Day 11: Parma
After breakfast in the bar down the street from the Palazzo, we head over to the tourist office to inquire about apartment rentals for my client, in case the arrangments at the Rosa Prati don't work out. The staff person goes through her database and gives me the name of a b&b that also has a few apartments in the center but other than that she doesn't have anything else that I don't already have. She also tells us where the laundromat in Parma is....we will try to do a laundry before we leave town.
The Baptistery is our next stop....it is a very tall, octagonal tower (most baptisteries in Italy are octagonal for some reason) made of pink stone located between the Palazzo dalla Rosa Prati and the Duomo. The doors are framed with intricate carvings on the portals and the facade is decorated with rows of columns and blind arches at the top.
Inside it is completely open to the dome with a large baptismal font in the middle of the floor.
As in the Duomo, the walls and the dome are almost completely covered with frescoes of Biblical scenes and statues and carvings but unlike the Duomo, the effect is somehow not as overwhelming.
Maybe it is because everything is closer and the scenes can be identified more easily but it is a much more manageable visit for us and we spend some time admiring the detail and the workmanship.
We make a quick detour back into the Duomo to see if it might feel different with the morning light but, in fact, we have the same feeling as we had the day before. It's just too much for us.
Before getting the car and driving out into the countryside for lunch, we go to the Camera di San Paolo. Located in an old abbey, there are two rooms with frescoed ceilings...one by Correggio and one by Araldi .......which were commissioned in the early 16th century by the Abbess who was trying to maintain her independence from the Pope. The refectory, which was painted by Correggio, is made to look like like a "leafy arbor" with sixteen scenes depicting different philosophical concepts, and charming small "putti" interspersed in playful positions. The other room is, in contrast, very dense and detailed, with very intricate pictures of demons and fantastical creatures set as a background on the ceiling. Interspersed into this almost hallucinatory scene are a number of pictures of biblical scenes in round or rectangular "picture frames" At first, the ceiling is almost impossible to concentrate on but, once you take the time, the demons (with their many different variations) become identifiable and the pictures begin to make sense. It is helpful that the place is empty and the ceilings are well lit and not far away which makes it easier to concentrate on the details. We like these rooms very much -definitely worth a visit.
We walk out of the Camera di San Paolo down a tree lined entrance road
retrieve the car from the garage and, before leaving town, try..unsuccessfully....to find the exact location of the laundromat.
We are going to La Buca, a trattoria in the village of Zibello on the Po River about 50 km northwest of Parma. The town is famous for culatello, a local version of Parma ham, and La Buca is noted for its amazing tagliatelle, which we had a year ago and are eager to have again. The countryside in this region is very flat but somehow attractive in a quiet way. There are fields with vegetables and fruit trees but it appears to be mainly grazing lands and there are large bales of hay (wrapped in plastic) scattered in almost every field.
Even though the terrain is very flat, the roads are quite curvy so the flatness never becomes as boring as it might with lots of straightaways. We make one stop in Colorno, just north of Parma, to take a look at the Reggia which was built by one of the dukes as a summer villa but was later expanded by the Bourbons into a "minature Versailles". We don't stop to admire the extensive grounds but we do stop at the weekly market to buy some strawberries and peas.
There are only a few tables occupied at La Buca..we eat outside and again have a fabulous meal. Diana says again that the tagliatelle with culatello is the best pasta she has ever had and my "anolini" (tiny stuffed rings of pasta) are not quite as exceptional but the sausage based sauce is terrific. We also share a plate of culatello and salami which are excellent, a piece of wonderful parmigiano-reggiano with pear mostardo (conserve) and have small carafe of wine. I am sure that we will return anytime we are within a hour of Zibello.
After lunch, we stop by the banks of the Po for a short rest....
...and then a short visit to Busseto (Verdi's hometown) where we had stayed for a week some years ago. The main reason for stopping is to buy some parmigiano-reggiano from our favorite cheese store in the town but it doesn't open when the rest of the town comes back to life at 4 pm (perhaps it is closed or they are on vacation). We sit in the bar in the center of town while we wait and watch the locals playing cards.
It is still a very attractive town and has lots of recommend it, especially for Verdi lovers and opera fans.
Back in Parma, I go out to check out a few restaurants. This brings me to a part of the city that we haven't been to yet. It is mostly pedestrian with lovely streets and nice shops and, on this early Friday evening, it is buzzing with people walking and drinking at the many wine bars that line the streets. The restaurant that where I want to eat is full that evening so I ask for a reservation for the next night. The lady in charge says okay but doesn't take my name or write anything down....so we will hope for the best.
We decide that this will be a good night to skip dinner so we take a stroll in the same area and stop at one of the quiet bars for a prosecco and some free snacks that are set out on the bar. As we are leaving, the barman--after not saying two words to us--starts talking to us in English and we have a pleasant conversation. We stop for a gelato at Grom, the famous gelateria that began in Torino and now has many branches in Italy and one in New York. The gelato is very good and we walk home through the main square, the Piazza Garibaldi which is nicely lit at night.
