Emma in London & now in Melbourne: Venice & Bologna

What a wonderful time Ollie and I had in Italy over four days, Ollie's first trip to Italy. Even in spite of the winter cold and rain.

After a late arrival in the evening on Thursday, we were up and at 'em early on Friday morning. We stuck with the local tradition of standing up at the counter of the coffee bar for a coffee and croissant. Coincidentally at the same cafe at the foot of the Accademia bridge I went to with Laleh years ago.

We got the touristy stuff out of the way after breakfast seeing San Marco square, the Rialto market and a round trip on Line 1 of the vaparetto to see the glory of the palazzos from the river.

For lunch Ollie and I went to a fantastic restaurant, Alle Testiere. I had fresh clams with ginger in the tastiest stock, for main a ricotta ravioli with prawns and black truffle, followed by a delicious pannacotta (crema posada alla venezia). The entire meal was outstanding, with great service and barely a tourist in sight.

I booked this restaurant thanks to the tips in the back of Russell Norman's recipe book, Polpo. Nearly all of the places we ate and drank in Venice were superb recommendations from the book.

We spent the afternoon wandering through the district of Cannaregio. We stopped for the traditional spritz at Paradiso Perduto which was packed with people and really buzzy. We stayed there until our dinner reservation at Corte Sconta in Castello. It was pouring with rain but we managed to find our way there weaving through the winding streets. We were rewarded with our second amazing meal. Despite still being full from lunch we couldn't resist three courses. Our starter of cod paste on polenta was possibly the best dish of the trip. We both had the fresh mixed Adriatic fish for dinner - sea bass, tuna, langoustine and monk fish. For dessert I had custard tart with fresh berries.

On Saturday we had another early start to make the most of the clear day. This was our day to explore the suburb of Dorsoduro. We spent an hour at the Gallerie del'Accademia. It's full of religious art so wasn't really my cup of tea. We had a morning refreshment at the Corner Pub then it was on to see the inside of one the impressive waterside palazzos, Ca' Rezzonico. For lunch we checked out a couple of typical bacari where you can have a spritz and a selection of crostini. Red Caffe and Cantinone Gia Schiavi were both delicious. We finished up with a gelato at Gelateria Nico before collecting our bags and walking to the train station for our trip to Bologna.

(NB Lots of the photos below are Oliver's)

Rialto Market

The Bridge of Sighs

San Marco square

Out and about in Venice

The unassuming Alle Testiere

Clams at Alle Testiere

Ricotta ravioli and Ollie at Alle Testiere

And dessert! Plus excellent bottle of Soave, and a dessert wine

Afternoon spritz at Paradiso Perduto

Creamy cod paste on polenta, surprisingly delicious

Adriatic fish at Corte Sconta

And dessert at Corte Sconta

Accademia Bridge

A toast to blue skies

Russell Norman's Venetian tips, and our checklist - we managed 6/12!

From the water

Cannaregio

Campo Santa Margherita

Red Caffe

Spritzing in Red Caffe

Cantinone Gia Schiavi

Gelateria Nico

We settled into our Airbnb in time for a drink at the Mercato delle Erbe and dinner at Caminetto D'oro. It was a very smart restaurant a short walk from where were staying. Ollie and I shared our starters of pappardelle with wild boar, and pasta with smoked mackerel, olives and tomatoes. We both opted for the veal cheeks for main, and I had grilled pineapple with ice cream for dessert.

Sunday in Bologna was quiet, most places were closed. We went on a walk under the route of 666 porticos up to the church of Madonna di San Luca and back to the centre, through the main square Piazza Maggiore with the fountain of Neptune and the Basilica di San Petronia. For lunch we had a huge platter of local meats and cheeses at a good little place called Zerocinquantello. In the evening we had a spritz in a cool little bar, dinner at a restaurant called Merlo where we had a perfect, proper bolognaise (with tagliatelle, not spaghetti) and then on to jazz club Cantina Bentivoglio.

Our last day started with a coffee and pastry at Cafe Terzi. We climbed up the 400+ stairs to the top of the tower for a wonderful view over the city which was awake and buzzing on Monday morning. We checked out the rooms of the oldest university in Europe that visitors are allowed to see, saw the very charming San Stefano church and went food shopping for local goodies - mortadella, fresh pasta and balsamic vinegar - to bring back home. Before it was time to go to the airport, we stopped for a gelato, a few glasses of wine back at the Mercato delle Erbe.

We really enjoyed the trip and have already had the fresh pasta and finished half the mortadella!