Situated in Northern Italy, in the Po Valley, at about 50 km from Bologna, on the Via Emilia, Reggio Emilia borders Parma’s territory to the west and Modena’s territory to the east. In the north, the River Po separates its territory from the province of Mantua, while in the south the Apennines mark the border with Liguria and Tuscany.
Why Visit
Reggio, also known as the Tricolour town, because it was here that the future Italian flag was adopted for the first time in 1797, has an ancient history: In the 11th century, the town was the heart of Matilde’s county in the neighbouring territory. Later, important figures marked its Renaissance, ranging from Boiardo to Ariosto, the great poet of The Orlando Furioso.
On the Table
Do not leave the town without tasting and buying the excellent delicacies of its gastronomy: the cappelletti or caplett, the Parmesan cheese, the seasonings and the Traditional Balsamic Vinegar. In the town bakeries, it is possible to find the erbazzone and the chizze, in the pastry shops, the spongata, the traditional rice cake and the biscione.
By Gareth Johnson – Full Story at Gay Star News
Emilia Romagna Gay Travel Resources
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I was invited by Emirates Airlines to try their new non-stop flight from New York to Milan, Italy on their Business Class, so I decided to pit together a 10 days itinerary exploring Italy, which took me to my first visit to the Amalfi Coast, onwards to yet another lovely visit to Venice and to London, aboard the overnight luxury train Venice Simplon Orient-Express.
Since I have not been in Milan for quite sometime, I’ve decided to take a suite for the day at the gorgeous Mandarin Oriental Milan, and explore a few higlights, after a lovely and relaxed lunch. Here are my comments, photos and videos. Hope you enjoy my post on this experience.
So I flew Emirates Airlines, non-stop from New York JFK to Milano Malpensa. It was on their Airbus 380, and it took approximately 7 hours, which went by very quickly. Meal service consisted by drinks at the onboard lounge bar, followed by a three-course dinner. One hour upon arrival, breakfast was served. Great entertaiment system, screen, movie selection, headseats. Full flat – comfortable – bed, as a matter of fact I passed out for 3 hours on it, and I rarely sleep when flying into Europe from New York.
My only comment would be the crew. Compared to other similar airlines, I felt they weren’t that friendly, engaging nor attentive to service, which in the end makes it for the entire experience, doesn’t it?. Regardless, the best option, today, to fly non-stop from New York to Milan.
Upon arrival to Milan Malpensa, I had my VIP Service and Transfer, by Milano Luxury Services. A Mercedez E-Class and private chauffer that in no time, had me at my hotel in the heart of Milan. Mind I was in Milan, only for six hours, connecting flights to the Amalfi Coast, each minute counted.
When I travel overseas, and have connecting flights, I usually enjoy taking a hotel room at the connecting destination, and exploring for a few hours. In this case, I landed in Milan at noon, and my flight to Naples, was at 8PM. Giving me plenty of time to enjoy my gorgeous suite at the Mandarin Oriental Milan, have a nice lunch at the Mandarin Bar and Bistro by Michelin star awarded and acclaimed Chef Antonio Guida.
At the Mandarin Oriental Milan, I checked in at the fabulous Milano Suite, decorated in true Milanese style, dedicated to the designer Piero Fornasetti – was an Italian painter, sculptor, interior decorator and engraver. The Milano Suite is located on the second floor of the hotel, also known as the ‘noble’ floor because of its high ceilings and abundant natural light. Furnished with original Fornasetti pieces, accommodation consists of a living area, bedroom, master bathroom and a separate guest bathroom.
The living room is divided by a pillar, adorned with wallpaper aptly named ‘Riflesso’ (reflection), with the ‘Ultime Notizie’ table and ‘Capitello’ chairs in the dining area, and the ‘Fly’ coffee table, ‘Guscio’ sofa and ‘Boss’ black leather armchair on the other side. Accessed via a corridor with its ‘Architettura’ console table, the king size bedroom is dressed with ‘Chiavi Segrete’ wallpaper and furnished with a writing desk, a small table from the ‘Farfalle’ collection and two large interfacing mirrors. A vast ensuite bathroom features a walk-in shower, twin vanity unit and a much-admired ‘Spoon XL’ bathtub from Agape.
