January 3, 2013 - A hard day driving to Parma

After breakfast in the lounge, we loaded the van, and left the Cavalieri heading north. Ron drove us out of the city, and then Mike took over. We left the Autostrada and Ron drove us into the little city of Arezzo, a town of 100,000 which was an important Etruscan city. There we drove around, surprised how large the town was, and finally came to a place we could park and walk to find a place for lunch - Trattoria Vigna. 

Trattoria with open fire where they grilled the meats

Ron's minestrone

Mary and Pat had Tris (3 kinds of pasta - one with wild boar)

Mike's unusual Etruscan soup - bread, eggs, cheese - no broth

The traffic was extremely heavy on the autostrada between Arezzo and Parma.  The lanes are narrow and the traffic moves so fast and the drivers don't give you any space. It was nerve-wracking, and unfortunately we had a fender bender. To make matters worse, the other driver was very hot-headed, and approached the van, jerking open Ron's door. We wondered if there would be a "road rage" incident. We sat along the busy highway almost an hour, and everyone gave up on waiting for Police -  and exchanged names and information. 

Parma is known for "ham and cheese" - very special Parma Ham (proscuitto) and Parmesan cheese. This is what attracted us there - not the fact that one of the oldest universities in the world is there, nor the famous opera, nor the famous cathedral..... And it was a good stopping off point on our way to Milan. It is in the province of Emilia-Romagna.

We didn't want to drive into the city, and read good reviews for the Holiday Inn Express - so that is where we made our bed that evening. However, with the lunch stop and hour wasted on the highway, it was already dark coming into Parma, and we had a difficult time finding the hotel. I had chosen it partly because reviews had indicated it was easy to find outside the city center and had free, secure parking, free Internet and free breakfast, and was very reasonably priced. Our GPS sent us on small roads in a part industrial, part residential area. It suddenly announced we had arrived, but none of us could see ANYTHING that resembled a hotel. We continued on and encountered an underpass with curves where you could not see uncoming traffic. Mike came up with a good word - chicane. Our nerves were already on edge, and facing those blind curves with trucks coming toward us didn't help matters!

We re-traced our steps, and down a side street Pat saw a lighted building, and Ron pulled down the street. It was our destination - the only sign a small one over the door. The story doesn't end there. The guys parked the van in the underground garage which took a vehicle a maximum of 2-meters.  The van barely squeaked by! Meanwhile, Pat and I had gone to our rooms - Pat managed to get her door open with the swipe card, but could not get any lights to come on in the room (despite having placed the card in the slot which enabled lighting). I could not get my door open at all.  When the guys came, Mike went downstairs and got someone to come up and help. This took a couple trips and 15-20 minutes before we could finally get into our rooms. 

We all sat in the small room (three of us on the bed) for a much-needed beverage.

We then set out in a taxi for the center of Parma to the Trattoria dell Tribunale, recommended by Domenico's friend (about which I had also read good reviews). The city of Parma was very beautiful with many buildings with spectacular lighting.

At the restaurant we were shown to a room on the second floor. We heard other foreign voices and wondered if we were being "segregated" in Siberia. But soon the room filled up with many Italians. 

Raw minced horsemeat

Ron's too rare and cold steak (had to send back for more cooking)

Mary's eggplant Parmesan

Pat's "soupy" lemon sorbet

Pat had ordered guinea fowl, but was served veal, which she decided to keep. However, part of the veal turned out to be something like a pate with a strange consistency. We inquired what it was and could only understand that it contained Parmesan cheese, eggs, and bread (sounds like the Etruscan soup!)

Everyone was tired after a rather stressful day. I went down to the hotel lobby to work on the Internet, as the wireless signal did not reach the room.