Yes, you read the above heading correctly, after almost 19 months having not been on a flight, we finally got away for a short break to fantastic Modena.
A few weeks before our departure date and probably like a lot of people, we were hoping that extra restrictions would not kick in, thus, preventing us from travelling. Thankfully, this did not happen. We had decided to stay in one of the airport hotels as our flight was an early morning departure so it made sense. While Dublin airport was busy, it was nowhere near as busy as you would expect under normal circumstances. Our flight to Verona departed a cold and rainy Dublin on time and before we knew it, we arrived into a warm and sunny Verona – it was fab. We flew into Verona as it worked better for timing so we still had to make our way to the train station to catch a train to Bologna and then onto Modena.
We grabbed the airport bus at Verona Airport which leaves every 20 minutes or so to the city centre, including a stop off at Verona train station. We arrived at the train station with about an hour or so to pass – we visited a church which was right across from the station and relaxed out in the sun on a park bench watching the world go by. Before hopping on our train, we grabbed a sambo to take with us for the short 1 hour 20 minute journey to Bologna. When we got to Bologna station, we had to just hop on another train for the 20 minute journey to Modena.
On arrival into Modena, we wasted no time and headed towards the old part of the city to our accommodation for the next couple of days. We are staying at the Hotel Rua Frati 48 in San Francesco – to give it it’s full title. It’s located in the old town about a five minute walk to the centre of the old town, so it’s a great location.
After checking in and after been given a rundown by the friendly staff about Covid protocols, we made our way to our room. The room was a really good size with a huge bathroom and as expected, it was spotless.
As always, we dropped the bags and headed out into the sunshine in search of a drink to celebrate our arrival. The old town is very walkable and is actually bigger than we first expected. It was not too busy and from what we could make out, there did not seem to be too many visitors. After wandering around for about a half hour or so, we decided to forgo having a drink and instead decided to hit a pretty cool ice-cream place called Gioelia, which we had actually read about online as being ‘the’ place to grab ice-cream in Modena.
The ice-cream did not disappoint. There was a fantastic selection of flavours to choose from – C went with cherry and vanilla served in a milk chocolate coated cone (they coat the inside of the cone with your choice of dark or milk chocolate). I went with one of my favourite combos, chocolate with lemon, it was outstanding. It went without saying that we will be returning again for ice-cream before our trip’s end.
After wandering around for about another half hour, we headed back to our hotel to rest up for an hour or so before heading out for dinner. We had a dinner reservation for a place called Franceschetta 58 which is the less well known restaurant of world renowned chef Massimo Bottura.
Franceschetta 58 was about a 20 minute walk from our hotel and even at 8:00 p.m. it was still reasonably warm which made for a pleasant stroll. Along the way, we passed a tree-lined park that had several bars and restaurants serving up food and drinks al fresco style, it looked great.
We arrived on time for our booking and were brought to our table by a member of staff and straight away some bread arrived, our waitress had perfect English which made things much easier although we were also given a English menu, always handy. The menu works on the small plate principle along with a few larger ‘mains’ if you prefer that option.
To get things going, we ordered a selection of charcuterie which had enough to feed about four people. We also ordered the mini burgers which are made with wagyu beef and a variety of cheeses blended together.
Next up, lamb chops. Of course, coming from Ireland, we have some of the best lamb in the world, so how did this fare. Not bad, however, it was served very rare, as much as we like our lamb served pink, this was just too under done for our liking. Next was a pork chop. The pork chop was huge, but like the lamb was served almost raw. I struggled to eat it and C would not even taste it. Initially I though perhaps it was a mistake to serve a pork chop this raw, but a diner next to me got served the same pork chop the exact same way and polished it off.
We also ordered some fresh pasta which was stuffed with spinach and a mixture of cheeses served with a very rich, creamy, cheese sauce. It was very tasty but very rich especially as we were several courses in at this stage. We decided to forgo dessert. Overall, the restaurant was ‘ok’, the staff were friendly and it’s a nice and relaxed atmosphere. Next time we find ourselves in Modena, we would certainly consider going again, but we would be wiser in our choices of meat.
The following morning rolls around, we headed downstairs to the breakfast room before heading out for the day. It was evident that there were not too many guest staying in the hotel as there was only one other couple dining. They had a buffet selection but as is the norm these days, you can’t help yourself, the friendly waiter will serve you, all you have to do is point.
We had arranged two tours for the day, a trip to see how the famous Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese is made and another to see how the famous balsamic vinegar of Modena is made. We arrived at the cheese factory and had to wait about 20 minutes before our tour which was just for the two of us. The tour lasts about 45 minutes and was extremally interesting. I’ll let some of the photos do the talking.
