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Bologna is a city of many names:\u00a0“the fat one” (la grassa<\/em>) in reference to its meat and cheese-heavy cuisine;\u00a0“the learned one” (la dotta<\/em>) in reference to its famous university; or\u00a0“the red one” (la rossa<\/em>),\u00a0referring to the colour of the roofs in the historic centre.\u00a0\u00a0Today, Bologna\u00a0is a handsome\u00a0city\u00a0of\u00a0russet porticoes and colonnades; home to one of the oldest universities in Europe; a culinary mecca; and a proclaimed UNSECO City of Music.\u00a0Spend a weekend\u00a0exploring the city on foot, starting with its\u00a040km of covered\u00a0walkways, built as a simple solution to a 12th century housing crisis: extra rooms overhanging the pavements built onto existing houses.<\/p>\n Marvel at the larger-than-life statue of Neptune in the Piazza Maggiore which scandalised the city with its brazen nudity when it was erected in 1567; or see the Roman ruins that the city was built on under the Sala Borsa.\u00a0Bologna University is the oldest in Italy,\u00a0and the Archiginnasio where it was housed from\u00a0the mid-16th century, is a feast for the eyes. A feast for the tastebuds can be found in the Quadrilatero area, a foodies\u2019 Aladdin\u2019s cave packed with food shops and market stalls. Make sure you sample tortellini in brodo (pasta parcels stuffed with meat and cheese) and ragu (Bolognese sauce), both local specialities. Finish the day in Osteria del Sole, a bring-your-own bar with a twist where you can buy some local dry red Lambrusco and eat at the Osteria\u2019s tables with your own picnic of the Prosciutto, Parmigiano Reggiano and salami that you bought at the market.<\/p>\n FERRARA<\/strong><\/p>\n Fifty kilometres northeast of Bologna lies Ferrara, a city that grew up along the banks of the Po di Volano river. This UNESCO World Heritage Site city owes much of its prestige to the Este family dynasty that governed it for 300 years from the 14th<\/sup>\u00a0Century, leaving behind them lavish palaces and a city transformed by forward-thinking urban planning.\u00a0 Get a feel for the old city my walking along the 2km of cobbled and arcaded Via della Volte where arches overhead originally linked warehouses on the river to wealthy merchants\u2019 homes; and explore the Romanesque 12th<\/sup>\u00a0century Basillica with its beautiful marble fa\u00e7ade and majestic interior.<\/p>\n MANTUA Mantua, on the border of the Veneto and Emilia Romagna regions, was once described by Charles Dickens as being grey, boring, dull and smelly \u2013 but visit today and you will find a compact, romantic city packed with beautiful architecture, cobbled piazzas \u2013 and great food.\u00a0 Surrounded on three sides by defensive artificial lakes created in the 12th<\/sup> century, Mantua acquired power and influence under the ruling Gonzaga family who in the 15th<\/sup> century made it one of the main artistic, cultural and musical\u00a0hubs of Northern Italy. Begin your walking tour in the Piazza Ducale, named for the Palazzo Ducale, the Gonzagas\u2019 personal mini-city comprising 500 interlinked rooms and courtyards, which can still be visited today.\u00a0 Although much of the art was lost when the Austrian army sacked the city in 1630, glorious frescoes by Andrea Mantegna can still be seen, including the famous Camera degli Sposi<\/em>. If churches are your thing, you are in for a treat \u2013 from the Rotonda di San Lorenzo (Mantua\u2019s most ancient church dating from the 11th<\/sup> century) to the Basilica of Sant’Andrea\u00a0completed in 1790 with its barrel-vaulted nave and arched fa\u00e7ade that towers over the intimate Piazza Mantegna. But to me, the best way to while away a few hours in Mantua is to grab a table at Grifone Bianco, one of the many restaurants on the Piazza dell Erbe, to watch the world go by and to eat some of the local specialities: tortellini di zucca<\/em> (pasta parcels filled with pumpkin and amaretti crumbs), risotto made from locally grown rice, or sbrisolona<\/em> (a cake made with almonds and fruit).<\/p>\n![\"Ferrara_new\"](\"https:\/\/test10.co.za\/C\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Ferrara_new1.jpg\")
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\nIn the Castello Estense, with its four turreted defence towers and one of the last surviving water-filled moats in Europe, you can visit the claustrophobic dungeons where Ugo d\u2019Este and his young lover Parisina (and stepmother!) were imprisoned before being beheaded.\u00a0 Then leave the old town behind to explore the Ercolean addition, created when Duke Ercole I in the late 15th<\/sup>\u00a0century ordered the old city walls demolished. He then had new medieval city walls built that doubled the city in size by enclosing a new modern \u201cideal\u201d city built on an axis of two main north-south and east-west roads \u2013 widely regarded as the genesis of modern urban planning. Do as the locals do and hire a bicycle to cycle around the 9km of totally preserved medieval city walls, before stopping at Panificio Perdonati for hand-made\u00a0coppia ferrarese<\/em>, a unique local bread consisting of two rolled arms of dough twisted together in a central knot. The name means \u201ccouple\u201d, and it\u2019s not hard to see why!<\/p>\n
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\n<\/a>Words & Images by Jeanne Horak-Druiff<\/em><\/h6>\n