I am planning my first trip to Italy. I want to see Rome, Florence and Venice. I plan on arriving in Milan. Friends have told me to quickly bail out of Milan and use it as a place to head out to more historic places. Should I ignore the city and go on my way? --- Susan of Portland, OR

Bologna, the capital city of the Emilia-Romagna region of central Italy, had, until recently, three unique sides to its personality: La Dotta (The Learned), because the oldest university (1088) in the western world was founded here; La Rossa (The Red), because of the terracotta-colored roofs, and, to a lesser degree, its penchant for left-leaning politics; and, La Grassa (The Fat), because of all of the great, original cuisine found within its postal code, like ragù, lasagne, mortadella and Pignoletto wine.

With the popularity of 'Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy' series we thought it would be fun to add a few recipes based on our own pre- Covid-19 gastronomic experiences in the Emilia-Romagna cities of Bologna and Parma.

“Shoppers are flooded with holiday promotions,” said Harding Bush, associate manager of operations at Global Rescue. “But the Global Rescue Holiday Gift Guide for Travelers is the only one compiled through the recommendations of our members and staff... “Bologna dances for the festive season” from dances in the streets to fine-art videomapping on historical buildings.

Like many North Americans I grew-up eating lasagna. I recalled how my grandmother, who hailed from Genoa, would explain that lasagna was the name of a pasta, not a dish. Her style of preparing lasagna was to boil the pasta, then layer it with a Tucco sauce (dialect) and Parmigiano–Reggiano cheese, with no baking in the oven.

Bologna is a medium-size, very authentic Italian city and its inhabitants are famous for enjoying life and having fine-tuned the art of living well. People of Bologna go out a lot to eat in restaurants, especially to enjoy the local gastronomic tradition, and to drink good wine in one of the many old Osterias of the historical center.