Viva Italia
Can I get some fish pills over here??
11.9.07
16 °C
It seems that all blog entries relating to Italy should be about food and wine. Maybe it's that most Italian travel memoirs mention nothing more than long meals filled with pasta and formagio and salami and espresso and vino, or maybe it's that the food in Italy is really THAT good. You can honestly spend an entire month in Italy and only eat. So, let us not be the ones to break this tradition and on to the topic of food...
After two relaxing days in Lake Como, we headed Southeast to Parma to begin our official food tour. As you probaly know, Parma is famous for its cheese (Parmigiano-Reggiano ) and Prosciutto (di Parma). We thought we were booking a hotel in the town of Parma, but by mistake booked one in the region of Parma, so ended up in the small town of Salsomaggiore de Terme about 45 minutes west of Parma. We went right to the tourist information office to try and arrange a visit to a local cheese factory. The lady working at the TI office was very nice, but our communication barrier was pretty apparant, so we took her map and headed out on our own. After driving around to FOUR different addresses listed on her sheet of parmigiano producers we finally found a place open and selling some cheese. Unfortunately they weren't elbow deep in cheese curds so we didn't get a tour, but did leave with a huge slab of good looking cheese (Tara and Steve - can't wait to share it with you tomorrow!!!!).
The small town of Salsomaggiore turned out to be a great little spot for shopping and dinner options. We picked a small restaurant off the main square (which we ended up being their ONLY customers of the night). It was, by far, the best meal we've had yet. A huge platter of prosciutto and house wine followed by polenta with gorgonzola and veal with asparagus. The olive oil on the bread was enough to satisy any foodie. We ended our night with an order of tiramisu and cappucinos - the BEST dessert so far!
After rolling out of bed the next morning we packed up and drove to Modena - the home of balsamic vinegar. Here we did find a vinegar producer who was willing to give us a tour of his place. The 2 year vinegar was better than anything we've had at home, and the 25 year - OH MY GOD. Actually, it was a bit too dessert and not enough vinegar. Oh, I forgot to mention that we finally gave in and decided to have lunch be our biggest meal of the day - realy Italians these days 
That day in Modena we sat for the full 2 + hour lunch of one liter of wine, an appetizer, two pizzas, coffee and dessert. YUM. But Oh God I need a nap....
Two days of wonderful food and we needed a little break. On to the Ferrarri musuem south of Modena. It had all the horsepower we needed, but a far cry from the Mercedes museum. (YES, Germans come out on top again!!!). By sense of sound, we did managed to hunt down the test track outside the factory - here's the video:
Alright, back to food
We're in Bologna right now and just got back to our hotel after a delicious meal of pasta with meat sauce and pumpkin tortelli. Chris ordered an espresso with sambuca for dessert and the waiter dropped an entire bottle of sambuca off at the table - we weren't sure what to do or how much we'd be charged. Anyways, it's nice to be trusted a bit more - I feel like we are back in German.
Grazie e arrivederci.
Have fun with the pics. P.S. Mom and Steph - welcome back to blog commenting. We are keeping score of who's on top (Pete's a top contender). Love you all!
http://www1.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=183879540/a=7226152_7226152/t_=7226152
Off to a week with Tara and Steve. YAY!!!!!!
Posted by t-bonez 13:34 Archived in Backpacking | Italy
lovin all the food! chris is really contending for chewbacca in that 'windy' photo...wish I was coming to spend the week with you two!
11.13.07 by egorovitz