Parmigiano - Parma, Italy
Trip Start
Apr 01, 2009
1
22
69
Trip End
Jul 13, 2009
Parma,
Emilia-Romagna,
Italy
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
I arrived in Parma around 5 PM. I took a quick stroll along a river to the center of town where I stumbled upon a lovely market and picked up a hunk of the famous Parmesan cheese. I then stopped in the tourist office for a map of the city and some recommendations for dinner. I was told to stop at a restaurant off the beaten path to try the local dish, La Vecchia or horse meat!
After, I cruised around the town, stopping in a few shops and taking pictures of the many sights. Unfortunately, it began to rain, but I was not dissuaded because Parma is gorgeous! I stopped in to peak in a church and took the advice of the tourist office to pay 5 Euro to enter the Baptistry in the center of town. The Baptistry was beautiful and is a must for Parma. After admiring the wonderful frescos (see the face on Christs' chest) and the mosaic ceiling for a about 45 minutes, I stopped at a cool wine bar for a pre-dinner drink. Parma is another University town, so there are a lot of neat bars and restaurants all over.
After a few glasses of wine, I headed to the restaurant the tourist office recommended. I ordered the Mortadella (boloney), which was excellent, as my Antipasti and La Vecchia as my Secondo. I figured that this would possibly be the only time I would ever have to try horse meat since eating horse is considered "not PC" in the US. The horse meat was cut thin and a sautéed with a little butter. The meat was very rich, but actually pretty good! It tasted a lot like beef.
After my meal, I made the hour trip back to Bologna, where I crashed!
