On the southern flank of Lombardia lies Emilia Romagna, the bread-basket of Italy. Its elegant cities are the nucleus of the North's artistic heritage Piacenza, Gothic and Romanesque; Parma, with its exquisite Duomo and Baptistry, is better known for Prosciutto and Parmigiano; Modena where an ounce of 100-year-old balsamic vinegar costs hundreds of dollars, or a custom Ferrari, hundreds of thousands more; Reggio nell' Emilia, the birthplace of Ariosto and the Italian flag; Bobbio and its 6th-century monastery founded by an Irish monk; the University of Bologna, the oldest in the world; the architectural wonders of Renaissance Ferrara and the exquisite mosaics of Ravenna, the last Italian capital of the Roman Empire. On your journey through Emilia Romagna you will discover Italy's hallmark cuisine. Here, ragł comes from Bologna and not from a can. You won't believe the difference!