Next, we headed to the famous Modena balsamic vinegar factory. Like the cheese stop, this begins with a tour of the old family home along with a talk about the history of how the vinegar came to be and a look at some of the old barrels that are used to this day to make the vinegar (apparently). The tour was short, about 25 minutes but it gives a great insight into how the process works and it was fantastic to see the huge ageing barrels in the store house – the smell was incredible. Now for the most part, I am not a cynical person, however I do find it a tad unbelievable that they are still using the same methods, transferring vinegar from one barrel to another, then onto another and so forth, all done by someone sucking it up into a tube, then putting it back into a different barrel. I feel as this tour was more about showing how it ‘used’ to be done, but who knows. Like all good tours it ends in the gift shop where as well as getting a sample of about a dozen different vinegars, you can also purchase as many as you like. Given that we had carry on, we bought just two bottles, each just 100ml, one was the classic vinegar and the other was infused with truffle, it was delicious.
After a morning of tours, we returned to Modena just in time for a late lunch. We kept it simple and went to casual diner type place in the old town. I went with just a sambo and C opted for some anchovies. For the remainder of the day, we did a lot of walking and checked out the museum Civo Del Risorgimento which passed an hour or so and we paid a visit to the local market.
For dinner that evening, we had no plan other than to just randomly pick a place, which proved difficult as it was really busy and most places were full. Still though we eventually got a table in a local place. The food was well, very regional but nothing special.
To start we ordered these pastry type things that are fried in pork fat, apparently they are a speciality of the region, according to our waiter. They were actually ok, a tad dry but not bad. I kept my mains simple, a veil dish served with some meat and mushrooms, C went for pasta which was served with the same mushroom type sauce I had, both dishes were fine but nothing special. We did not bother with dessert as we had other plans, it was back to Gioelia for some more fantastic ice-cream, a great end to a busy day.
The next day, we grabbed breakfast and hit the road. Our plan was to visit the Pavarotti museum which is about a 15 minute cab journey from the centre of Modena out in the country side. The museum is actually his home where he lived until his death. The museum was absolutely fantastic. We both knew that he was hugely popular but we had no idea how popular. The museum gives a fantastic insight into the life of Pavarotti and getting to see his actual home was really interesting.
After the museum, we grabbed a fridge magnet in the tiny gift shop and a friendly member of staff ordered us a cab for the return journey back to Modena. We arrived back in time for lunch and dined outside while watching the world go by.
After lunch our next stop was to visit the Ferrari museum. Of course Modena is not just famous for Ferrari, both Lamborghini and Maserati also have museums here. Unfortunately, we only had time for one and as the Ferrari museum is within walking distance it made sense to visit here. The museum was fantastic. There were new cars, old classics and Formula one cars on display. Plus plenty of nostalgia and history about the world of Ferrari, the celebrities who drive them, what movies they appear in and a huge amount about the ‘Grand Tour’.
After another day of touring, it was time to get back to our hotel and get spruced up for dinner. Part of the reason we are actually in Modena is we managed to score a booking for a restaurant that was twice voted, number one restaurant in the world. It’s by the same guy mentioned above, Massimo Bottura and the restaurant is called Osteria Franscecana and is a three star Michelin restaurant.
We arrived about five minutes before our 8:00 p.m. booking, I tried the door but it was locked, there was however a bell on the outside which I pushed and could hear it ring. But there was no answer. So we waited and as we waited two other couples arrived and just then about a minute or two past 8:00 p.m., the doors opened and we were beckoned inside. As we walked through the short corridors towards our table, all the waiting staff line the route, it sort of felt like a guard of honour or something.
Once seated, some fancy and surprisingly tasty bread sticks arrived (I don’t get the breadstick thing but these were nice). From what we could gather, the dining area is made up of just two rooms with a total seating capacity of just 16 guests, this is one of the reasons it is so difficult to get a booking. To get things started, we ordered some champagne along with some still water for C and sparkling for myself. There are two menu choices, a la carte which has about a eight different courses on it or the taster menu, which has upwards of 16 courses on it – this was our menu of choice.
I’ll let the photos do most of the talking…..
At the end of the meal, the man himself showed up and went around to all the tables to have a quick chat with the guests. It was a nice touch although he probably does not do too much cooking these days.
So how was our dining experience at Osteria Franscecana. Overall, it was really good, but we would not rate it as outstanding given all the accolades. Certainly, the cooking for the most part was decent, original and tasty but it did not meet the high expectations we had. Add to this, the service while good, was a bit over-rehearsed, it lacked a bit of sincerity and warmth. Saying that, would we dine here again, absolutely, would we wait patiently at our computer screen trying to grab a booking……probably not.
After our meal, we made our way back to our hotel for a good night’s rest. The following morning we grabbed breakfast, checked out and as we had about an hour or two before getting our train back to Bologna for our flight home, we did some last minute window shopping and you guessed it, had some more ice-cream.
Overall, Modena was a fantastic trip, for such a small part of Italy, it has a lot to offer and we can certainly see ourselves returning at a later date. Next time, we would hire a car as there are a lot of attractions on the outskirts of the city that would be worth visiting. Of course, as this was our first trip abroad in 19 months it made it that bit sweeter, let’s hope it won’t be 19 months before our next trip.
Until next time,
Bye for now,
C&J
cjfoodandtravel 