Day 6: Busseto
Diana gets up early and takes the dirty laundry to a local shop; we have decided not to try and use the laundromat in Parma this trip. After breakfast at our "no-smoking" bar, we head over to the Teatro Verdi ticket office to see if there are seats available for Carreras. The clerk offers us what they call standing room tickets, but, in reality. are unreserved seats in the highest balcony. We buy two at Euro 35 each--about $30 US.
Today is our appointment at the prosciutto factory near Langhirano, south of Parma. Diana gets her first chance to drive this morning and we make it to our appointment in plenty of time. I do a good job of navigating on this trip; the route crosses three separate pages of our atlas and is slightly difficult to follow.
We beat the student group by a few minutes. Michelle, my travel colleague's daughter, comes up to introduce herself and we meet the teacher in charge of the trip--which includes about thirty young teenagers. The tour is interesting but, in fact, the production of prosciutto is quite straightforward. The hams, from pigs raised in the four specified regions--Piemonte, Lombardia, Emilia-Romagna, and the Veneto--and fed with the residue of the production of parmigiano cheese, are brought to the production house. They have a salt massage and are left to cure for a few weeks. Then the salt is knocked off, the joint (without a covering of fat) is dusted with rice flour and pepper (to keep the flies off, not for seasoning), and the hams are left to dry for the specificied period...12 months to two years, depending on size. The inspectors from the consortium come at intervals and do a random check of the hams--using a needle fashioned from the bone of a horse. The needle is driven into the ham at five specified points and by a combination of smell and feel, the hams are approved or discarded. Mostly you see hundreds of hams hanging from the ceiling in different parts of the factory.
Before we leave we get a tast of the prosciutto--it is delicious--and the boss, Gianluca, offers us a glass of wine.
Next we head off for the nearby castle of Torrechiara, a massive fortress that dominates the valley. We meet the student group again in the parking lot, but they walk up the hill and we drive (offering a lift to the grateful teachers for part of the climb.) They invite us to have lunch with them at the restaurant at the castle, but it is taking a long time to organize the students, so we decline and head off to tour the castle. The castle dates from the 15th century and is one of about 30 scattered around the Parma countryside. This one is distinguished by a fresco cycle which tells the story of the romance between the owner and his bride and also gives a good geographic picture of the layout of the Parma countryside in the middle ages. There are also lovely views over the hills; this section of Emilia-Romagna is in the foothills of the Appenine range and the terrain is markedly different than the usual level plain of the Po Valley. The green of early spring is also quite striking, both in the grass and the trees--even if the sky is overcast with a threat of rain.
We finish our visit at the castle and head into Langhirano; now we want have a plate of prosciutto for lunch. We stop at a restaurant in the center of town that features prosciutto. Unfortunately the place is packed and there is only one waitress. After waiting for about fifteen minutes, we walk out and start searching for another place. Just past the castle on the road to Parma, we pass a big modern restaurant--Dolceparma--with lots of prosciutti hanging in the window. We get in just before they are going to close. We order a large plate of mixed "salume" (with lots of prosciutto), some grilled vegetables and a local speciality called "torta fritta". I have seen "torta fritta" advertised as specials at several restaurants--they turn out to be fried pillows of dough, crispy and light, which go very well with plates of local prosciutto. We enjoy our lunch very much--the only downside is the noise generated by the several groups of school children who are finishing their lunch. After another episode of the "disappearing Italian waiter", we pay and head into Parma.
We find a good parking space very close to the "centro storico" and walk to one of the main piazzas--the Piazza Pilotta. By now the sun is shining and it has gotten warm. We sit and read about Parma and decide to head over to visit the Duomo. The Duomo is a handsome building on the exterior, but the interior is very striking with frescoes everywhere--some of them masterpieces by Corregio. We walk outside to the see the Baptistery, which has just been restored. It is a tall octagonal building, with columns, statues and carvings artfully placed on the outside. We meet up again with our student group from the prosciutto factory and have a reunion.
