TRAVEL AND LIFESTYLE DIARIES

And so I climbed the famous Ghirlandina Bell Tower in Modena! That's almost 200 steps! The Tower of Ghirlandina is the bell tower of the Cathedral of Modena. Admission fee is 3 Euros. Together with the Piazza Grande, the Modena Cathedral and Palazzo Comunale, the whole area has been declared a UNESCO world heritage site since 1997. Nobody really knew the correct chronological history of this civic tower because its records were destroyed in a tragic fire incident in the 11th century. Learn more: Ghirlandina Bell Tower History At the top of the tower is the viewing gallery, this is the Stanza dei Torresani (Room of the tower inhabitants), once used as a watchtower to signal incoming danger. The gallery, however, was a bit of a disappointment because the windows were rather small and they all have thick wrought iron grills fastened on them. It was like being inside a prison cell. They probably installed them for safety precautions but they could have made the grills bigger...

The Piazza XX Settembre (or Piazza XX September?) is my secret favourite square in Modena. The square is located just behind the main square of the city, Piazza Grande and beside the you-must-visit food and farmer's market -- Mercato Albinelli . Piazza XX Settembre is quite the epitome of an Italian piazza in my opinion. It is unpretentious. There are no monuments in the middle of the square. I liked it a lot because of its size; it is smaller and less busier, although there was an outdoors market when I was there. The whole ambiance of the piazza channelled a very local jive to me. The bars and cafe restaurants with outdoor terraces on the sidelines were a delight to the eyes and the senses. This is one of the things I love about Europe. Outdoor cafe terraces always make a difference on a piazza. They make the whole place pretty, cosy and inviting. This square would be perfect for a cup of coffee whilst watching the market and the passersby any time during the day. A ...

Let me say this first: I am not a pasta person. I will eat pasta, mostly at home because I cook this on a weekly basis for the Dutchman (it is his favourite!) but I will never order this for myself in a restaurant. I do not hanker for pasta. I can live without pasta. Tagliatelli al Forno + Spritz + heavenly bread lunch. But just like everything in life, there are BUTS. There are exceptions. One can never say never. Because I am visiting the Emilia-Romagna region in Italy, the proud maker of famous pasta (stuffed and not) such as tortellini, tortelloni, tagliatelli, cappellacci, strichetti, maltagliati, anolini, garganelli, passatelli, ravioli, cappelletti, gramigna, strozzapreti… well, I just have to try it! I have to go local, even for just a few days. Now I challenge you, people, to look up in google the images of the pasta. You might have eaten and know some of them already via a different name =) Having said this, I decided to eat pasta for my lunch in Modena. Af...

One of the nicknames of Bologna is LA DOTTA ( the Learned One). The city is home to the oldest university in the western world, founded circa 1088. I did a quick online Wikipedia check and the Univeristy of Bologna has a notable list of alumni which includes familiar names such as Copernicus, Ferrari, Marconi, a few Popes and Dante Alighieri. Now the advantages with living in and visiting a university city is that you can always expect it to be thriving with (free) events, not just during the day, but also in the night. The porticoes on Via Zamboni. Unlike its bigger sister cities in the northern regions of Italy, such as Milan and Florence where you can find swanky, design and pricey night life establishments catered to the upscale group, working/business types and the older generation, as well as the money-spending sometimes high-roller tourists, here in Bologna though, they are catered mostly to the penny-pinching student community. I have read about Via Zamboni as the p...