Italy — What Katie ate...

When I uploaded this post a few years ago, it was the MOTHER of all posts I had ever uploaded. It was one of the best holidays I have had the good fortune to experience.

Italy is one of my favourite places on earth.

I spent 2 weeks there during this trip and 5 days in London before returning home to Dublin for a week or two.

Below is a selection of shots I took in Bologna, Positano, Ravello, Capri and London.

I wanted to write about Bologna as it really was fantastic. I adored it. It's a vibrant university town, and I loved its realness, vibrancy and relaxed sense. The food was terrific and cheap, and the people were super friendly.

I loved how non-touristy it was, and I just really enjoyed my time there.

I'd go back for a few days in a heartbeat, and it's an excellent place to base yourself as you can get to Modena and Parma very quickly by car etc.

I got the train from Venice there, and it only took 1 hour. Easy.

Before I headed away, I stumbled across a food tour company based in Bologna which sounded like an entertaining way to spend a day in the area, so I did a bit of research, sent a few emails back and forth to an accommodating girl called Barbara, and before I knew it we were booked in!

Italian Days Food Experiences is run by a young and dynamic Foodie-staff who are aware of changes in the market and ready to select the best offerings for their guests with a food factory visit and an online shop of the finest Italian products. Based in Bologna, it is a 100% Italian company with a simple goal: to help people to discover, understand and buy outstanding and authentic Italian gourmet products through factory visits and food tastings.

Alessandro owns and creates both Italian Days Food Experiences (the aforementioned Barbara is his girlfriend).

Alessandro was our day's tour guide, which kicked off at *cough* a somewhat early start for me: 7am (!) Note ~ if you are going to do this tour, get an early night before and wait to do what I did: enjoy too much limoncello after dinner! Anyway, we rose at 6am with a somewhat cloudy head and got ready. We were met at our hotel in central Bologna by a lovely driver who transported us along with 16 others (all of us in 3 S.U.V.s) to our first stop; a Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese factory about 35 minutes away.

Alessandro was utterly fantastic. He was full of life, super friendly and approachable and knew his stuff inside out, back to front. He is 100% Italian and 100% passionate about food and wine. Alessandro is a true food lover who enthusiastically promotes small producers of great-quality products. It was amazing to watch a man so consumed by good quality food telling us the processes of food production from start to finish as we visited various factories from 7am until 1pm.

BELOW ARE PICS FROM THE BALSAMIC AND PARMA HAM PRODUCERS WE VISITED ON THE TRIP.

Then we were all driven to a very authentic Italian family-style restaurant where we all sat around a long table, dined, and wined for 3-4 hours. It was totally superb! Incredible fun, and the food and wine flowed. While sitting at this table, I got some great inspiration for recipes for my second book.

Overall, I highly recommend a fantastic day and a tour to anyone visiting the area. It's excellent value too, and you'll adore the lunch. It was a perfect end to the time and a total surprise to me - I had no idea we would end the day on such a high note.

To book a tour with Alessandro, you can find everything you need here: Italian Days.

italian days

Also, check out Alessandro's online store, where you can buy some of the produce he covers on his tour. I bought a bottle of 100-year-old balsamic on tour, but you can get an equally remarkable 25-year-old on the site, and he ships worldwide.

PARMIGIANO REGGIANO CHEESE D.O.P.*

*Note: D.O.P. stands for: Italian agricultural products labelled D.O.P. (an acronym for Denominazione di Origine Protetta) and are products whose ingredients and preparation are specific to a geographic region.

BELOW ARE A SELECTION OF OTHER PICS FROM THE TRIP, STARTING WITH POSITANO…