mmm-yoso!!!

Modena - Ristorante da Danilo

Trains are interesting in Italy; it seems like they are always late. Our train from Ferrara to Bologna was 15 minutes late; which made me worry, since we had a 14 minute transfer time in Bologna for our train to Modena. I shouldn't have worried since our Bologna connection was 25 minutes late!

We arrived in Modena and made our way to the lovely apartment which was located right the edge of downtown Modena. It was spacious and the interior had been upgraded. The owner was not able to meet us; but her dad, a jolly and friendly gentleman did. While he spoke no English; he did a great job of showing us around and even wrote down a dinner recommendation for us!

I actually tried calling the restaurant for dinner reservations; but as soon as they heard English, they hung up on me!

We freshened up and took a short stroll.....I didn't take too many photos; only a few of Piazza Roma and Palazzo Ducale.

We also did a bit of shopping; checking out a Balsamic Vinegar (after all; this is Modena) shop and wandering around a bit.

Returning to the apartment, we took a short nap, and then decided to head out for dinner. In spite of being hung up on; we headed off to Risorante da Danilo to see if we could get a table.

Which we did. Initially, our Server was a rather serious, not very friendly woman...….we both gave her a hearty "buona serra" and got a one-second smile before the edges of her mouth returned to their locked downward position. The Missus and I just couldn't help but crack up. After seeing some of the rather demanding non-local customers during our meal; I could understand how folks here could become a bit jaded. 

And of course, some Lambrusco makes everything better, no?

We started our meal here in the same manner as other meals in Emilia-Romagna....with Salumi and of course Culatello. I just couldn't get enough of the stuff.

The prosciutto was quite good, meltingly tender, with a nice funky-cheesy finish. The culatello wasn't of the best quality, but was sliced nice and thin. And of course the torta fritta; here it was a bit thicker; making it more crunchy than crisp, though it was still wonderful with the cured meats. The Pecorino was on the "young" side but had a nice milkiness to it.

The Missus it seems, just couldn't get enough of the funghi in the region and went with the Papardelle con Funghi Porcini.

Man, the pasta was perfectly al dente, soft, yet with a pleasant stretch. The porcini added such a pleasant earthy-savory, almost sweetness to things. As with all the pasta in the region; it was nicely coated, but not drenched.....you had the means of really enjoying the flavors and pasta evenly.

While the Missus couldn't get enough porcini...well; I just couldn't get my fill of......tortellini. En Brodo de Cappone of course.

The tortellini were wonderful; slight savory-cheesy bliss, the perfect pasta....each tiny little morsel made by hand. Which is why it's usually the most expensive pasta on the menu. The broth was light but had a nice poultry flavor....that old hen surely gave her life for a noble cause.

Simple, pure, and basic seems to work the best in Emilia-Romagna.

By this time our Server had warmed up to us. We were enjoying our meal and were low maintenance, eating things as it should be.....she was actually smiling and stopping by to see how we were doing. The Emilia-Romagna warmth and friendliness was perhaps dormant at first.....but it could not help but push itself to the surface in the end.

We really enjoyed our dinner here.

Ristorante da Danilo
Via Coltellini 31
Modena, Italy

We strolled through Piazza Roma again.

Past the Monument to Ciro Menotti.

And into the Modena night...….

Ferrara - Trattoria da Noemi

After exploring Ferrara for a bit and then a short nap, we awoke hungry. Since it was Easter Monday, a holiday, we were lucky to have been able to get reservations for dinner. Our B&B was right outside the city walls, so we left a bit early and just enjoyed sitting alongside Ex Chiesa Di San Romano, which was now the Cathedral Museum, facing Piazza Trento e Trieste. It was a beautiful night!

It seems that much of the crowd we saw during the day had left.

Soon enough, dinner time had arrived. Ferrara itself is an ancient city, the first recordings of a settlement in the area was in the 6th Century BC. Thus the city, a UNESCO World Heritage site, has city walls and warrens of alleyways. Down one of these is Trattoria da Noemi. There was quite a line in place when we arrived and folks were being turned away. Like I said, we were lucky to have gone earlier in the day and snag some reservations. The only thing we had really eaten for the whole day was some salumi, so we were starved.

The Missus ordered the Fiori di Zucca fritti ripieni di mozzarella - fried squash blossom stuffed with mozzarella to start.

These looked fairly dense, but were surprisingly light, the breading nice and crisp. The cheese added a bit of density to things and just the slightest bit of milky acidity.

You know what I ordered as my primi, right?

