Day 8: Busseto
This morning we head out, after breakfast back at our "regular" bar (the
no-smoking one), to Roncole Verdi and the "casa natale" (birthplace and
boyhood home) of Giuseppe Verdi. The sun is shining and it looks like it
will be a nice day. We look into the town church while we wait for the
tour; Verdi was baptized here and played the organ as a boy. The tour of
the house--an inn run by Verdi's father--(in English by a very enthusiastic
guide) shows us the kitchen (where Verdi's
mother cooked for the coaches) that stopped here on their run between
Cremona and Parma, the stable where the horses were fed and watered, the
bedrooms, etc. The tour was informative and entertaining and we--as
non-opera buffs--are learning a lot about Verdi, his background and works.
Ten minutes down the road is the town of Soragna; there is an industrial
products fair being held in the streets, so there is no parking downtown.
We somehow find ourselves close to the center of the town, so we park (in a
not too legal space) and head for the "sinagoga" and the Jewish museum.
The
province of Parma had Jewish communities in eight of the smaller towns until
the early 20th century (before the Fascists took power and instituted the
racial laws, the Jews had gone to live in larger towns and cities) and last
year, the province restored the synagogue in Soragna and opened a museum
with artifacts from the other buildings; we learn that
there was even a syngagogue in Busseto. (There is still a functioning
Jewish community in Parma.) It is a very lovely museum, with exhibits about
the Jewish religion, holidays and Jewish history as well as rooms devoted to
the Jewish community in Parma province and the Italian experience during the
Holocaust. The small synagogue is simple but quite attractive. We don't
have enough
time (and the explanations are all in Italian) to do the museum justice, but
we are very impressed with the way it is set up.
We walk around the town looking for lunch possibilities or a bakery to buy
some bread for a picnic.....it is hard to get a sense of the town because
there are tents set up in all the streets, but it looks to be "yet another
attractive Italian town." We don't find an open bakery so we get in the
car and head for the next town, Fontanellato, where we find some bread (but
not very good bread--for a place with such wonderful food, the bread is not
to our taste at all.....crisp, hard crust and soft, cottony interior.) We
pass the town park, so we stop and eat our lunch of cheese, prosciutto and
fruit.
After lunch, we head to the hills to the south and west of Parma; after a
week of mostly flat farmland, we are looking for some more dramatic scenery.
En route, we make a quick stop in Fidenza and walk around the "centro
storico". The Duomo is open and we stop in to take a look. We are
treated to another organ recital by someone practicing in the church.
Fidenza, from the outside, is one of those towns that appears very
industrial and somewhat gray, but when you get into the center, you find a
medieval town center with interesting architecture and pleasant streets.
Before continuing on, we stop for a gelato (at the Bar Diana) and eat our
ice cream in the park. Very pleasant.....
Next stop is the large spa resort of Salsomaggiore which is in the foothills
of the Appenines. This is a major resort with scores of hotels of every
level and an ornate 19th century public bath establishment which is
decorated with all manner of tiles and towers. We notice a sign for a
"strada panoramica" and, since I have hard time resisting such drives, we
decide to see where it goes. The road climbs quickly out of the town and we
are soon on the crest of a ridge with beautiful green valleys stretching out
on both sides and high mountains in the distance. The road continues on
(with no directional signs) for some miles and we are enjoying the scenery
and also enjoying trying to figure out exactly we are.
We come to a "T" intersection and turn left, but the road quickly peters out
to a gravel track, so we turn around and go in the opposite direction. We
start to descend--we can see the flat plain of Emilia-Romagna off in the
distance--and suddenly we are back in the middle of Salsomaggiore Terme....a
wonderful, unplanned detour.
We decide to head for the town of Castello l'Arquato, described in the
guidebooks as a Tuscan hill town set down in the Emilia-Romagna plains. We
try and find a route that goes through the hills, but after a dead end at a
castle in Scipione, we follow the road signs which takes us down to the
plain and back to Castello l'Arquarto on main roads. The town soon looms in
the distance, all turrets and towers topping the mound of a hill. The
elevation is only about 500 feet but it doesn't take much to make a hill
town in this flat plain.
We attempt to find a way to get closer to the top in order to avoid some of
the climb, but we get mixed up in narrow one way and dead end streets, so we
retreat back to the parking lot at the bottom of the town. I decide to walk
up and see what the town looks like. It really is a Tuscan/Umbrian style
hill town--narrow winding streets, medieval buildings, good views over the
countryside. The walk up is moderately difficult and I reach the main
square at the top in about 10 minutes. While walking up, cars are passing
me and the traffic signs say that cars are only prohibited on weekends. So
I walk back down, pick up Diana and we drive back up to the main square.
