Ravenna was the capital of the Roman Empire for 50+ years and after the sunrise finishing wedding celebrations I felt 50+ (finally my IQ meets my age)…so Ravenna started with time dedicated to heaven – meditazione – my translation is sleeping in the sun while a podcast plays. Apparently there was sound of snoring but it must have been from the recording, must of.

Back with a zest, I went in search of culinary curations…in this case, look for the old locals and eat there…success will follow. The younger crowd does nothing for the reputation of the offering…take that Bondi #oldmangarling

It is shrewd and to have a steely eye on the path ahead, ensuring one stays on the straight and narrow. In Ravenna, broaden your perspective by looking up and down…for the impetus of the visit is over your head or under your nose and it is something else!

Let’s start with the path ahead and under your nose…a time-honoured laneway eatery, Taberna Boaria. Melbourne would be craving affirmation that they are uber restauranteurs after immersing yourself here…for a cool breeze, cooler music and offerings you had to come to Italy for, brought magia! Opera played, the fat lady sang and this guy left with more girth…and a grin.

Lunch was at Fresco on via Novembre. I spotted ‘Canned Sea’ on the menu which had me cursing the John West snipe in the last blog…I wasn’t going to take the bait. The piadine mouthwatering (most too cheesy, even for my dad jokes) and I think my cursing was heard, for in Garden of Eden style I was seduced by the serpent into eating the forbidden fruit of a deliciously light burrata, ripe tomatoes with perfect prosciutto – it was so evil I needed to confess. The serpent’s venom got there first, it was a dry white wine and shortly I was asleep, thankfully so was the town as it was siesta. This blog writing can be bloggy tricky sometimes!

To protect against such temptations I decided some rules needed to be in place, wearing garlic wasn’t going down well and might have explained my solo travels. So I crafted high on a mountain in two tablets (one ran out, and my iPad was at home) the following commandments…thou shall not ‘chow down’ if:

A. There is an eatery busker with photos of food offered in a laminated or bound folder, or plastered, outside…eat here and you will be plastered inside. Basically, thou shall not praise false idols
B. Tourist Eat Here sign anywhere. Hamburgers with chips shall bring a plague on both your houses
C. Free Wifi everywhere, thou shall not convent TripAdvisor
D. In Turkey – a place with no cats – where have they gone?! Most restaurants are full of cats…thou shall not be cruel to thy neighbour (unless they are vegetarians) or their cats

Anyway, I digress while I ingest (yes, written over a glass of wine)…the last supper (ok, enough with the heaven puns…maybe) was at Antica Bottega Di Felice…a stellar dish of Cappelletti stuffed with cheeses and in a Parmigiano-Reggiano DOP fondue with Prosciutto and crispy Pistachios…no rejecting that thanks John West and your damn cans.

I avoided a night on the tiles so I could see the main incentive you come here – the mosaics. These pieces of art will be cemented in your travel annals for no photo can capture the captivating experience of looking up and releasing beauty isn’t always on the path ahead, sometimes you have to stop and look around you and it is where you don’t expect it, in this circumstance – skyward – heavenly. The mosaics are one of the most restrictive styles of art, yet they catch you off guard with how rewarding they are to come across in real life…hungover or not.

Like so many Italian towns they almost keep their treasures a secret, including no photos of the best mosaics which annoyed me to pieces, but once you start seeing mosaics there you cannot stop. From the street signs, to the door ways to architecture this art form (which gives tribute to the Gods or religion on high) was abundant at every turn in Ravenna, when matched with the food it was Heavenly-a.