Bologna is just a magical city, filed with layer upon layer of history.  More on that in another Fine Dining article.  It’s also a city in which it’s exquisitely easy to get lost on the twists and turns of the tiny cobblestone alleys.  I don’t mean the sort of lost where you’re convinced that you’ll become part of Roman history only to be discovered a couple of centuries from now at the base of an antique street sign.  No, it’s the lost where you just know that unless you ask for some direction, you’re guaranteed to retrace your steps and possibly more than once.  It has that sort of “Twilight Zone” feeling.

To back up, we made the trek from Florence to the outskirts of Bologna with ease (a task that was quite rare for us).  As the GPS guided us into the center of the city, we found ourselves navigating ever smaller streets until they became tiny alleyways barely wide enough to accommodate our small rental fiat.  After circling the center of the town a few times and (illegally) driving through the central piazza, we finally discovered our hotel.  However, the “fun” was not quite finished.  Unable to find a parking space in the hotel lot, I was instructed to “ just drive on” around the corner and park at the sister hotel.  As I was to learn, as soon as someone says “just drive on,” you’re in deep @#$^*%$.  Once again, we found ourselves circling the piazza until out of sheer frustration, my wife rolled down her window and begged a young man, accompanied by his wife and two kids, for help.  Taking pity on us, he stuffed himself into the back seat and guided us on.  As it turned out, the sister hotel was just around the corner, just impossible to locate even at that.  With that settled, it was time to head to the ristorante, Drogheria Della Rosa (www.drogheriadellarosa.it).