After a lovely shower and a glas of local chilled white wine, I joined the General Manager and Public Relations team, for a relaxed lunch at the colorfull Mandarin Bar & Bistro. Mandarin Bar offers a seductive mix of contemporary music, delicious dishes and bespoke cocktails. The black and white marble mosaic covered floor and walls combined with a large central bar and eclectic mix of furniture creates the perfect backdrop for drinking and dining.
Catering both to guests and the city’s discerning style crowd, Mandarin Bar enjoys a relaxed atmosphere with three distinctive areas; the bar bistro, an inside lounge and an outside courtyard area featuring lounge sofas, tables, cabanas and soft lights. The bar bistro menu features a mix of Italian dishes, salads and Antonio Guida’s reinterpretation of traditional sandwiches, served with a modern twist. The octopus was delicious, and the Tiramisu, was totally worth of each calorie.
I followed with a quick tour and walk around the entire property, including Entry Level Rooms, Presidential Suite, spa, fitness center and funtion rooms. With an enviable central location, Mandarin Oriental, Milan is a 5-star luxury hotel, just steps from La Scala. And with spacious rooms, elegant suites, innovative dining and a fabulous spa, we are the perfect urban retreat. With interiors by acclaimed Italian designer Antonio Citterio, their 104 rooms and suites exude a wonderful sense of luxury. What I liked the most, is how cozy and private the whole experience felt.
Given the privileged location, I decided to go for a two hours walked around the area, and visit the Duomo, La Scala, Via Montenapoleone, and Via della Spiga, Milan’s most exclusive shopping streets, Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, Sforza Castle and Santa Maria delle Grazie, which hosts Leonardo Da Vinci’s “The Last Supper”.
By 5.30PM – sharply – I was ready to continue my journey onwards to the Amalfi Coast. Once again my private car and chauffer by Milano Luxury Services, took me – this time to Linate Airport, to board my Alitalia flight to Naples. This was my fantastic six hours layover in Milan.
Rome is such an interesting place to be; so much to see and do that we are out and about early every day. We stop at a bar for cappuchini and pastries, go to our selected site for the day, then we usually return to the apartment for an hour or so of relaxing and resting before we go out again.
We have seen so many ancient sites during this stay in Rome. I never get tired of coming back and seeing them again. There is so much history here that it seems incongruous to see busy boulevards running alongside ancient ruins. Traffic is ridiculously chaotic, tourists are everywhere, although it is fairly early in the vacation season. Being a pedestrian, I know I take my life in my hands every time I cross the street; however, there are very few accidents. It is exciting to be part of the melee.
We went to Castel Sant’ Angelo, which is connected to the Vatican by an elevated walkway, to provide an escape for the Pope, in the event the Vatican was threatened. I do not believe the walkway has been used in the past few centuries. The structure was built by the Emperor Hadrian in the year A.D. 139, to be used as his tomb. Other emperors are also buried here.
Once again, we returned to Rome. We arrived on Sunday afternoon. We found our apartment, which is very near Campo di Fiori, one of my favorite places in Rome. This piazza has been a fruit and vegetable market area for centuries. Now there are more booths selling touristy spice packages, pasta and other food souvenirs, but the fresh fruit stands and vegetable stands are still thriving.
As well as the central portion of the piazza housing the fruit and vegetable market, all around the perimeter of the piazza are cafes and restaurants. Street musicians come out in the evening, and some of them are quite talented.
About 4:00 in the afternoon, all these stands come down, the owners of the stands cart away their produce, the shelves, everything. These people have to store their equipment in sheds around the area. After all this merchandise and equipment has been taken away, the street cleaners come in and by 5:00 the piazza is clean and empty. Then Happy Hour begins. (My term, not theirs.).
Cafes have drink specials and light food fare. The street musicians start their serenades, people come from everywhere to enjoy this atmosphere. By 7:00 p.m., the cafes and restaurants start their dinner service. Later, the party crowd comes in, and we can hear the chatter, the noise, the sound of people enjoying theirselves for hours. In the morning the piazza needs cleaning again, so the street cleaners are there again, getting everything clean and ready for the fruit and vegetable vendors to set up their operations one more time.
To me, this cooperation of the vendors, the restaurants, the city street cleaners simply amazing. I enjoy staying I this area because of the bohemian atmosphere. I do wish I were young enough to stay out and enjoy some of the evening entertainment, but alas, that is not to be. By the time we finish our dinner, around 8:30 p.m., I am ready to go back to the apartment and relax.
