Ferrara Fun!!

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June 17th 2008

Published: July 7th 2008

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LDUCA

Leaving the Hotel

After waking up, shuttling a luggage over to Fabio's place on the back of my bike (mind you tied on with the strap from Dad's bag), and having some breakfast, we finally set out on foot in Ferrara. We start on our way to Piazza Ariostea, but we end up meeting up with our dear Fulvio, who is studying tourism -- the perfect tour guide! We decided to change plans and we walked to the oldest street in Ferrara, Via delle Volte. After a little bit more site seeing around town, to name one the Duomo/Cathedral, we go to "Brindisi" bar, which Fulvio informs us just so happens to be the oldest enoteca in Europe, which was established in 1435. I don't know how many times I had passed by this bar (as it is on the same street that I used to get to the University), and it was my first time inside. We enjoyed a nice lil' aperitivo of wine, accompanied by sliced cured meats, cheeses, bruschette, and the like. The wine was absolutely delicious. Once we were all good and happy, we went on down to get some lunch at Fabio's and mine favorite restaurant (to date) in

Via delle Volte

Ferrara -- il Cucco. We made our way down some winding old streets, to finally come upon this hidden treasure. We seated in the outside garden, under a canopy of vines. Liters of wine, an array of appetizers, crazy coppia Ferrarese bread, many Made-Fresh-in-the-Restaurant Pasta dishes later, we get up rolling out of the restaurant. What a wonderful meal! We had my parents try appetizers of prosciutto with cantaloupe and, arugula and cherry tomatoes with squacquerone -- a type of very soft cheese that one would not find in the US. These appetizers were followed by all of our pasta dishes... my father enjoyed the tagliatelle with prosciutto and peas, my mother the ferrarese specialty cappellacci with squash filling covered in sage butter, my sister and I the gramigna with sausage and fresh mushrooms, and Fabio and Fulvio enjoyed la Casareccia with radiccio, porcini mushrooms with provolone grated on top. Once we went and had our passeggiata "to help us digest" (as Fabio always says) we made our way to Piazza Ariostea to have our after-dinner espresso, afterwhich we made our way to Fabio's house to enjoy some Amaretto before we departed for Bologna. In Bologna, we checked into the

Via della Volte

hotel, and immediately after we made our way into town... which was absolutely deserted as EVERYONE was watching the Italy vs. France soccer game for the Euro Cup. We, following a frantic Fabio eager to find a television, finally make it to a bar with a TV, and enjoy "happy hour" / aperitivo well supplied with snacks... after an emotional game with very enthusiastic fans around us...ITALY WINS!!!!!! Those previously empty streets suddenly become filled with Italian flags, people yelling, mopeds that continue to honk, chaos! We find some pizza to soak up some of the liquid dinner we had, and prepare us for the after-party. In the meantime it had started to rain, but apparently Bologna is known as the city without umbrella, as you can go throughout under all of the portici without an umbrella and never get wet... lucky us! We found ourselves a very excited bar with students that consecutively sung the nation anthem, bought a huge bottle of champagne and made sure to shake it all up before opening it... and this was our nightly entertainment. Once we finished partaking in the festivities, we made our way back to the hotel to rest up for