We weren’t expecting to see a Charlie Chaplin silent movie in a public square this year, but on our first evening in Bologna, as we were strolling along narrow, cobbled streets towards our Airbnb, we thought we heard the strains of an orchestra. With each yard the sound became firmer and clearer – yes, definitely an orchestra. Emerging out of a laneway, the music by now an aural compass, Piazza Maggiore was right in front of us, and there it was, the Orchestra of the Teatro Comunale di Bologna, the musicians dwarfed by a screen on which Chaplin’s 1925 silent film, The Gold Rush, was being shown. The film, we later learned, was part of the evening programme of the Il Cinema Ritrovato Festival, which for almost 40 years has been a Bolognese summer ritual for residents and visitors alike.
The piazza was swollen with people rapt in attention, some seated on steps, some on deckchairs, many standing at the back. Despite the night temperature (at about 10pm it was close to 30 degrees, with not the slightest hint of a breeze), there was nothing but a chilled, dignified crowd. As the movie finished everyone applauded, picked up their chairs, cushions and debris, and within 10 minutes it was completely cleared and ready for late-night wandering. We walked to the piazza’s eastern edge and entered Piano Piano, a bistro/cocktail bar so good they named it twice. Wouldn’t it be great if summer evenings were like this all the time, we thought.
We are in Italy for a two-location visit in one week. Our first destination is Bologna, the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in the northern part of the country. Our second is also in the northern part of Italy – the town of Sirmione, in the region of Lombardy. It is intensely hot, 35 degrees and counting, so we plan to sweat it out in Bologna for three days and nights, and take in the proverbial sights, sounds and smells of the Old Town and its porticoes (covered walkways). We will then take a two-hour train journey from Bologna to Sirmione, which is on the 3.3km Sirmio peninsula that divides the lower part of Lake Garda.
Our accommodation in Bologna is a bang-in-the-centre, spacious and air-conditioned Airbnb, six tight, long flights up a deceptively tall building. In contrast, our accommodation in Sirmione is the Villa Cortine, a five-star Relais & Chateaux property that serves mimosas at €28 per glass. More on Sirmione later (spoiler: it’s ridiculously pretty).
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Bologna is famous for numerous things, perhaps mostly for being home to the University of Bologna, the oldest in continuous use since its origins in 1088. It is also, as mentioned earlier, noted for its porticoes (more than 50km stretches of them), which in 2021 collectively achieved Unesco recognition as a World Heritage Site. The porticoes, many of which date from the first century, are practical and shield pedestrians against the rain and sun, but each one has its own established story; some are modestly built with wooden beams, while others are adorned with elaborately painted ceilings and mottled marble columns.
Throughout our visit to Italy the temperature during the day does not go below 35 degrees, so the porticoes proved invaluable as we walked from one end of the Old Town to the other. We also followed the longest section (at almost 4km with more than 660 arches, it is the longest portico in the world) up to the Sanctuary of the Madonna of San Luca, a basilica church on the forested hill of Colle della Guardia. Here, just when you think the walking might end, it’s another uphill trek to the church’s panoramic terrace. Standing on a tiny platform affords a 180-degree view of Bologna from the hills to the centre, stretching out as far as the ancient city of Casalecchio di Reno, one of the few entirely Celtic settlements of northern Italy. We have, however, walked enough. Time to sit down. Time to eat.
Along with the porticoes, Bologna is renowned for its food, notably the meat-based pasta sauce that is mostly referred to as Bolognese sauce, but which in Italy is called ragú. Over three days here, from breakfast to dinner, we didn’t have one bad dining experience. Do make sure to visit Mercato delle Erbe (Ugo Bassi), the city’s covered cornucopia of cafes, restaurants, wine bars and traditional food stalls, and the maze-like, vibrant Quadrilatero. It’s the city’s oldest market stretching through several tiny laneways that brings history to life.
We take the train from Bologna Central to Desenzano del Garda-Sirmione and grab an Uber from the station to the historical centre of the town. Access (for taxis only – public parking is available outside the town) is via a narrow, fortified gate close to the town’s well-preserved 13th-century, fairytale-like Scaligero Castle, and leads into a series of slender, sun-soaked streets. As the car inches its way through packs of elbow-to-elbow visitors, we see a local policeman stop a tourist, male, T-shirtless and ask him to cover up his bare chest (which he does without question). Evidently Sirmione is a classier joint than most. When we drive through the imposing gates of Villa Cortine and are dropped off outside its neoclassical walls, we understand why.
I won’t bang on too much about the place other than to say that the credit card repayments are ongoing. Expense aside, Villa Cortine retains a warm romanticism that blends old-world style (18th-century furniture, Veronese marble, Murano glass chandeliers) with requisite contemporary touches such as air-conditioned rooms, a heated outdoor swimming pool and a private pier overlooking Lake Garda.
Back in the day (that is, the first century BC), the town was a favoured spa/hot springs resort for rich families from Verona, which was then the primary city in northeastern Italy. Across the centuries, it has maintained its allure, albeit in a far more egalitarian way. These days, there are numerous hotels inside and outside the town to suit varying budgets, and even in the setting of our hotel, the only people making a fuss are the staff.
As for Sirmione itself, it’s a picture-postcard stunner ideal for couples or solo travellers looking for a few days without noisy bars or hammering nightclubs. There is no shortage of good restaurants, the price points of which are reasonable. Our favourites are the simply named Ristorante Pizzeria al Pescatore and the somewhat more swish Tavernetta Maria Callas. Several touristy things pass an hour or three. These include relaxing on the town’s Jamaica Beach, which, although sounding Caribbean-like, is more pebbly than sandy, and visits to Scaligero Castle, the five-acre archaeological site of Catallus villa, and the yellow Art Nouveau villa of Maria Callas, who lived in the town in 1952-1958. You can also book a private or public motorboat for a trip on Lake Garda. The price of the former (€140 per person for 45 minutes) might seem prohibitive, while a better option might be a Lake Garda Tours cruise around the peninsula (available on the hour from 11am-5pm, €12 per person for 25 minutes).
The thought of trekking to tourist sites in the intense heat was too much to bear, so we relaxed in a few of the town’s air-conditioned cafes and moseyed in and out of several air-conditioned shops. We sipped pistachio lattes, unfairly judged strangers, cooled down, and browsed clothes racks. In the evenings, when the heat diminished somewhat, we made our way to the pier, where we listened to the lapping of water and the calm, vibey music from the surrounding bars and restaurants.
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The view is magical, and on the final night, we sit at one of the bars and gaze at the distant, burnished glow of the sunset. “I would like to end my days in Sirmione and be buried in this heaven on earth,” Maria Callas once wrote in a letter. We hear you, madam, and are already plotting our return.
