May 6, 2018
We woke to completely sunny skies this morning making it the best weather day of the trip so far. We packed up our suitcases after breakfast and loaded the car after checking out of the hotel. This w s our last morning in the Alto Adige. Our next destination was Parma, but before hitting the Autostrade, we drove back to Peter DiPoli's winery estate. We arrived around 10:30am and took a look around his estate. Peter poured a few wines for us to taste and he and Darrell chatted about business.
Since the weather was sunny and calm, I decided to send up the drone one last time here in the Alto Adige. I flew it over Peter's vineyard and the neighboring apple orchards to capture aerial views of his estate, the town of Egna, and the surrounding mountains.
We said our goodbyes to Peter and gave him thanks for all the wonderful hospitality he showered on us. It was time to hit the road for Parma. It is a solid 2 1/2 hour drive south to Modena, then a little north west to Parma. The drive through the Adige Valley was stunningly gorgeous because the skies were very clear and the sun was shining bright.
We made good time on the Autostrade making the Parma exit around 12:30 pm. Lunch time! Darrell had pulled out his copy of Fuoricasello, a very precise guide telling where one can get an exceptional meal no more than 5 minutes from the exit of the Autostrade, which is published by his dear friends The Longo Family who will will visit during this trip.
Darrell selected Trattoria ai due Platani for lunch from the guide. We made in 5 minutes after exiting the Autostrade as the guide said.
www.tripadvisor.com/Reviews-Trattoria_Ai_Due_Platani
The waiter brought out some focaccia and mortadella to start us off. We followed that with some smoked sturgeon. Next was some fried bread called "gnocco fritto". Darrell ordered a bottle of chilled, lightly sparkling (frizzante) Malvasia 'dell Emilia to start off our wine. Our second course was rolled, grilled Po River Eel, which was followed by a course of spinach ricotta Tortelli. I excused myself from the table to take a video of one of the chefs preparing the tortelli from scratch. You can see the video below. He made it look so easy to do. When I returned to the table, Darrell had ordered one of the most enjoyed wines of the Emilia Romagna, Lambrusco. The restaurant had filled up by now, and I noticed a bottle of Lambrusco at most of the tables. With the light bubbles in the Lambrusco matched with a nice chill, I could easily see why this was so popular. The toretlli was followed by some very creamy gorgonzola cheese and we finished with some vanilla gelato.
We were very satisfied with lunch and full. It was getting close to 3 pm, so we began to make our way into Parma. We passed a shopping center not far from the Trattoria, so Darrell said we should stop to take a look. The center was like a typical shopping mall in the U.S. , but anchored by IPER, which is a large format food centric mass retailer. We walked the aisles and made our comparisons against what we're used to at home.
When we were through with the shopping center, we got back in the car and drove into Parma to check into the Palace Hotel Maria Luigia.
www.sinahotels.com/sina-maria-luigia-parma
Darrell chose this hotel because he stayed there a number of thime in the past and it is close to the exhibition center where CIBUS is held. We checked into our rooms and freshened up then met down in the lobby. Darrell wanted to go see the Parma Cathedral, so we started walking in that direction. The cathedral is a little less than a half mile from the hotel.
The walk to the cathedral was pleasant. The weather was warm, but not too hot. we went inside the cathedral to take a look. There was a mass going on and the interior was filled with music as a hymn was being sung. The cathedral is stunningly beautiful with it's amazing frescoes, stained glass, towering arches and ceiling.
Next up was a visit to the Diocesan Museum of Parma is located in the Bishop’s Palace, in the Piazza Duomo. It occupies part of the under-ground level of the Palace. It is a small museum, does have some amazing artifacts on display, which focus on the construction of the Bishop’s Palace, Cathedral and Baptistery. It even houses a stretch of the late antique Roman walls dating to the end of the 3rd century AD.
After our look at the museum, we walked across the Piazza to take a look inside the Baptistery.
After visiting the Baptistery, we walked a few blocks further to the city hall and Governor's palace. There is a small Piazza in front of the Governor's palace with a few palces to eat and drink. It was time for a refresher, so we sat and had an Aperol Spritzer.
The Aperol Spritzer hit the spot. We were ready to walk back to the hotel after we finished our drinks and had our fill of people watching.
We made it back to the hotel around 6:30pm. Darrell wanted to unwind in his room. Shaun and I wanted to burn off some of the calories, so we took a brisk walk across the Parma River to see The Palazzo del Giardino, which is a historic palace in the Ducal Park. It was built in the second half of the 16th century by Ottavio Farnese, the Duke of Parma.
It started to get dark as we walked halfway through the park. We made our way to the front of the palace, which was closed. We decided to head back to the hotel and freshen up a bit. Darrell was still in his room, so we decided to wait to hear from him in case he was napping. Nine o'clock rolled around, so we called his room. He said he was going to pass on dinner, so Shaun and I took to the street to check out the dining possibilities. We checked out Yelp and decided to try a pizzeria a few blocks from the hotel. Pizzeria Bar Da Luca was our choice. It seemed busy and had good ratings. We ordered from the English menu, which didn't really translate well, but we figured how could any pizza in Parma be less than delicious. Shaun had a beer and I had to have a Fanta orange soda. I'm not really a soda drinker, but the orange soda in Europe is so much better than anything in the U.S.
The pizza was a great decision. It really hit the spot. We walked back to the hotel to turn in
for the night.