Yep, that’s right! We are FINALLY in Italy. Finally. Sigh of happiness. We stopped in Louisiana for a few wonderful days with the Grandson and Daughter in law, spent a week in Berlin (again, finally!!!) with the Brother and his family, before flying into Bologna. We haven’t spent any time in Bologna yet as we headed directly to Parma as soon as we got here. Why Parma? We have been asked several times how we arrive at our decisions on where to base ourselves, so this is a good time to explain that process. Usually first we decide on a country, often considering where we are coming from as we try to keep travel costs down as much as we can! Then, depending on the size of the country, we consider in what part we want to be in – in the case of Italy we wanted to be more north (this time). Then we consider how expensive, or cheap, each area is. We have found that we do prefer to be in cities, with an emphasis on smaller cities, as it is more manageable without a car. The final decision often comes down to where we find a place to stay that we get excited about. Sometimes, like London, it’s a matter of simply finding a place that we can afford – even though we know our home is not going to be ideal. With Parma the apartment seemed fine, but the host showed every indication of being amazing – and she is!! Plus, just before we arrived, she offered us a bigger apartment at no additional cost since it had suddenly become available. Sweet! So, as you can see, our process of choosing where to stay is the equivalent of throwing a dart and seeing where it lands.
Parma. Not along the highest traveled routes of Italy – but it should be! It is a fabulous small city with a fantastic vibe, gorgeous medieval (and earlier) areas, not full of tourist trinket shops, beautiful parks and generous, kind people. Plus, if Italy is the food capital of the world, then Parma is the food capital of Italy! If you’ve not made the connection: Parma, as in Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, as in prosciutto di Parma. It also shares the balsamic vinegar tradition with Modena. Parma sits almost exactly halfway between Milan and Bologna on the ancient Via Emilia – which runs right through the city. There isn’t much in the way of Roman ruins here, but it is fun to know that the Roman road is still used!
As I said above, Parma equals seriously yummy foods. So, last weekend we went on a day long food tour with Daniela, tour guide extraordinaire. Daniela had already taken us around Parma to teach us about the history of the city, so we were excited to see more with her. Our first destination was to learn about parmesan (as Americans tend to call it) cheese making. I’ve seen the production on TV shows, but to see it in person is amazing. Watching the people making it is like watching a finely choreographed dance – each person has a specific part in the process.
We sampled 12, 24 and 36 month cheeses. The flavor is pretty intense at 36 months. Our favorite (because there is a difference!) is the 30 month from red cows (seriously) that we get from the amazing cheese shop around the corner. Why, yes, we have become parmigiano snobs. I’m okay with that.
Our next stop was at the Medici Ermete vineyards, a smaller, family run operation. While the wines are outstanding, especially the sparkling wines, we were there for the balsamic vinegar. They use the Trebbiano grapes grown in their vineyard, crush them and then cook the mixture until it is reduced by about 30% (grape must). We were not there during the harvest season so we didn’t get to see this part. The grape must is then placed in barrels and stored in the attic. Why the attic? Because the extreme temperature changes (very hot in the summer to quite chilly in winter) are part of what makes the vinegar extraordinary. As the must ages it is moved from one kind of barrel to another to create different nuances. There was a barrel of vinegar in the attic that was the present owner’s grandfather’s! And the taste…sweet, just slightly tangy. Incredible! If you want to take a look at the website for the vineyard, it is https://www.medici.it/
We came away with several bottles of wine and one very special bottle of vinegar 🍷
Our last stop on this food tour of excellence was for Prosciutto di Parma. We had to drive into the foothills of the Appennine Mountains to reach the production facility. I’m sure the views would have been glorious – if there hadn’t been thick fog. The production of prosciutto is not as pretty as that of parmigiano or balsamic vinegar, but the end product is so delicious and to see the way it is created is fascinating, There are other prosciuttos out there, and some of them might be very good, but the standards required to be branded Prosciutto di Parma are very strict and tightly regulated ( if you are interested https://www.prosciuttodiparma.com/en/home-page/ ).
On our way to the prosciutto production facility we passed what we thought was either an ancient monastery or a castle. Turns out it was a castle – and a gorgeous one at that! Of course we had to stop and visit it🏰
Castello di Torrechiara was built beginning in 1448 and was considered to be a major fortress, built atop earlier fortresses. It is considered to be one of the best preserved castles in all of Italy (and we stumbled upon it!).
An educational and delicious day! This was the first of the many adventures I’m certain we will have while we are in Italy.