Jolly Hotel Stendhal Parma

... that I understand. My Italian recgonition has improved slightly this weekend, which gives me an edge they do not have. Its like peices of a puzzel, and they are missing the picture to match to another peice, that important piece that links the different sections together. Where I can just try and find one. it is always out of their grasp..... But alas, I did sit, a lot, and made attempts to smile when people gave me little looks of 'aw pity she doesn ...

... really tutoring, but mostly I would just read them English books so they could hear the correct pronunciation. Not bad. They put out a plate of more sweets and seemed offended I wasn't shoveling them in my face even though fat Allison would have loved to do it. As the conversation died down I mentioned how cool it was that they lived in a castle, and the dad lit up, and took me on a tour. We went in every single room, on every single floor ...

... All tasty and the parmiggano was the best we had ever tried. We finished up and headed for the station, we were done doing what we came here for. We stopped off in Modena on the way home. Modena is the home of Maseratti, Ferarri and Ducatti motorbikes and is also the place that most of the balsamic vinegar in the world comes from. They had a church, it was fancy. They didn't let us take any pictures.<br>

Today we ventured into Parma we had better luck parking today. It had to be the nicest parking garage ever. Each spot had either a green/unoccupied or red/occupied light right above it and there was music playing over the loud speaker very cool! We had a lunch of tomato and basil pasta with a dessert plate of the meats of Parma. We walked around Parma saw a ...

Ok, so after my entry about our HORRIBLE experience in Parma, Maria Smith was kind enough to let me know that it was her and Myle's favorite city in this region.<br><br>My apologies for such a strong view of this city. I am thinking it was a dud because it was a Sunday and not a thing was open. We really did not like it, but it was their fav....<br><br>I thought I should say that she stayed in a great apt, went to a marvelous violin concert ...

... what seemed like small house on a busy road. I must say that not every spot in Tuscany is picturesque and this stop was not the later. The house reminded my of my New Jersey roots; we could have been anywhere on Tonnelle Avenue in Cliffside Park. We talked up the steps to a small entry and were met by an older woman who greeted Cristina warmly and ushered us into the back rooms outfitted with large ...

For a nice little day trip, Zoe and I decided to go to one of the main cities in Emilia-Romagna (the province where our father hails from): Parma.<br><br>The city is reknowned for parmesan cheese and Parma ham, or as we call it, prosciutto.<br><br>If you like quaint churches and little shops, this place is great to visit!<br>

... s business meetings. In Parma, I spend a lot of time watching and assisting Angela cook-- I think of my time there as cooking school. She is a better cook than any TV chef I've ever watched. Every meal she serves is extraordinary, and she also takes the time to mold, shape and design each plate for each of the three courses she makes per meal (that's before dessert). Each dish always looks like it belongs on the cover of a gourmet magazine. An example is ...

It has been a couple of days of firsts. We made it to our apartment in Parma and we all like the slower-paced lifestyle. We have done quite a bit of window-shopping (everything was closed on Sunday)and checked out the Grom Gelateria in Parma. We were not impressed. Yesterday, it was a matter of "hurry up and wait" as most stores were closed all day (you have to love a ...

... I think) to drive us himself to the Clinic. I find it very telling that I felt more comfortable approaching a total stranger whose language I don't speak at all for help than our own professor. So as a result of our little health scare, I now have an improved command of Italian medical terminology and of course the international language of helpless miming (shades of poor Carl Bailey who, despite an awe-inspring inability to ...