We are starting to flag now--it is almost 4 pm--so we quickly inspect the church in back of the Duomo, San Giovanni Evangelista and head back for the car. We stop to look at the posters for a museum show devoted to the Italian actor Ugo Tognazzi; I wish that we had known about it before and could have planned to go. We stop for a gelato en route to the car--so far the most successful flavor of the trip has been limone--tart and refreshing. We agree that Parma is a beautiful city and that we have barely scratched the surface of its attractions. I would like to return on a future trip and stay there for a few days to do it justice.
Back in Busseto, we go to our "neighborhood" cheese store--the Casa del Parmigiano--to buy some parmigiano cheese and some culatello to bring as presents to friends in Italy. We are momentarily confused about the pricing--culatello is a very expensive local specialty--but the owner is patient and we finally figure out how much we need to buy. We strike up a nice conversation with him and his wife and he offers us generous samples of the culatello, the prosciutto and the parmigiano cheese--which may be the best that we have ever tasted. A very nice interlude and we will certainly go back to buy some provisions before we leave Busseto.
He also gives us some restaurant recommendations for Busseto. He says that a trattoria called Spaghetti House (near the hotel) is very good, despite the name. We had seen it several times, but would never have tried it without this recommendation. I mention another place called da Ugo and he says that they are clients of his and that the food there is also very good.
Since the Spaghetti House is closed tonight, we head for da Ugo, which is located just outside the historic center in a modern building. It is a very attractive room--nice colors, nice linen, nice lighting. The only thing missing are customers; we are the only people there. The waitress recites the menu and we both start with a colorful vegetable flan with three layers--cabbage, carrots, and broccoli; we both like it very well. For the pasta course, I have an excellent dish of tortelli filled with pheasant and topped with a basil and vegetable sauce and Diana has a kind of tagliatelle with a different tomato based meat sauce. The hand made pasta is exceptional. Diana can't resist the baby lamb chops for a secondo and she enjoys them very much. The wine is another version of the local grape from the Piacenza hills--Guttornio Superiore; this one is a riserva and is smoother that the first one we had. All of this comes to about $45 US....a bargain. And while we are there, only one more diner shows up and he only eats a pasta course. Someday we will figure out how places like this stay in business.
We have an enjoyable stroll back to the hotel through the quiet streets and go to bed.....we have again had a wonderful day.
Jim and Diana
Today is our appointment at the prosciutto factory near Langhirano, south of Parma. Diana gets her first chance to drive this morning and we make it to our appointment in plenty of time. I do a good job of navigating on this trip; the route crosses three separate pages of our atlas and is slightly difficult to follow.
We beat the student group by a few minutes. Michelle, my travel colleague's daughter, comes up to introduce herself and we meet the teacher in charge of the trip--which includes about thirty young teenagers. The tour is interesting but, in fact, the production of prosciutto is quite straightforward. The hams, from pigs raised in the four specified regions--Piemonte, Lombardia, Emilia-Romagna, and the Veneto--and fed with the residue of the production of parmigiano cheese, are brought to the production house. They have a salt massage and are left to cure for a few weeks. Then the salt is knocked off, the joint (without a covering of fat) is dusted with rice flour and pepper (to keep the flies off, not for seasoning), and the hams are left to dry for the specificied period...12 months to two years, depending on size. The inspectors from the consortium come at intervals and do a random check of the hams--using a needle fashioned from the bone of a horse. The needle is driven into the ham at five specified points and by a combination of smell and feel, the hams are approved or discarded. Mostly you see hundreds of hams hanging from the ceiling in different parts of the factory.
Before we leave we get a tast of the prosciutto--it is delicious--and the boss, Gianluca, offers us a glass of wine.
Next we head off for the nearby castle of Torrechiara, a massive fortress that dominates the valley. We meet the student group again in the parking lot, but they walk up the hill and we drive (offering a lift to the grateful teachers for part of the climb.) They invite us to have lunch with them at the restaurant at the castle, but it is taking a long time to organize the students, so we decline and head off to tour the castle. The castle dates from the 15th century and is one of about 30 scattered around the Parma countryside. This one is distinguished by a fresco cycle which tells the story of the romance between the owner and his bride and also gives a good geographic picture of the layout of the Parma countryside in the middle ages. There are also lovely views over the hills; this section of Emilia-Romagna is in the foothills of the Appenine range and the terrain is markedly different than the usual level plain of the Po Valley. The green of early spring is also quite striking, both in the grass and the trees--even if the sky is overcast with a threat of rain.
