Ravenna a small but important city of Emilia Romagna. At first sight it can looks just like any other Italian city with cobblestoned streets and lively squares but after a tour with a good local tourist guide you’ll discover its incredible history and beauty . Even if I don’t live far from this city the first time I visited Ravenna was few weeks ago.  My guide, a woman,  an history teacher of an  high school of the city, started  the tour from a small shop and laboratory of mosaics .  The production of mosaics is an ancient tradition for Ravenna that from the Byzantines to date it has never been interrupted, and it’s still possible to find laboratories and schools.Indeed its mosaics  are considered the best in the world after Istanbul, they are marvelous vestiges of a time when Ravenna was part of the Byzantine empire.  These wonders have been designated as World Heritage sites. During our walking tour through the city  we stopped at San Francesco that is one of the churches that best represent a particular aspect of the city . Over the years Ravenna has been affected by a widespread land subsidence process and  churches, that were heavy, subsided .  But the problem in Ravenna  is that only a few feet deep there are aquifers, thus sinking the churches were flooded.   In San Francesco it’s still possible to see  water (and fishes) inside the apse.  We continued our tour visiting Dante’s tomb.  It’s funny and interesting all the story about Dante’s bones and how at the end they remained in Ravenna. Then we went  to one of the most important place of the city : Basilica of San Vitale,  designed like an octagon  it’s a unique example in Italy.  There are no words to explain the good feeling I had entering this building. It’s really amazing! Mosaics shine and create a play of light and shade. We continued to the  Mausoleum of Galla Placidia , adjacent to Basilica of San Vitale . It’s so terribly tiny that visitors have to enter in groups but so mesmerizing is the sight that greets them that nobody wants to leave. Another important building for mosaics it’s S. Apollinare Nuovo. Because of the subsidence this church looks like it’s about to collapse because the walls are definitely deformed, but the mosaics are wonderful! At the end we had lunch with a delicious Piadina ! This is a specialty of Romagna , the coastal area of the region Emilia Romagna. It is a flatbread made with flour, salt, water and usually lard or sometimes olive oil. The Piadina from Ravenna is often thicker than others served in the region. It can be filled with cold cuts , sauces, vegetables , cheeses but the most typical filling is Parma ham , rucola (arucola) and squacquerone(a fresh , very soft cheese)  .  I really love “crescione pomodoro e mozzarella” that is a piadina  filled before cooking  with  tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese, in that way  bread and the stuffing cook all together. The result is amazing …. melted mozzarella, but be careful not to burn!

A sunny winter Saturday in Bologna. When you arrive to Bologna by train from the north for sure you notice on your right , on the top of a hill, a very nice church. This church is the sanctuary of the “Madonna di San Luca” the most well known symbols of the city for Bolognese people that are devote to the image of  Holy Mary that is there. Even for me it is really reassuring seeing it every time I come back from a trip. Well I arrived on a sunny , cold Saturday at Bologna train station and I  started my walking tour in Bologna with a group of friends . Just outside of the station we noticed the clock stopped at 10.25 , remained like this from 1980 as the symbol of the massacre of the terrorist attack that occured in August of that year and which killed 85 people and wounded more than 200. Than we started walking towards the city center. Even if I know Bologna since I was a baby , every time I walk through its narrow street I find something that surprise me, a building or a little corner .This time the first thing that made me smile was the inscription on a colourful shutter of an ice cream shop that was closed for winter season (it does a really good ice cream!).It was written: “reopen at the end of February … weather permitting” . The Bolognese are funny and friendly people! We walked to the end of via Galliera under long porticoes, which are a special feature of Bologna. In the city  there are about 40 Kilometres of porticoes so it is really easy to stroll around and go shopping or walking from one museum to another under a safe shelter away from both bad weather and the scorching sun. We arrived in via Ugo Bassi , one of the main streets of the center that on week-end are pedestrian . It’s very nice to see many people walking around with shopping bags or just enjoing the city without cars.From this street it’s easy to undersand why the Bolognese say that one of the three T of Bologna are the TOWERS , since at the end of the road rise