Yep, Culatello of course! This was Culatello di Zebello, so tender, almost sweet, with a touch of milkiness. In case you don't know what part of the pig is used for this...think of the name...."culo". The torta fritta here was light and crisp, a perfect match for the piece of....ahem, you get it right?

We had noticed an entire section of "special" pasta on the menu. Can you guess what was special about these?

The Missus ordered the Fagottini ripieni di faraona al tartufo. These tender "little bundles" were filled with Guinea fowl, which was quite mild, we expected something more gamey. The hand made pasta was quite tender. And this is the way pasta is in Emilia-Romagna, it shines on it's own, not drenched in sauce and in this case, topped with fragrant black truffle. All the ingredients shine.

I had wanted to try pasta al zucca (pasta stuffed with pumpkin), so I ordered the Cappellacci di zucca burro e salvia al tartufo. Stuffed pasta in the shape of a "hat".

Of course I got it topped with truffle. The pasta is finished in sage butter; which wasn't enough to balance out the sweetness of the pumpkin....this was just too sweet for us. The pasta was quite tender, with the slightest pull.

We had enjoyed our meal with a couple of glasses of wine.

The meal was enjoyable and we attempted to make reservations for lunch the next day, but the place was booked solid.

Trattoria da Noemi
Via Ragno 31
44100 Ferrara, Italy

We awoke the next morning and had a light breakfast. We went back to our room to relax until check-out time. Our train didn't leave until after 4pm and we didn't have to do anything other than return out rental car. The folks running the B&B kindly allowed us to park our car in their lot after we checked out. We decided to take another walk around the city.

Things were fairly quiet. We just wandered the various alleyways and streets taking in the charming cobbled streets and warrens that circled the town.

Things started picking up as the clocked edged toward eleven. Many places were closed; I guess to recover from the Easter rush, all the other were booked, and even take out panini places had an hour wait....for paninis to go!

We decided that lunch just wasn't in the cards for us and just decided to return the rental car. When determining our route and timing for the rental car return, I noticed that our rental office in Ferrara was just a ten minute walk to the train station.

The woman at the rental office was so warm and friendly!

As I walked back out to the street, I noticed this place next to the rental office.

We got a couple of Americanos and shared a sandwich to kill some time. What was really interesting were the three guys sitting on the other side of the al fresco "palette", they had obviously gone thru a couple of beers each. One of the guys had that "glow" if you know what I mean....his face was bright red. He finished beer number who knows.....got up...shook his friends hands....and got into a delivery van and drove off! Sheesh....

We got up, returned our cups and saucers.....and took the short walk to Ferrara Train Station.

We'd had a fun time in Ferrara. I'd randomly picked Ferrara because of an extra day we had between cities and noticing how close the rental car office was to the train station. Part of this was driven by some dinner reservations and other things. Ferrara entertained us and exceeded our expectations. We just might return some day.....though I'm going to make sure it's not around a holiday!

Next stop....Modena!

Ferrara - The Cathedral, a Walk Around the City, and Al Brindisi, the oldest Wine Bar in the World, aka Copernicus Slept Here

  It was probably not the best plan on my part. I had thought Easter Sunday might be a problem and was kind of worried about finding places open. We did luck out with a gigantic meal at Osteria Carducci in an almost sedate Piacenza. Which pointed out two things I didn't know about Easter in Emilia-Romagna; folks in the big city head out to smaller towns; like Ferrara, to celebrate and enjoy life. Two, the Monday after Easter is a holiday and places would be packed. We searched for a decent place for lunch but every place was booked, or just served stuff like pizza and panini. We did manage to snag reservations for dinner.

We decided to just go ahead and check out this charming city; remember the amazing Street Performer?

Ferrara Cathedral dominates Piazza Trento e Trieste considered to be the center of the city. While there was a lot of restoration work going on, we decided to check out this structure which dates back to the 12th Century.

The interior is quite grand in a rather foreboding kind of way; as it is rather dark.

There were services going on; so we decided to just take a quick look around.....

It would be interesting to see the Cathedral after all the restoration work is complete.

As we slipped into the quite street behind the Cathedral we saw this place.

Al Brindisi....where did I hear that name before? Then in a rare example of my brains cells all firing at the same time, I remembered. Al Brindisi is said to be the "Oldest Wine Bar in the World".

Like 583 years old! So now for the name dropping; Copernicus studied at the University of Ferrara in 1503. While matriculating, he actually had a room right above Al Bridisi.

So, if it was good enough for Copernicus; it must be good enough for us.

Being a bit later in the afternoon; we just decided on some Culatello (of course) and a couple of glasses of wine. A red for the Missus and a white for me.

