Vignola: The Search for a Torta Barozzi

The last time we went to Vignola, our main goal was to eat a Torta Barozzi from this Pasticceria Gollini. And it was closed.

So we set off again in the hopes that it would be open. It helped that there was a cherry festival going on at the same time so we would have something to distract our (mostly my) disappointment.

This time we took the easy route; we skipped out on the nature trail for the sake of our bikes (and maybe our own sanity).

We headed straight for our target pasticceria.

As you can tell from my double thumbs up, it was open! Yay!

I went in and immediately asked for a piece of Torta Barozzi. And some coffee. I had to get up at 9:30 (in the morning!) for this trip. A whole hour and a half before my new wake-up time.

There was a little pamphlet on the table, giving the history of the Torta Barozzi in four different languages.

It was a tiny piece, but satisfying because this cake is so incredibly dense. And so incredibly delicious.

Next, our tummies told us that eating only chocolate cake and coffee after riding our bikes for an two and a half hours was not a good plan.

So I got some tigelle--one with prosciutto crudo and the other with salami and cheese.

For the rest of our time we walked around the cherry festival (and we downed one kilo of duroni in about 20 minutes).

And then we found this window display.

"Frightening" is the only word that comes to mind.

Vignola is a very cute little town. And it has castles, of course.

As you can see, the sky was foreboding on the way back, but we forged ahead.

And saw some cows.

And tried to get this cat to come play with me.

And became confused by this sign.

And this one. They seem to have named this street after Jack Kerouac for no apparent reason...

Then it started raining. And it didn't stop. We rode in the rain for about 45 minutes to an hour. Unfortunately, this was the first time I chose to wear shorts and a tank top in Italy because I expected it to be un-Godly hot. Instead, it was cold and rainy. We got many strange looks from the heavily covered and umbrella-ed Italians that hate to be touched by a drop of rain. First we rode our bikes 50 kilometers to eat a cake. Then we rode our bikes IN THE RAIN! Blasphemy.

Anyways, mission accomplished! Well, almost. You see, I bought a mini, packaged Torta Barozzi and the ingredients are listed on the back. Well, those ingredients do not match up with the recipes I've found online. At all.

New mission: figure out how to make the famous Torta Barozzi from Pasticceria Gollini.

-Meri

Vignola Is Farther Than Carpi! You Know That, Right?

Well, if my first bike trip got bad reactions, it only got worse when I said that I was biking to Vignola.

As you might be able to see, Vignola is 24.5 kilometers away from this starting point, only about 4 kilometers farther than Carpi. Not too dramatic a difference.

Of course, we didn't quite realize the path that we had set out on. The bike route website had two options to get to Vignola: one a straight bike path, the other along a river. We chose to do the river one first.

It started to get weird just a little ways in. We found this decrepit building that was kind of horrifying up close.

It was also surrounded by this forrest.

It felt like we were in the middle of a fairy tale.

Which was cool, except for the fact that witches are usually part of fairy tales. And it felt more than likely at that moment that an evil witch was living in that creepy building.

Most of the first leg of the journey looked something like this. Or like some grass that had been stomped on a little and named a bike path.

After what I thought had been at least 15 kilometers, we reached this sign that told us otherwise.

20 kilometers to go.

We passed lots more pretty stuff.

And then we saw some bulls on the side of the road. Just hanging out. Not enclosed. Just chillin'.

The goats must be a little less trustworthy. They were put behind bars.

WOOHOO!

Entering the city of Vignola.

I wanted to go to Vignola pretty much only because there is a pasticceria there that is famous for its "Torta Barozzi," a kind of flour-less chocolate cake with rum.

Well, wouldn't yah know, they're closed on Mondays!

Ugh.

So we went to another little bar for foodsies. I ordered a prosciutto crudo and fontina panino. Good, but I thought I deserved a larger sandwich after a three and a half hour bike ride and four euros.

Vignola was a very cute town and I hope to get back there before I leave. And maybe get a slice of Torta Barozzi because, really, I just want chocolate.

On the way back, we took the non-nature path and came across this crazy model city that someone had made.

Not sure what it was for, but it was quite impressive nonetheless.

All of the sudden, we heard loud music playing. We turned right and ended up at some kind of carnival. Again, not sure what the surprise amusement park on a Monday was about, but still entertaining.

I couldn't decide if this "ride" was awesome or just weird. They load children into these giant bubbles and then put them in the water to roll around.

Yup. Still not sure what my opinion is.

The highlight of my day might have been the stop we made on the way home. Vignola is famous for its cherries so when I saw the sign for cherries, sour cherries, and strawberries, I turned down the little dirt road. I bought these awesome "duroni"--sour cherries.

But that wasn't the highlight! When we got to the farm stand, there was a kitty that trotted right over to us and I got to play with her for a whole ten minutes.

Day made.

-Meri