We finish our visit at the castle and head into Langhirano; now we want have a plate of prosciutto for lunch. We stop at a restaurant in the center of town that features prosciutto. Unfortunately the place is packed and there is only one waitress. After waiting for about fifteen minutes, we walk out and start searching for another place. Just past the castle on the road to Parma, we pass a big modern restaurant--Dolceparma--with lots of prosciutti hanging in the window. We get in just before they are going to close. We order a large plate of mixed "salume" (with lots of prosciutto), some grilled vegetables and a local speciality called "torta fritta". I have seen "torta fritta" advertised as specials at several restaurants--they turn out to be fried pillows of dough, crispy and light, which go very well with plates of local prosciutto. We enjoy our lunch very much--the only downside is the noise generated by the several groups of school children who are finishing their lunch. After another episode of the "disappearing Italian waiter", we pay and head into Parma.
We find a good parking space very close to the "centro storico" and walk to one of the main piazzas--the Piazza Pilotta. By now the sun is shining and it has gotten warm. We sit and read about Parma and decide to head over to visit the Duomo. The Duomo is a handsome building on the exterior, but the interior is very striking with frescoes everywhere--some of them masterpieces by Corregio. We walk outside to the see the Baptistery, which has just been restored. It is a tall octagonal building, with columns, statues and carvings artfully placed on the outside. We meet up again with our student group from the prosciutto factory and have a reunion.
We are starting to flag now--it is almost 4 pm--so we quickly inspect the church in back of the Duomo, San Giovanni Evangelista and head back for the car. We stop to look at the posters for a museum show devoted to the Italian actor Ugo Tognazzi; I wish that we had known about it before and could have planned to go. We stop for a gelato en route to the car--so far the most successful flavor of the trip has been limone--tart and refreshing. We agree that Parma is a beautiful city and that we have barely scratched the surface of its attractions. I would like to return on a future trip and stay there for a few days to do it justice.
Back in Busseto, we go to our "neighborhood" cheese store--the Casa del Parmigiano--to buy some parmigiano cheese and some culatello to bring as presents to friends in Italy. We are momentarily confused about the pricing--culatello is a very expensive local specialty--but the owner is patient and we finally figure out how much we need to buy. We strike up a nice conversation with him and his wife and he offers us generous samples of the culatello, the prosciutto and the parmigiano cheese--which may be the best that we have ever tasted. A very nice interlude and we will certainly go back to buy some provisions before we leave Busseto.
He also gives us some restaurant recommendations for Busseto. He says that a trattoria called Spaghetti House (near the hotel) is very good, despite the name. We had seen it several times, but would never have tried it without this recommendation. I mention another place called da Ugo and he says that they are clients of his and that the food there is also very good.
Since the Spaghetti House is closed tonight, we head for da Ugo, which is located just outside the historic center in a modern building. It is a very attractive room--nice colors, nice linen, nice lighting. The only thing missing are customers; we are the only people there. The waitress recites the menu and we both start with a colorful vegetable flan with three layers--cabbage, carrots, and broccoli; we both like it very well. For the pasta course, I have an excellent dish of tortelli filled with pheasant and topped with a basil and vegetable sauce and Diana has a kind of tagliatelle with a different tomato based meat sauce. The hand made pasta is exceptional. Diana can't resist the baby lamb chops for a secondo and she enjoys them very much. The wine is another version of the local grape from the Piacenza hills--Guttornio Superiore; this one is a riserva and is smoother that the first one we had. All of this comes to about $45 US....a bargain. And while we are there, only one more diner shows up and he only eats a pasta course. Someday we will figure out how places like this stay in business.
We have an enjoyable stroll back to the hotel through the quiet streets and go to bed.....we have again had a wonderful day.
Jim and Diana