Along with the Culatello, we were served the famous and typical bread of the city; Coppia, which means "couple" has a unique shape, two strands of rolled dough are connected like a cross, with four "legs".

This was fairly dry and crumbly, though very "yeasty".....it's not something we'd search out.

The Culatello was decent, not quite melt in your mouth, but still satisfying.

There is a definite porky-cheesy flavor to culatello which I really love.

So, are you ready for our Al Brindisi story? It's about the Missus's red wine....first of all, it was turning a bit skunky to the nose....

It tasted like it was on its way to becoming a nice vinegar. We motioned our really nice Server over and explained to him that the red wine was going south. His response? He flashed us an uneasy smile and said "SOOO-rrreeee". And walked away never to be seen again! You couldn't help but laugh!

Oh well, we cut our losses...this red was really inexpensive.

And we now have a story about the oldest wine bar in the world, right?

Enoteca al Brindisi
Via Guglielmo Degli Adelardi 11
44121, Ferrara, Italy

After our snack we headed out and stretched our legs.

Ferrara was indeed an "interesting" town.....looks like this fellow is trying to sell his books?

Just a few blocks from the center of town; things were a lot quieter. This is the Piazzeta Sant 'Anna

This was once the sight of the first hospital in Ferrara, dedicated to Saint Anne.

We headed away from the city center......just taking in some of the wonderful structures along the way.

That's the Chisea del Gesu above, a Jesuit church built in the 16th century.

You kind of get the idea that they measure time in centuries here. In need of a nap before dinner we headed back, past the Castello Estense di Ferrara.

Past all the busy craft booths.

It was time for a nap....and then dinner!

Thanks for stopping by!

From Parma to Ferrara

*** Not much food in this one

After having a huge meal in Piacenza we drove back to the Agritourismo to find out that they had moved us to a smaller room! Apparently, they had reservations for a fairly large family who had booked a small room. We were told that they had tried to contact us, but were unsuccessful......and just decided to move us to a smaller room. Hmmm......well, at least they only charged us half the price for our "new" room....which unfortunately, was in the main building and was really loud....well, whatever. We did manage a nap and woke when folks started heading out for the evening. Still not hungry, we decided to head on back to Parma. I still had my parking stub from the previous day and we managed to find parking in basically the exact same spot, so I didn't have to pay.

We crossed at Ponte di Mezzo and noticed that folks below at Piazza Ghiaia were having a good old time.

As we walked down the stairs I cracked up......it appears that they were having some kind of American themes "50's" night......check out the billboards in the arcade area!

And of course the food trucks were serving burgers......

Among other things.

Our favorite part was watching the band and the folks dancing.

In some ways it seemed like a celebration of being American, in a way we don't really do anymore. It was a lot of fun......

Soon enough we headed back to our room and crashed, awaking the next morning before anyone.....

Grabbing some breakfast and then heading out.

Had things been perfectly timed, it would have been logical to head to Modena next. However, because of some critical dinner reservations, there was an extra night. So, I decided that we might enjoy spending a night in Ferrara. I got us a very nice room right outside the city walls....with parking. The woman who ran the B&B was so nice and the room was huge. It was just a short walk into the city.

Remember how I mentioned that Piacenza was pretty empty on Easter and we were told that folks liked to get out of big cities on holidays? Well, I think most of them were here.

Ferrara itself is quite stunning....more on that in a future post. The entire center of town was a market on this day....and we bought a few gifts.

And perhaps should have bought a few more?

The city is quite beautiful.

And charming. Piazza Trento e Trieste is pretty much the main square in Ferrara, right in front of the Cathedral. This is where we saw what might be our favorite street performer of all time, a puppeteer, who just had the Missus mesmerized, with his performance of a dog trying to impress his "love" to Louie Armstrong's version of La Vie en Rose.

Other dogs passing by would start barking at the puppet.....the gestures, the movement....the "pooch" even got scolded for peeing once....all while trying to impress his "lady friend". We gave this guy 2 Euros and he probably deserved more. When I went to put the coins in his container I noticed that it was almost full! This puppeteer was that good.

Here are a couple of excerpts.

We still watch these every so often. Hope you enjoy them!

And thanks for stopping by!

Emilia-Romagna - The "Devils Bridge" and a Mona Lisa Mystery in Bobbio and Easter Lunch at Osteria Carducci (Piacenza)

Let's be perfectly honest here....I love obscure history and places; thus my love for Atlas Obscura. And since there's no sponsors or advertising on our humble little blog, you know I'm not getting anything out of recommending both the book and the website. And sometimes, I can get the Missus interested in searching something out as well....in fact, once that seed is planted, She is much more relentless than I am.

