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Emilia Romagna Tourism Board

Destinations, Emilia Romagna Tourism Board, Featured Partners, Italy, Portland

Portland, Meet Your Sister {City}

June 4, 2012

You know how everyone talks about traveling to Italy to connect with distant family? We’re not Italian, but it turns out we had a long lost relative waiting to surprise us with a welcome.

You should’ve seen the look of bewilderment on our faces.

Like that scene from The Parent Trap: Hayley Mills, meet Hayley Mills.

Portland meet Bologna.

We blinked twice.

Portland, Oregon, U.S.A. and Bologna, Emilia-Romagna, Italy were declared sister cities on June 5th, 2003. It’s nearly our ninth birthday.

Where have we been all of each others’ lives?! Continue Reading…

Destinations, Emilia Romagna Tourism Board, Featured Partners, Food in Italy, Italy

Traditions of the Land: Food in Italy Part IV

June 1, 2012

Italian Origami: Handmade Pasta at Casa Artusi

This post is dedicated to my dear friend, Sara B. She’s an Italian by birth and a genius in the kitchen by passion and practice. She’s been inspiring me since grade school, and it’ll be a fun day when we reunite in Oregon for an Italian feast.

Homemade pasta is to Italy what chocolate chip cookies are to America.

Everyone makes or knows someone who makes the best, every gourmet has their secret trick, and no one chooses a plastic package when grandma’s making a fresh batch.

Once you’ve eaten a steaming plate of fresh pasta, you’ll forever be ruined for the substitute.

Continue Reading…

Destinations, Emilia Romagna Tourism Board, Featured Partners, Food in Italy, Italy

Traditions of the Land: Food in Italy Part III

May 30, 2012

Wine: Celli Vini & The Legend of Albana in Bertinoro

East of Bologna, the ancient medieval hilltop village of Bertinoro still feels like a fairytale, boasting a castle dating to 1000 A.D., a palace from 1306 A.D., a cathedral from the 16th century, views overlooking the plains and the coastline of the Adriatic sea yielding the hilltop the title, “Balcony of Romagna,” and wineries producing legendary golden Albana wines fit for a princess.

Continue Reading…

Destinations, Emilia Romagna Tourism Board, Featured Partners, Food in Italy, Italy

Traditions of the Land: Food in Italy Part II

May 25, 2012

True Balsamic Vinegar: Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale di Modena

Nameless, faceless food. The downfall of modern eating (and drinking).

The remedy? Meeting producers, learning their crafts and stories, and savoring the flavors of the world with appreciation that extends beyond the palette to a deeper gratefulness of heart.

Rossi Barattini’s historic Balsamic Vinegar production house in Modena, Italy

Our series on traditional foods of Northern Italy began with our travels exploring the history of true Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese and Culatello ham. Next up, part two and the juicy details of Italian grapes transformed to the sweetest of vinegars and the noblest of wines… Continue Reading…

Destinations, Emilia Romagna Tourism Board, Featured Partners, Food, Food in Italy, Italy

Traditions of the Land: Food in Italy Part I

May 22, 2012

Parmigiano-Reggiano Cheese and Culatello Ham: Parma Territory & the Spigaroli Brothers

Italy is synonymous with good food.

Boiled down to cliche, it’s that reputation that keeps places like Olive Garden turning tables night after night. But taste a true bite of Italy’s gastronomic history and culture, and you’ll find a richness unrivaled by mass-production meal-makers anywhere in the world.

As we’ve been exploring Emilia-Romgana, Italy, Ted and I have had the great pleasure of meeting producers of fine Italian fare, sampling their artisan products, and learning the stories behind generations’ dedication to land and culinary tradition. (And posing for pictures with a full size statue of the beloved animal responsible for famed Italian pork products.)