Many of the fruit vendors are foreigners, not Italians, and are very hard workers. This morning I watched two of the vendors as they brought their canopies and produce to the piazza. I heard a sound as if someone was revving up a motorcycle, I looked out our window and saw one vendor who was driving a very loaded small Ape truck, trying to hitch another vendor’s loaded push cart. These 2 guys had tied a rope to the cart and the back of the truck, but an Ape truck does not have the power to handle that much weight. They finally gave up: the man with the truck took his load into the piazza and the man with the push cart had to continue pushing by hand. For those of you who have not heard me talk about Ape trucks, I will explain. These are tiny little vehicles, built for the tiny alleys, hill roads of Italy. They have a motorcycle engine, a cab big enough for one person and a tiny truck bed. They look like toys.
We went to the Piazza Navona, with its fountains designed by Bernini, my favorite Italian sculptor. This is another area that is perfect for people watching.
We walked from Piazza Navona to Trevi Fountain, going past the Pantheon, St. Ignacio church, down the Via Corso, over to the fountain. This is another Bernini masterpiece. The fountain has just been re-opened, after being cleaned and repaired for the past 2 years.
Tradition says that if you throw a coin into the fountain, you will return to Rome. Both Frank and I did this, and I am sure we will return,
We followed some back streets and found another favorite restaurant, the Abruzzi, and had our dinner there, then walked back to our apartment, joining many other people out enjoying the balmy Rome evening.
I will end this blog post now, although I have only covered our first day back in Rome. I have so much to talk about, way too much for one blog post. I am sure that you have noticed, perhaps counted, how many times I have used the word “favorite” in this post. Rome is magical; therefore, there are many places here that have become favorites.
If you have been to Rome, you will understand. If you have not been here, I strongly encourage you to visit. Who knows? If you ask me, I might come along with you.
Stay tuned. You will hear more from me soon. I am not finished with Rome yet.
Ciao for now,
Dolly
Sorrento is a lovely coastal town, nestled in the southern shore of the Bay of Naples. The city itself is narrow and long, with many hills, narrow, winding streets, walled pathways leading to Marina Piccola on the eastern side and to Marina Grande, the old Fisherman’s Village, on the western side.
Hotels in the center of town are on fairly level ground, with most of them having lush gardens and some with swimming pools. Other hotels are up on the cliffs, high above the city, but the view of the bay from those cliff side hotels are incredibly breathtaking.
Sorrento is the birthplace of limoncello, that delicious lemon liqueur. Lemon and orange groves are abundant throughout this region of Southern Italy, with lemon groves outnumbering the oranges. The trees bloom and produce fruit year round. Limoncello is made from the peel of a knobby yellow fruit, which has such an intense flavor. The seductive, addictive lemon flavor surfaces in many foods, many specialties of the region.
One of my favorite desserts: lemon sorbet with limoncello poured over, plus ice cold limoncello to sip. In the background you can see Frank’s dessert: light, airy sponge cake with lemon cream filling, topped with whipped cream and wild strawberries. It doesn’t get any better than this. These desserts were the finale for a delicious seafood dinner at our favorite restaurant in Sorrento, Ristorante Delfino in Marina Grande.
Other food specialties are cheeses made from the milk of water buffalo that are raised in the countryside south of Amalfi. These animals were originally imported from India. Now raising them iin Campania is a huge enterprise. We went to our second favorite restaurant in Sorrento, called Inn Bufalita, that specializes in all things buffalo. We had a salad made with cherry tomatoes, small balls of Bufalo mozzarella, fresh basil and arugula. That was fantastic, Frank had a buffalo steak, which did not impress him.
When we went to Paestum, I asked Raffaele, our driver, if he knew where the “buffalo roamed”. Laughing, Raffaele told me that many people have images in their minds about the milk coming from the American Bison.
“I always explain that this milk and the milk products come from the water buffalo, but somehow many people cannot connect water buffalo with this southern region of Italy”, he told me. Then he asked if I would like to see the animals.
“Of course!”, I replied. Raffaele drove us out to one of the farms. There the buffalo are kept in large enclosures, but that ensures that they only eat the food provided by the farm. Raffaele then told us that, just like clockwork, when it is milking time, the animals start heading for the milking shed.
“The buffalo are very organized and time conscious”, he said.