(The reason that I had problems initially was that I was approaching the
town from the top and the main street is one way in the opposite direction.)
We park and walk around--check out the castle and town hall, admire the view
from the park. It really is a terrific town and a worthwhile
destination...and not as formidable to visit as we had originally thought.
One last stop before returning to Busseto--we visit the Villa Verdi in
Sant'Agata, the house that "the maestro" lived in for the last forty years
of his life. He was in conflict with the people in Busseto because of his
"bohemian" lifestyle--he lived with second wife for ten years before they
eventually got married--so he left the town and built a villa about two
miles away. In addition to his music, he was very active as a landowner and
a farmer and gradually acquired a sizeable amount of acreage. The family
has kept the bedrooms and study as they were when Verdi lived there and
there are portraits and memorabilia all over. They also brought the
furniture from the hotel room in Milan where he died and have set it up in
the villa. We also get to walk around the grounds which are beautifully
planted. The tour is in Italian so we are not sure of all the details, but
we enjoy our visit.
Dinner tonight is at the restaurant recommended by the man at the Casa del
Parmigiano on the town square--the unfortunately named "Spaghetti House"
trattoria. It is a place you would walk right past and not think about
walking in--it is quite drab on the outside. Once inside, the main room is
attractive, about seven tables very well spaced and nicely set. We get the
last table, next to two families with three (very loud) children.
The food is quite good, but the service is a little erratic. After we sit
down, a group of seven men--obviously locals and regulars--are seated. They
have a great time flirting with the only waitress and she spends a great
deal of time catering to their needs. But between the noisy children, who
are running in and out, and watching the interaction between the men and the
waitress, we have a continuing floor show to entertain us while waiting for
our food.
About the food--for me, the local dish of gnocchetti and beans, pisarei e
faso (even better than the first time I had it) and a disappointing "pasta
di salame"--sort of a hamburger made up of chopped salami, fried and served
with a white wine sauce (unfortunately it was quite dry.) Diana has a dish
of spaghetti with olive oil, garlic and hot peppers (very tasty) and a veal
scallopine (nicely done). The highlight for me
is the side dish of spinach cooked with butter--it was like silk. Diana
liked her strawberries served with sugar and lemon for dessert. Even with
the floor show, the meal takes too long and we are
ready to get the check and leave--once we can get the waitress' attention
away from the table of seven men.
Another very wonderful day......
Jim and Diana
no-smoking one), to Roncole Verdi and the "casa natale" (birthplace and
boyhood home) of Giuseppe Verdi. The sun is shining and it looks like it
will be a nice day. We look into the town church while we wait for the
tour; Verdi was baptized here and played the organ as a boy. The tour of
the house--an inn run by Verdi's father--(in English by a very enthusiastic
guide) shows us the kitchen (where Verdi's
mother cooked for the coaches) that stopped here on their run between
Cremona and Parma, the stable where the horses were fed and watered, the
bedrooms, etc. The tour was informative and entertaining and we--as
non-opera buffs--are learning a lot about Verdi, his background and works.
Ten minutes down the road is the town of Soragna; there is an industrial
products fair being held in the streets, so there is no parking downtown.
We somehow find ourselves close to the center of the town, so we park (in a
not too legal space) and head for the "sinagoga" and the Jewish museum.
The
province of Parma had Jewish communities in eight of the smaller towns until
the early 20th century (before the Fascists took power and instituted the
racial laws, the Jews had gone to live in larger towns and cities) and last
year, the province restored the synagogue in Soragna and opened a museum
with artifacts from the other buildings; we learn that
there was even a syngagogue in Busseto. (There is still a functioning
Jewish community in Parma.) It is a very lovely museum, with exhibits about
the Jewish religion, holidays and Jewish history as well as rooms devoted to
the Jewish community in Parma province and the Italian experience during the
Holocaust. The small synagogue is simple but quite attractive. We don't
have enough
time (and the explanations are all in Italian) to do the museum justice, but
we are very impressed with the way it is set up.
We walk around the town looking for lunch possibilities or a bakery to buy
some bread for a picnic.....it is hard to get a sense of the town because
there are tents set up in all the streets, but it looks to be "yet another
attractive Italian town." We don't find an open bakery so we get in the
car and head for the next town, Fontanellato, where we find some bread (but
not very good bread--for a place with such wonderful food, the bread is not
to our taste at all.....crisp, hard crust and soft, cottony interior.) We
pass the town park, so we stop and eat our lunch of cheese, prosciutto and
fruit.
After lunch, we head to the hills to the south and west of Parma; after a
week of mostly flat farmland, we are looking for some more dramatic scenery.