Tomorrow we will look at some apartments for my client who is coming to Parma.
The Baptistery is our next stop....it is a very tall, octagonal tower (most baptisteries in Italy are octagonal for some reason) made of pink stone located between the Palazzo dalla Rosa Prati and the Duomo. The doors are framed with intricate carvings on the portals and the facade is decorated with rows of columns and blind arches at the top.
Inside it is completely open to the dome with a large baptismal font in the middle of the floor.
As in the Duomo, the walls and the dome are almost completely covered with frescoes of Biblical scenes and statues and carvings but unlike the Duomo, the effect is somehow not as overwhelming.
Maybe it is because everything is closer and the scenes can be identified more easily but it is a much more manageable visit for us and we spend some time admiring the detail and the workmanship.
We make a quick detour back into the Duomo to see if it might feel different with the morning light but, in fact, we have the same feeling as we had the day before. It's just too much for us.
Before getting the car and driving out into the countryside for lunch, we go to the Camera di San Paolo. Located in an old abbey, there are two rooms with frescoed ceilings...one by Correggio and one by Araldi .......which were commissioned in the early 16th century by the Abbess who was trying to maintain her independence from the Pope. The refectory, which was painted by Correggio, is made to look like like a "leafy arbor" with sixteen scenes depicting different philosophical concepts, and charming small "putti" interspersed in playful positions. The other room is, in contrast, very dense and detailed, with very intricate pictures of demons and fantastical creatures set as a background on the ceiling. Interspersed into this almost hallucinatory scene are a number of pictures of biblical scenes in round or rectangular "picture frames" At first, the ceiling is almost impossible to concentrate on but, once you take the time, the demons (with their many different variations) become identifiable and the pictures begin to make sense. It is helpful that the place is empty and the ceilings are well lit and not far away which makes it easier to concentrate on the details. We like these rooms very much -definitely worth a visit.
We walk out of the Camera di San Paolo down a tree lined entrance road
retrieve the car from the garage and, before leaving town, try..unsuccessfully....to find the exact location of the laundromat.
We are going to La Buca, a trattoria in the village of Zibello on the Po River about 50 km northwest of Parma. The town is famous for culatello, a local version of Parma ham, and La Buca is noted for its amazing tagliatelle, which we had a year ago and are eager to have again. The countryside in this region is very flat but somehow attractive in a quiet way. There are fields with vegetables and fruit trees but it appears to be mainly grazing lands and there are large bales of hay (wrapped in plastic) scattered in almost every field.
Even though the terrain is very flat, the roads are quite curvy so the flatness never becomes as boring as it might with lots of straightaways. We make one stop in Colorno, just north of Parma, to take a look at the Reggia which was built by one of the dukes as a summer villa but was later expanded by the Bourbons into a "minature Versailles". We don't stop to admire the extensive grounds but we do stop at the weekly market to buy some strawberries and peas.
There are only a few tables occupied at La Buca..we eat outside and again have a fabulous meal. Diana says again that the tagliatelle with culatello is the best pasta she has ever had and my "anolini" (tiny stuffed rings of pasta) are not quite as exceptional but the sausage based sauce is terrific. We also share a plate of culatello and salami which are excellent, a piece of wonderful parmigiano-reggiano with pear mostardo (conserve) and have small carafe of wine. I am sure that we will return anytime we are within a hour of Zibello.
After lunch, we stop by the banks of the Po for a short rest....
...and then a short visit to Busseto (Verdi's hometown) where we had stayed for a week some years ago. The main reason for stopping is to buy some parmigiano-reggiano from our favorite cheese store in the town but it doesn't open when the rest of the town comes back to life at 4 pm (perhaps it is closed or they are on vacation). We sit in the bar in the center of town while we wait and watch the locals playing cards.
It is still a very attractive town and has lots of recommend it, especially for Verdi lovers and opera fans.
Back in Parma, I go out to check out a few restaurants. This brings me to a part of the city that we haven't been to yet. It is mostly pedestrian with lovely streets and nice shops and, on this early Friday evening, it is buzzing with people walking and drinking at the many wine bars that line the streets. The restaurant that where I want to eat is full that evening so I ask for a reservation for the next night. The lady in charge says okay but doesn't take my name or write anything down....so we will hope for the best.
We decide that this will be a good night to skip dinner so we take a stroll in the same area and stop at one of the quiet bars for a prosecco and some free snacks that are set out on the bar. As we are leaving, the barman--after not saying two words to us--starts talking to us in English and we have a pleasant conversation. We stop for a gelato at Grom, the famous gelateria that began in Torino and now has many branches in Italy and one in New York. The gelato is very good and we walk home through the main square, the Piazza Garibaldi which is nicely lit at night.
Tomorrow we will look at some apartments for my client who is coming to Parma.
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