Where can you still find La Dolce Vita in Italy?

So where can you still find La Dolce Vita in Italy?

In Romagna of course!

Assuming that you all have heard of La Dolce Vita, the simple relaxing and pleasant life that the people in Italy are supposed to be living everyday, and which was so nicely depicted by Federico Fellini in many of his films, you probably wonder where you can actually find it.

Well, the real authentic Dolce Vita is still here, believe me, but you will not find it where you thought it will be!

Emilia-Romagna, birthplace to Fellini, Pantani, Laura Pausini, Giovanni Pascoli and its most famous contemporary poet Tonino Guerra, is a beautiful region on the Adriatic coast, just south of Veneto and Venice – a region well-known by Italians and Germans, but fairly undiscovered by English speakers.

It is a region which offers the most amazing food, which you have probably tasted, fantastic strong wines also called the wines of the gods like Sangiovese, the most famous wine from this region that takes its name from Zeus, and large beautiful Blue Flag clean shallow beaches! But this area offers much more than that – it is a territory full of history, cultural sites and amazing landscapes.

Between 16th and 18th September 2014 I had the wonderful opportunity to sample all of that with a group of international food & travel bloggers. During the event #lovingRomagna Food & Travel Blogger Event, organised by the family run Hotel Eliseo *** in Bellaria Igea Marina where many unique activities and hidden locations where brought to the attention of a new audience (and to our delight).

Photo credit: Monica Cesarato

The event was organised around a 3-day cooking course with Nonna Violante, an authentic force of nature, a chef from Bellaria Igea Marina with an experience in Italian cooking which goes back more than 60 years! 

For three days our very very fortunate group was offered the opportunity to learn all the secrets of Romagna cooking: preparing proper home made pasta like tagliatelle, strozzapreti (a particular rolled shape of pasta common of this region) as well as learning the art of making piadine (the famous flat bread usually stuffed with cheese and cold meats).

Photo credit: Monica Cesarato

We also discovered new recipes for fish dishes, chicken dishes and many different desserts like Offelle dei Malatesta, delicious local biscuits dating back to the 1200s! And of course, after preparing an abundance of tasty dishes, the best part was that we got to taste everything. Ya, it’s a hard job, I know, but somebody’s got to do it and I am glad it is me!

On top of that, Hotel Eliseo made sure that all the food made its way down our full bellies with an endless flow of local wines like Sangiovese and Albana. And at the centre of all this activity there was always the enormous presence of Nonna Violante: one of the sweetest but also strongest people I have ever met.

Photo credit: Monica Cesarato

A woman who has spent most of her life in the kitchen keeping up the traditional cuisine of Romagna, passing down generations of recipes and tricks – a woman who fiercely believes in using all local products and have spent time researching the history of the local dishes!

I could spend hours just listening to her tell stories of her family, her town and Romagna. She is also amazing to cook with: one of the most humble people ever – she asked me (a real rookie in cooking) to share my recipes from Venice, because “you never stop learning” she said!

She made me feel so happy and proud of my region too and she kept calling me “la mia bambina”! So we ended up cooking up a Venetian dinner for the hotel guests, preparing Sarde in Saor, Lemon Risotto and much more. Everyone asked for second and third helpings!! One of the best experiences in my life!

A special thank you, though, goes to Maria Regina Rubinetti, who organised the event on behalf of her family hotel, and who made sure one of our mornings was spent visiting the beautiful location of Bellaria Igea Marina, a small seaside resort just north of Rimini.

Photo credit: Monica Cesarato

Bellaria Igea Marina is a little town which was born in the 1900s from the visionary ideas of a local doctor. His intention was to create a proper tourist village and ended up with an especially nice relaxing resort, surrounded by lot of green and sandy beaches.

But this town is not only about relaxing on a deck chair sunbathing: this little town offers a delightful small fishing port, as well as a well served city centre with many cafés, ice-cream parlours and local artisan shops, all open till late in the evening. There are parks and boat excursions, as well as a local 16th century tower which was built as a defence against the Turkish pirates and which houses a pretty shell museum.

But what makes this little town so special, and the place where you will definitely find La Dolce Vita, are its people: warm, welcoming, always smiling and friendly. As you walk on the beach or in the beautiful tree-lined avenues, they all say hello to you, even though they have never seen you before!

Photo credit: Monica Cesarato

You can spot them chatting to each other in every corner, from the local old lady who delivers the fresh fish to her neighbours, to the old men sitting at the café sipping a coffee or having an ice-cream, reading the local paper and exchanging the latest gossip – and I’m pretty sure that during our stay there we were the centre of it!

But even though the town is its busiest from May to September (it is a seaside resort after all) and all hotels kind of close down for the winter season, you don’t get the feeling which many other seaside resorts give: that of becoming a ghost town. On the contrary, it feels like these people go back to live a normal life of going to work, going to school, etc., like we all do.

The atmosphere is that of simple utter relaxation, of “joi de vivre”, of enjoying life at its best! In three words: La Dolce Vita!

And if you just don’t want to sit back and relax, there’s also plenty of history and night life. You can take short excursions to Santarcagelo di Romagna, birthplace of Sangiovese wine, to Rimini and its lively discos and clubs life, or to the Republic of San Marino, with its medieval centre. If , instead, you are into sport and activities, you can go Nordic walking, canoeing, surfing and much more.

And make sure to treat yourself to a typical Romagna style dinner at Hotel Eliseo, you will be serenaded by the local band and taste some of the best food in your life.

Whether you want to go back to traditions and learn to cook like a real Italian, or discover those forgotten corners of Italy or simply want to relax with food and wine, this is the region to go to!

I left a bit of my heart in Bellaria Igea Marina, but I promised myself and Nonna Violante that I will be back – I have lots more to learn from her and I promised her I would teach her more Venetian recipes!

Author’s Bio: Monica Cesarato is a native Italian from Venezia. She loves to talk about Venice, Veneto and Italy in general and offers several services in Venice ranging from food and ghosts tours to cooking classes. To chat with her about all things Italian, connect with her on Twitter @monicacesarato.