Gateway to 'beautiful Italy'

There is no better way of appreciating the utility of a direct flight than having to reach your destination in a round about manner, so to speak. After all, the shortest distance between two points remains a straight line. Or is it?

Flying directly from Malta to the north Italian city of Bologna should take you no more than 90 minutes. Having to go through some other connection would take much longer; in the case of the group - all guests of Malta International Airport - I formed part of late last month, it took us a good six hours, taking into consideration flying time, waiting at the airport and delays, to reach Bologna via Rome.

So three cheers to Meridiana for deciding to run the Bologna-Malta-Bologna service again this year. The direct flight was launched last summer and between June and September the airline, a successor of Alisarda, carried 7,500 passengers, the big bulk of them Italians, mostly young students coming over to study English and whatever else they decide to do!

20070310-lifestyle--italy2.jpgThis year, flights start on March 25 and Antonello Miccoli, Meridiana's area manager for Emilia Romagna, the Marche, Toscana and Umbria, is hoping more Maltese will fly Meridiana this summer. Tickets are advertised at €9 each but they usually sell at an average €29.

Why would one want to go to Bologna? An answer off the cuff, without consulting the history books and tourism brochures, would be to visit the plants of such big companies as Ferrari, Lamborghini and Ducati, to see the house where troubled Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi lives, to experience what life on the campus of the 100,000-student Università di Bologna is like, to see the church where St Dominic is buried and, of course, to sample the food, that glorious, fabulous food.

That is just a taster, not even a teaser.

The people we met in Bologna, like Mr Miccoli himself, the city's Assessore al Turismo, Maria Cristina Santandrea, and the guides put at our disposal - oh, if only all guides are as passionate about their work as they were - just could not stop listing the attractions of Bologna, the cities around it and, indeed, the whole region.

Explicitly or implicitly they all acknowledge the fact that Bologna is not among the top three destinations in Italy sought by tourists, these being Rome, Florence and Venice. "However, Bologna airport serves Florence, so we need to take full advantage of that," Ms Santandrea remarks, going on to explain what the city is doing to attract tourists even from the Far East, notably Japanese.

Mind you, the quantity of tourists visiting Bologna is not insignificant. With a population roughly the size of Malta's, the city attracts about two million Italian visitors and something like 600,000 foreigners, mainly from Germany, the UK, the US, France, Spain, China and Japan, in that order.

Giancarlo Roversi, editor of Meridiana's inflight magazine, Atmosphere, could not have put it better: "Through Bologna you can see half of beautiful Italy".

Indeed, from Bologna one can easily reach Venice, Florence, San Marino, Genoa, Milan, Siena, Ravenna and Ferrara, to mention just a few places of interest.

To his credit, Mr Roversi painted a superb picture of what Malta is all about, all based on his own experiences, including eating the best plate of fish ever in a Mellieha restaurant. It was a most colourful postcard of Malta painted in melodious Italian language, accentuated with carefully-chosen words and the right tone.

He was the moderator in a seminar with the theme I 100 Volti Di Malta (The 100 Faces of Malta), aimed at highlighting the emerging realities in tourism, with particular emphasis on culture, gastronomy, traditions and educational exchanges.

The seminar was also addressed by Transport, Competitiveness and Communications Minister Censu Galea, the director general of the Federation of Industries Wilfred Kenely, Malta International Airport's chief financial officer Austin Calleja and Mr Miccoli.

A workshop for the travel trade from both countries was also held. The Maltese operators present reported considerable interest in Malta, though contacts that could be translated in more traffic from Malta to Bologna was somewhat lukewarm.

The Gukulari Ensemble, in Maltese traditional costume and using traditional musical instruments, were in attendance. But the real centre of attraction must have been the diminutive Consiglia Azzopardi, the Gozitan lady who has managed not only to make lace-making an art but also an academic subject at university level, apart from writing two books about it and is now working on her thesis for a PH.D.

The Gukulari and Ms Azzopardi, wearing the faldetta, or ghonnella, a black dress, including a stiffened head dress, meant to obliterate a woman's shape, were also in attendance at a gala dinner where Italian guests were treated to a lavish Maltese supper, hosted by MIA and Meridiana. Now that is saying something! Well, Julian Manduca, the owner of Rubino, in Valletta, ably assisted by Matty Cremona, known for her recipes using Maltese ingredients, including Maltese olive oil, her husband's, Sam, pet subject, left nothing to chance, even if there seems to have been some "communication" problems with the cook of the hotel where the dinner was held. Now, of course, it is widely known that Mr Sammut speaks perfect Italian.

Here is just an idea of what was on the menu that night (the Italian description is being used): insalata d'arancia e finocchio; zuppa a base di fave fresche e pissellini con palline di pasta tipica; coscia di maiale al forno ad uso di Malta; involtini di vitello con mollica fresca; patate arrosto con semi di finocchio, coriandolo e cumino; gelato di panna con castagne secchi stufati al cioccolato e mandarino and fritture di datteri, torrone di sesamo and caffé aromatico.

To wash all that down, guests were served with Meridiana and Marsovin wines.

It was well after midnight that the Maltese party returned to their hotel. Just after 5 a.m. they were making their way to the coach to catch the flight to Rome and then on to Malta.

Oh, if only a direct flight were available!