Damkier's Travels: Bologna & Nonantola

Welcome to the farm and industrial part of Italy. Bologna is often overlooked by tourists, but I decided to spend some time driving around this part of Italy due to its similarity to the Central Valley of California. It is mostly flat surrounded by tall mountains with lots of farms and factories. This of course includes the iconic Parmesan cheese, prosciutto ham, balsamic vinegar, and many car factories including the famous Ferrari. Well worth a visit.

I rented an electric BMW at the Bologna train station and quickly headed out. Driving in Italy is a little stressful. The roads are well maintained and fairly easy to navigate, but the use of roundabouts can be a bit crazy. Italian drivers treat roundabouts as a demolition derby with no rules, so be careful. After a nice drive through the countryside, I arrived at the Ferrari Museum in Maranello in the middle of their large production facility. The museum had a long line and a great restaurant with some delicate tortellini and strong espresso. Parking was a bit of a challenge as most spots are optimized for smaller cars. I spent a lot of time looking at the historic and modern Ferrari and enjoyed my time. Factory tours are reserved for VIP and owners.

Staying in Nonantola was a unique experience. I was looking for a small town to visit in Italy, and one of my friends said his family was from Nonantola. The town is central to a lot of farms and factory tours in the region, but it definitely not a tourist town. I may have been the only American in town, but that was a positive. The town is middle class with some rough edges, but a true small Italian town. I rented an AirBnB and walked around the old town. Way too tired to wait for the restaurants to open, so I stopped by the local supermarket and bought some food to cook instead. Nonantola reminded me of many Central Valley farm towns and was a nice break from the urban hustle of my trip.

I tried to experience the real modern Italy during my Bologna stay. This included visiting their local shopping mall. This was a real treat walking around a modern mall with real locals. They had a hypermarket - similar to a Walmart Supercenter - which was fun to wander seeing all the stuff normal Italians use in their daily life. Shocker, it's nearly identical to what we Americans use! The mall also had a typical food court with a McDonald's. It was a nice bonding experience to eat fast food next to Italian families trying to get their kids to eat just like back home.

I had planned on visiting the Parmesan farms and vinegar facilities, but time was limited. This quick stop provided a nice insight on real Italian living and seeing the farms where all those iconic Italian foods come from. Enjoy the rest of my pictures below.