This region is every food lover’s dream world: a parallel universe for Portlandia locavores, an inspiration for real food champions in home kitchens, food swaps, farmers markets, and restaurants, and a land of high culinary standards, exemplary for civilizations the world over. Continue Reading…

Destinations, Emilia Romagna Tourism Board, Featured Partners, Italy, Walks of Italy

Definitionarium of Our Italian Adventure

May 20, 2012

As we share stories of food, fast cars, friends, and adventures in Italy, I thought I’d make it a little easier to keep a few things straight. I present you with our glossary slash dictionary slash directory slash collection slash schedule of Italy 2012, twoOregonians style:

Bologna bo·lo·gna [buh-LOHN-yuh]
The capital city of the Emilia-Romagna region and central transportation hub in Northern Italy. Known for its fine foods, university culture, miles of covered sidewalks (porticoes), and plentiful public squares, cathedrals, and cultural performances. Also, sister city to Portland, Oregon, USA. (Yes, related to bo·lo·gna [buh-LOH-nee]; as in, the sandwich meat. More on that later.) We lived in a downtown apartment in Bologna from April 27th-May 14th. (Note: we departed before the May 20th earthquake, but our thoughts and prayers go out to our Italian friends and the beautiful cities of Emilia-Romgana affected by the natural disaster. We’re grateful to report that our Blogville companions are safe and sound.) Continue Reading…

Destinations, Emilia Romagna Tourism Board, Featured Partners, Italy, Photography

Artful Italy: Discovering Wildt in Forlì

May 6, 2012

Today’s a quiet day of rest in Emilia-Romagna. I’m cozied up in our apartment in Bologna, sifting through photos and stories from northern Italy. It seems around every corner we’ve been greeted by a new surprise, a new enchantment, a new glass of wine or plate of colorful food, a new irresistible piece of beauty. This past week: no exception.

We paid a visit to Forlì, Italy, stopping in at Musei San Domenico, a restored 13th century Dominican convent turned creative arts space. Serendipitously, our visit coincided with a temporary exhibit running January 28 – June 17 featuring the work of Italian sculpture Adolfo Wildt (1868 – 1931). The collection offers a glimpse into a creative man’s inspiration and expression, featuring his own works and those of influential predecessors and contemporaries arcing from classical tradition to romanticism, art nouveau, and modernism. Continue Reading…

Destinations, Emilia Romagna Tourism Board, Featured Partners, Italy

Pink Flamingos in Italy?

May 3, 2012

How do you deepen a friendship? Let your guard down. Share a comfortable meal. Reveal hidden sides of your personality. How do you deepen a friendship with Italy? Turns out, in the same way.

Think of that sheepish smile when a new acquaintance admits an unexpected tidbit of their story and you both discover the link of shared fascinations or pastime…that’s how we felt on our visit to Ferrara, “Little Venice,” and the Po Delta Wetlands. (“Pink Flamingos, Italy? No way! You have them, too? We just saw Flamingos in Bolivia…small, small world.”) Continue Reading…

Destinations, Emilia Romagna Tourism Board, Featured Partners, Food, Italy

Do You Know the Land?

May 2, 2012

I recently spent time cleaning out old computer files and found an image I’d saved early last year…

Italy asked the question, and I thought I knew the answer.

When I saved the vintage tourism poster to my hard drive, we’d already planned our route, and Italy was nowhere on the list. But the picture drew me in with its simple query:

“Do you know the land?”

I knew cities: Rome. Florence. Naples. Capri. Sorrento. Bari.

Ted and I have three visits to Italy under our belts, combining past solo trips.

We’ve eaten gelato (oh, yes we have!) and seen the Roman Holiday hotspots,
tossed Euros in the Trevi Fountain (hey, it must’ve worked?), listened to echoes of Blue Grotto paddle boat singers, admired “Venus on the Half-Shell” (gotta love Botticelli), and marveled at Michelangelo’s writhing stone Slaves while walking the hall to the David…

Ted carries a brown leather wallet from Florence; I bought my wedding necklace at a little boutique on Capri and think of the country with fondness in my heart.

I thought we knew Italy well enough…

Turns out we didn’t know the land any more than a visitor to New York City knows the Pacific Northwest. Continue Reading…