Exploring Northern Italy
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| Center of Parma |
It's been a while since my last post! I apologize, what with our 5 day excursion to the Emilia Romagna region of Italy and final papers and exams, I've been a bit busy. But last week, as part of our program, our group went to the Emilia Romagna region and experienced a whole new side of Italy.
Emilia Romagna is located north of Tuscany and was a 9 hour drive away from Castellammare in the Campania region. Going to the north of Italy was like going to another country after being in the Naples area. The area is greener, cleaner and is more industry based than the south of Italy. It felt more European whereas southern Italy has it's own culture entirely, as well as most areas of Italy.
Our first two days we were in Parma, easily my favorite city in Italy so far. It charmed me with it's student vibe, unique history and architecture and of course, it's cheese. Parma is the home of parmesan, parmigiano, cheese. There's something about putting freshly grated parmesan cheese on pasta that makes it taste so much better. The north of Italy is famous for it's stuffed pasta as well, and we sprinkled the parmesan over a ravioli dish stuffed with ricotta cheese and herbs.
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| Parma Cathedral |
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| La Pilotta, bombed in WWII then partially rebuilt |
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| All wood amphitheater |
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| Baptistery, made of marble from Venice |
Parma is great because everyone bike rides. They even have stations on the sidewalks where you can "rent" bikes for free. You put a coin in the slot, get the bike and use it, and when you return it you get your coin back.
The next day we ventured outside of Parma to the most extraordinary countryside I've ever seen. Most people think of Tuscany when they think of quintessential Italian countryside, but Emilia Romagna should not be overlooked. It's filled with rolling green hills and small Italian towns. We went to Torrechiara, a 15th century castle with an interesting back story, situated between some of the rolling green hills with a view of the Apennine Mountains in the distance.
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| Castello di Torrechiara (photo credit: wikipedia) |
Though the above photo isn't mine, I wanted to show the beauty of the area. We went on a rainy day and couldn't see much in the distance. The castle was built by Pier Maria II Rossi, a wealthy count and excellent soldier, for his mistress, Bianca Pelligrini. It was one of two castle he built for her. In fact, a lot of the artwork depicted in the castle are a tribute to how they had to no choice in falling in love and it was as if they were hit by Cupids arrow.
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| Surrounding area |
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| On the balcony of the castle |
The rest of our trip took place in Bologna and around the city. Bologna is called the red city because of the many buildings built of red brick. Some of the historical buildings like their castle fortress was bombed in WWII and they've done an excellent job at restoring it to look like the original.
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| Labor Day Protests |
It was Labor Day for the Italians on the day we walked around Bologna. It's tradition to take to the streets and protest on labor day. Specifically, I saw a protest against Coop, which is a supermarket chain in Italy.
Something that is popular in Bologna and other cities in the north is aperitivo, which is like happy hour but included in the price of your drink is a small buffet where you can eat appetizers.
On the last day of our excursion, we went to a balsamic vinegar tasting and a wine tasting. The balsamic vinegar tasting, at San Donnino Vineyard outside of Modena, included tasting 5 different kinds of vinegar. Balsamic vinegar is popularly used on bread here in Italy, but depending on how long the vinegar has aged, it can be used on almost anything. We even tried balsamic with ice cream which was interesting. The older the vinegar, the better quality and the more expensive.
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| Balsamic on ice cream |
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| Balsamic vinegar storage |
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| San Polo vineyard |
We ended our trip at a stop at the Ferrari museum, where we were brought through the different stages of Ferrari's, from racing cars to the ones we have today.
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| My future car |
I only have one week left of my program, a week in France after that and then I'll be home. It's going to be hard saying goodbye to the friends I've made here and the most amazing view, but I'm excited to visit Paris again and to see my friends and family (and puppy Sophie!) at home.