take a break. With that additional time, speeding tickets are no longer a concern!
There are so many food products in Autogrill stores that I really felt that I was in a mini supermarket. They also designed the store layout in a way that I had to walk pass the entire mini market before I could exit. Talking about store design that push for impulse buying!
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They even have shower facility in Autogrill! I mean, I didn't use it... but... Wow.
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Arriving in Bologna and a great lunch at Ristorante Colombina
Up until this point, I have been somewhat frustrated by my inability to speak/read Italian, but when I arrived in Bologna, this inability of mine pushed my frustration to a new height...
Most towns and cities in Italy have a special traffic limit zone in the city center that people cannot enter by car without a permit. The sign is a white circle with a thick red outline around it. There are usually cameras installed nearby and if I enter these zones, I will get a ticket. The problem is, this white circle with red outline sign is used in two situations. One is to indicate the border of this traffic limit zone, meaning that I cannot enter, and the other is to inform me of the existence of this zone in the city ahead, meaning that I can still enter here. The only difference between these two are explained on a white metal board below the white circle sign, and it is in Italian. Not only I didn't understand Italian, I was also driving and we all know how well we read when we are in motion.
This resulted in me avoiding moving ahead every time I saw this sign, regardless whether I could enter or not. Google navigation doesn't take this into consideration. So as I kept making turns to avoid these signs, Google navigation kept re-routing. This morning, I ended up circling around Bologna 4 times while trying to figure out what I should do. I ended up parking my car at the far end up north and walked to the city center. Thankfully, Bologna isn't a huge city and it was just about 20 minutes before I walked to the city center. However, by the time I got there, the market has already closed.
Oh well... I guess this means that I will have to come back again! Might not be a bad thing after all.
Confusion leads to stress, and stress leads to hunger. And this hunger lead me to Ristorante Colombina in the city center of Bologna. I was using TripAdvisor iPhone app and it showed "Ristorante Colombina" as one of the top choices nearby. I read the reviews and it seemed like a great choice where many local Italians also frequent. I arrived at 12:30pm when the restaurant opened and I was the first. Warm and friendly greeting from the staff made me feel comfortable right away.
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For Appetizer, I got their potatoes and mortadella soufflé with parmesan cheese sauce. It was really delicious! So fluffy and light, yet full of flavor. Absolutely divine. Must order if you come here.
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For the main course, I ordered the specialty dish in Bologna, Tortellini in chicken broth. It was perfectly cooked. The pasta skin stayed al dante for a long time. The chicken broth was flavorful and the meaty stuffing in the tortellini was just delicious. Perfect for a cold day like this.
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With appetizer and main course being so good, I had to try their dessert. I went with "Panna cotta al forgo bel caramel": Baked cream (without gelatin) with caramel sauce. I had high expectation, so I was a little disappointed with this dish. Without gelatin, I find it too firm and too dense. I like the panna cotta of Ristorante Consorzio better back in Turin.
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Overall, I really like this restaurant and the price was really good compared to other restaurants that I've been to so far. The service was great and they speak English pretty well. I would definitely come back again next time I'm in Bologna. All in all, an unexpected great meal!
A quick walk-about around the food market area and checked-in at
Since I woke up really early this morning and drove a long distance, and then got really stressed out over the traffic limit zone situation, I decided to check out just the food market area really quick and drive to my Air-BnB vacation rental to check in and rest.
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I've heard many times that Bologna is the most liberal and progressive city in Italy. I witnessed it in person when I walked back to the parking lot when a group of people marched down the street protesting and there were many policemen everywhere.
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The Air-BnB place is about 10 minutes outside of Bologna. The owner, Paolo was at home when I arrived and he gave me a quick tour of the house. The place is clean, modern and very comfortable. I unloaded my luggage to this place where I'll call home for the next 5 days. After a quick shower, I went to bed early. I'll head back into Bologna again tomorrow and tour the city a bit more.
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