There you have it; my love of the food of this Amalfi-Sorrento region is one of the many reasons that I will keep returning. Most of my readers are well aware that I am an incorrigible “foodie”, so you will probably read more about food while I am on this trip.
Until next time,
Arriverderci, tutti.
Dolly
We left Bella Roma behind for a few days to visit Sorrento, the Amalfi Coast and the ancient ruins of Paestum.
We hired Raffaele Monetti to take us on a day trip along the Amalfi Coast, down to Paestum. This area had been a city founded by the Greeks in the sixth century B.C. When the Romans invaded and captured the city in the third century B.C., they destroyed most of the buildings, but due to religious superstitions, the Romans were fearful of destroying the temples; therefore, the shells of 3 large Greek temples are still standing.
As I walked along an ancient road, I imagined myself dressed in the fashion of a Greek woman, carrying a basket of fruit and bread to my home in this city. I wondered how many feet had walked on this road, what did women of two thousand years ago think about as they walked on these stones?
I am always amazed at the knowledge of archeologists who uncover ancient ruins and know what they are seeing. How can they tell one pile of rocks from another? I am also impressed with the workmanship of the architects, engineers and builders of these temples, that they were able to draw up the plans and construct these huge edifices with only the tools available to them two thousand years ago.
We saw the ruins of an ancient tomb, one that is a mystery even to the experts, as to the purpose of this tomb. When the archeologists opened the tomb, there was no body in it. Also, another mystery is the placement of the tomb, as usually graves and tombs were placed outside the city walls.
We finally had to leave the ruins behind; my active imagination needed a rest, and it was getting late. Raffaele drove these two tired tourists back to Sorrento. It had been a full day of interesting sights and history lessons. We knew that food, drink and a good night’s rest awaited us in Sorrento.
Ciao for now,
Dolly
Early Tuesday morning, under leaden gray skies that seemed to hover over the nearby fields and the tarmac of Roma Fiumincino airport, our plane landed. The pilots had done a fine job, getting us to Rome 45 minutes ahead of schedule. After gathering our luggage, we took a a cab to our hotel. We were too early to check in, so we put our luggage in the hotel storeroom and set off to see the city.
We walked to Piazza Venezia, found a table at an outdoor cafe and sat down to enjoy the never-ending show of traffic, pedestrians dodging the vehicles, a policeman blowing his whistle that no one heeded. We had a good view of the Vittorio Emmanuel Monument as well. Many Italians say that the monument is too ornate for this area, right by the Roman Forum and the Capitoline Hill. I like it, though.
One can go inside, pay to go to the roof (Roma dal Cielo, Translated as Rome from the Sky). This is one of the best places to get a view of the entire city of Rome. There are plaques around the walls of this rooftop, to tell one what you are seeing, and remind you that you are right in the center of Ancient Rome. All those piles of rocks inside the fenced-off areas below are the remains of the buildings of the greatest empire of all time.
When we tired of people watching, we walked back to our hotel. We stopped for lunch along the way, had a pizza and a salad, and a large bottle of water. When we arrived at our hotel and got checked in, it was almost 4:00 p.m. We had been up for about 30 hours by then; therefore, my rule to not take a nap on the first day went right out the window. We showered, got into our jammies and never left the hotel again that day.
The next day, we were up early, had breakfast and kept our touring to the neighborhood. I needed to buy train tickets for the rest of our trip, so we spent a couple hours in the train station. Then we went to the National Museum, walked around neighborhoods that were familiar, and found some new places.
In the evening, in one of the newly discovered (by us), we walked down to the Monti district. This area had some trendy boutiques and many restaurants. Eventually, we decided to have dinner at a restaurant in the Piazza dei Monti. We enjoyed pasta alla Vongole, a delicious salad of beet, strawberries, ricotta cheese on a bed of watercress, plus a glass of red house wine.
Even though the country sometimes gets attention for its conservative character, the gay aspect of the Italy is widely popular and very attractive to LGBTI travelers around the globe. Who hasn’t dreamed of spending the holiday season in one of the sexiest Mediterranean countries, with its endless natural beauty, rich food culture and some of the sexiest people in the world?
As Italy has a wide range of destinations and choices to offer, the gay travel experts of Destsetters have made a selection of the best tips and travel ideas, that are able to satisfy everybody – from gay couples in love to single travelers looking for fun and adventure.
Periodically we’ll feature one of our properties here to let our readers know about some great gay friendly places to stay.