I’ve spent a lot of time in Italy, especially northern Italy. And while I studied in Florence and visited the canals of Venice, the beaches of Liguria, the cathedrals of Milan and the hill towns of Umbria, there are so many places in northern Italy that I haven’t yet visited.
The region I’ve wanted to visit the most?
Emilia-Romagna.
This region of north-central Italy is home to Bologna — Italy’s premier food city. In fact, one of Bologna’s many nicknames is “La Grassa” — the fat one! They’re so serious about food that many restaurants won’t allow more than one dinner seating a night.
The countryside is even better. Parmesan cheese, prosciutto di Parma, and the world’s finest balsamic vinegar all come from Emilia-Romagna, as well as countless delicious local dishes.
For years, I’ve wanted to go to Emilia-Romagna and do nothing but EAT.
Image: Paolo Margari
So when I met Juliane Fischer from Wilde & Partner at TBU this summer and she told me that she and Emilia-Romagna Tourism were planning a food-themed blog trip, I nearly jumped out of my chair with excitement — but simply told her that I was very, very interested. A few weeks later, I got the invite.
So I am very excited to FINALLY be heading to Emilia-Romagna this weekend! I will be part of the Delicious Emilia-Romagna blog trip, highlighting the culinary traditions of Emilia-Romagna, along with some fashion, shopping and fun!
Our itinerary includes lots of food and lots of competition. We will be gathering and dining on chestnuts in Castel del Rio and sampling fresh seafood in the famed resort town of Rimini. We will compete to see who can make the prettiest cappelletti pasta in Forlimpopoli. And, of course, there’s Bologna‘s old town and its many culinary delights.
Most insanely, in the tiny commune of Sant’Agata Feltria, we will be hunting for truffles with dogs! (Expect much comedy to result from this, particularly from me.)
Image: fugzu
Four bloggers will be on this trip with me: my dear friend Kash Bhattacharya of The Budget Traveller , Katja Hentschel from Travelettes , Christine Neder from Die Lillies and Lea Hajner from Tripwolf Germany , as well as Juliane.
To follow along on the trip, follow the #DeliciousEmRom hashtag on Twitter. I can tell you now that we will be tweeting LOTS of food pictures.
I’ll try to get a post up while there, but I doubt I’ll have the time. Our flight lands at 2:00 PM in Bologna and we depart Bologna on Monday at 5:00 PM (a flight checker will tell you there are plenty of flights to Bologna from all over Europe!), making it a very full four days.
Next week will be rich with Italy posts, and I can’t wait to share Emilia-Romagna with all of you!
Until then, I’m off to practice my Italian — it’s been five years, so I hope the language all comes back once my feet touch Italian soil!