up in all their beauty, the two most important towers of the city : Torre degli Asinelli and  Torre della Garisenda. They are very impressive and they look as if they’re falling into one another. Torre degli Asinelli is the tallest leaning tower in Italy and it’s possible to reach the top walking up 498 steps .The panoramic view of the city from there it’s breathtaking!Then we continued our walking tour to Piazza Maggiore the most important square of the city, center of the religious and civil life. In the middle there is Fonatana di Nettuno (Neptune’s fountain) and around ancient medieval buildings. All the buildings are beautiful and impressive but one kept our attention ,  the Basilica of San Petronio, the most important church of the city. This is the last big Gothic church realized in Italy , but the thing that make it peculiar is the fact that the façade is not finished. Next to San Petronio a narrow street brought us to the gastronomic side of the city! Little shops full of typical food like mortadella , prosciutto , salame , parmigiano reggiano and home made pasta. Yes , here we found the other two T of Bologna , TAGLIATELLE and TORTELLINI! This is the old medieval market and food shopping area, the Quadrilatero, whose tiny cobblestone streets are framed within a quadrilateral area by Piazza Maggiore, via Rizzoli, via Castiglione and via Farini. The market has occupied the same area in the city center since Roman times. Bologna boasts in fact one of the richest culinary traditions in Italy.Some of the typical dishes, renowned all over the world, are “tagliatelle al ragù“, “tortellini in brodo“, “lasagne“, “spuma di mortadella“and ” friggione“. Tagliatelle al ragù : this dish is a combination of two Bolognese traditions coming together in perfect harmony, the ragu and the fresh egg pasta cut, strictly by hand, in varying lengths and widths.Tortellini in brodo: a delicious fresh egg pasta filled with meat and cheese and served in a meat broth.Lasagne: alternating sheets of fresh pasta with bechamel sauce, ragu and cheese. Usually the pasta is green because the dough is made with spinach.Spuma di mortdella: a simple but tasty starter made of mortadella, Parmesan, ricotta cheese and fresh cream mixed all together, usually spread on hot toasts, Crescentine or Crescenta.Friggione:  a tomato and onion sauce usually intended for dipping bread as a starter or a side dish. Here we enjoyed the delightful Bolognese cuisine !Now I’m waiting for you to discover something more about this wonderful city!

The most part of the Italians when they meet a Bergamasco (a person who lives in Bergamo) ask if he or she is from the upper or lower city. Yes, because this city is divided into two, a part of Bergamo is really crouched on the hills, at the foot of the Orobic Prealps, while the other develops in the plains, without following a particular apparent criterion. Bergamo Alta is the oldest part of the city, and it is the most interesting part for tourists. The core of the Upper Town has medieval origins. The Venetian walls and the Rocca, however, are posterior. Bergamo Bassa, on the other hand, identifies itself in all that remains outside these walls and it is the more modern half. There are 15 pedestrian access routes to Bergamo Alta. Uphill paths, sometimes only cobblestones, sometimes real stairways, on the hills and often line beautiful villas. My choice, however, has been different … there is indeed a convenient funicular, built in 1887 that leads directly to the upper city through the Venetian walls and that is used by the inhabitants routinely to reach the place of work or just for a ride. From the arrival point of the funicolar you can easily reach the main square of the city: Piazza Vecchia that is the symbol of Bergamo Alta Here the sight of the winged stone lion of St Mark atop a mullioned window, confirms that Venice won and then ruled Bergamo for 350 years. All the most interesting buildings are concentrated here: • The Palazzo della Ragione • The civic tower, also called “il Campanone” • The library building At the center of the square is the Fontana di Piazza Vecchia. Crossing the square and slipping into the portico below the Palazzo della Ragione, you come out into Piazza Duomo, which houses four real beauties: • The Duomo of Bergamo • The Colleoni Chapel • The Baptistery • The Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore The Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore is a really peculiar place, and I have never seen a place like that in other italian cities. Entering here you’ll find yourself under a ceiling writhing with hundreds of white stone limbs and some of the most exuberant, almost surreal marquetry in Italy. Donizetti, composer of 75 bel canto operas and a Bergamo native, is buried here. On this occasion I could not visit this beautiful city in depth, but I will definitely come back to see many other places that are really worth a stay in Bergamo.