En route, we make a quick stop in Fidenza and walk around the "centro
storico". The Duomo is open and we stop in to take a look. We are
treated to another organ recital by someone practicing in the church.
Fidenza, from the outside, is one of those towns that appears very
industrial and somewhat gray, but when you get into the center, you find a
medieval town center with interesting architecture and pleasant streets.
Before continuing on, we stop for a gelato (at the Bar Diana) and eat our
ice cream in the park. Very pleasant.....
Next stop is the large spa resort of Salsomaggiore which is in the foothills
of the Appenines. This is a major resort with scores of hotels of every
level and an ornate 19th century public bath establishment which is
decorated with all manner of tiles and towers. We notice a sign for a
"strada panoramica" and, since I have hard time resisting such drives, we
decide to see where it goes. The road climbs quickly out of the town and we
are soon on the crest of a ridge with beautiful green valleys stretching out
on both sides and high mountains in the distance. The road continues on
(with no directional signs) for some miles and we are enjoying the scenery
and also enjoying trying to figure out exactly we are.
We come to a "T" intersection and turn left, but the road quickly peters out
to a gravel track, so we turn around and go in the opposite direction. We
start to descend--we can see the flat plain of Emilia-Romagna off in the
distance--and suddenly we are back in the middle of Salsomaggiore Terme....a
wonderful, unplanned detour.
We decide to head for the town of Castello l'Arquato, described in the
guidebooks as a Tuscan hill town set down in the Emilia-Romagna plains. We
try and find a route that goes through the hills, but after a dead end at a
castle in Scipione, we follow the road signs which takes us down to the
plain and back to Castello l'Arquarto on main roads. The town soon looms in
the distance, all turrets and towers topping the mound of a hill. The
elevation is only about 500 feet but it doesn't take much to make a hill
town in this flat plain.
We attempt to find a way to get closer to the top in order to avoid some of
the climb, but we get mixed up in narrow one way and dead end streets, so we
retreat back to the parking lot at the bottom of the town. I decide to walk
up and see what the town looks like. It really is a Tuscan/Umbrian style
hill town--narrow winding streets, medieval buildings, good views over the
countryside. The walk up is moderately difficult and I reach the main
square at the top in about 10 minutes. While walking up, cars are passing
me and the traffic signs say that cars are only prohibited on weekends. So
I walk back down, pick up Diana and we drive back up to the main square.
(The reason that I had problems initially was that I was approaching the
town from the top and the main street is one way in the opposite direction.)
We park and walk around--check out the castle and town hall, admire the view
from the park. It really is a terrific town and a worthwhile
destination...and not as formidable to visit as we had originally thought.
One last stop before returning to Busseto--we visit the Villa Verdi in
Sant'Agata, the house that "the maestro" lived in for the last forty years
of his life. He was in conflict with the people in Busseto because of his
"bohemian" lifestyle--he lived with second wife for ten years before they
eventually got married--so he left the town and built a villa about two
miles away. In addition to his music, he was very active as a landowner and
a farmer and gradually acquired a sizeable amount of acreage. The family
has kept the bedrooms and study as they were when Verdi lived there and
there are portraits and memorabilia all over. They also brought the
furniture from the hotel room in Milan where he died and have set it up in
the villa. We also get to walk around the grounds which are beautifully
planted. The tour is in Italian so we are not sure of all the details, but
we enjoy our visit.
Dinner tonight is at the restaurant recommended by the man at the Casa del
Parmigiano on the town square--the unfortunately named "Spaghetti House"
trattoria. It is a place you would walk right past and not think about
walking in--it is quite drab on the outside. Once inside, the main room is
attractive, about seven tables very well spaced and nicely set. We get the
last table, next to two families with three (very loud) children.
The food is quite good, but the service is a little erratic. After we sit
down, a group of seven men--obviously locals and regulars--are seated. They
have a great time flirting with the only waitress and she spends a great
deal of time catering to their needs. But between the noisy children, who
are running in and out, and watching the interaction between the men and the
waitress, we have a continuing floor show to entertain us while waiting for
our food.
About the food--for me, the local dish of gnocchetti and beans, pisarei e
faso (even better than the first time I had it) and a disappointing "pasta
di salame"--sort of a hamburger made up of chopped salami, fried and served
with a white wine sauce (unfortunately it was quite dry.) Diana has a dish
of spaghetti with olive oil, garlic and hot peppers (very tasty) and a veal
scallopine (nicely done). The highlight for me
is the side dish of spinach cooked with butter--it was like silk. Diana
liked her strawberries served with sugar and lemon for dessert. Even with
the floor show, the meal takes too long and we are
ready to get the check and leave--once we can get the waitress' attention
away from the table of seven men.
Another very wonderful day......
Jim and Diana