That is why; after having breakfast in the Agritourismo, we headed off to Bobbio. Driving thru Piacenza, which would be our stop for lunch, then alongside the River Trebbia. As we came across a bridge the Missus asked that we make a little detour.

To the charming medieval town of Travo.

Since this was a spur of the moment kind of thing; we really didn't do any research, nor plan any stops. We just took in the relaxed vibe and beauty of the town. We parked along one of the side streets and stretched our legs a bit.

I believe that's the Church of Saint Anthony in the photo above.

It was Easter morning and we could singing coming from the church.

We watched as two elderly men parked their walkers and entered the church; the harmonies briefly escaping from the door as they walked in.

This is so vastly different from the life we live here in San Diego...…

It was fun sitting on a stone wall and watching folks go about their day.

We took a walk across the bridge to take in the town....that's the second photo above.

From there it was a short 20 minute drive to the town of Bobbio. It seemed that Bobbio had a restricted traffic zone; at least on this day, Easter. I found parking in the Supermarket parking lot and after asking one really nice lady for directions headed in the direction of Ponte Vecchio ("Old Bridge"), also known as Ponte Gobbo ("Hunchbacked Bridge") and Ponte Diavolo (you know this one, right?).

What's the reason for wanting to see this bridge? Well, perhaps it's the story that the Devil built the bridge over the River Trebbia in hope of receiving a soul of the first person crossing it as payment. The Devil however was tricked as St. Columbanus, who made the deal with the Devil, had a dog (or a bear) be the first to cross the bridge! The irregularity of the bridge is due to either the Devil's workers not being able to build something of consistent heights....oooor the Devil got so angry in being tricked that he kicked the bridge making it lopsided!

Take your pick.....it's a great story whichever you choose to; or not to believe!

As great as that story is, the real reason we came here is because of....well, you may recognize her.

So, what does the Mona Lisa have to do with Ponte Vecchio? Well, according Art Historian Carla Glori, the background in this iconic painting is not some imaginary landscape, but Bobbio! Shades of the Da Vinci code Batman! Here's an interview of Carla Glori. So, of course, we just had to check it out. As did quite a few other folks, of the two and four legged kind.

We both thought the bridge was quite beautiful...…

There seems to be interesting things everywhere around the bridge.

We spent a good amount of time before heading back across the bridge and exploring Bobbio.

Unlike sedate Travo, Bobbio was bustling......I later learned that folks usually leave their homes to visit other places during the Easter Holiday.

And I really regretted not doing a bit more shopping here.

I'm thinking as much as we really enjoyed Bobbio, that we'll return and perhaps stay here one day in the future.

It was soon time to head off. I thought we'd have the best chance to find a place to eat in Piacenza so we headed back to the city, which was strangely quiet. I later found out that many folks head out of Parma and Piacenza during the long Easter weekend to be with family or friends. We soon found that Piacenza had its own ZTL zone, but we quickly found parking. And as I was getting ready to pay, one of the folks across the street told us...or at least signaled...letting us know that parking was free during Easter.

We headed down the quiet streets looking for a place I had on my list named Osteria Carducci. Past the Gotico and down Piazza Cavalli....Google Maps was my best friend right now.

All the businesses and even restaurants looked closed; but when we took the left turn at Via Giosuè Carducci, I knew we'd be okay....well, I knew that at least the place was open. The light in the sign was on and there were cars parked alongside the building.

We entered the place, which was bustling, to the surprise of the folks behind the bar. Somehow, in the middle of Eater rush, two Asians walk in!

We were told that they could provide a table for us; but the menu for today was an Easter menu. Which would be no problem; especially since all the vino (for the Missus) was free!

We were led downstairs, which was quite busy. By the time we left every table had been filled...….and no one except us had left yet.

Soon enough, plates started arriving at the table. We were a bit confused as there seemed to be a choice of two items as the primi and secondi......the really nice young lady who spoke really great English explained that this was the menu. We'd be getting everything on it! Yikes! And of course places like these do not do take-away.....these was going to be interesting. The young lady seemed quite amused with us.

Things started off with the Culaccia con Flan de Verdure. Culatello! My flavorite salumi….I ate both my portion and the Missus's. The flan was a moist, though highly caramelized zucchini and ricotta pastry, much lighter than it looked.

We thought we might be able t survive this until two bowls filled with Piacenzi Tortelli con la coda (tortelli with a "tail"), the city's namesake stuffed pasta arrived.

The pasta was both springy and tender; the filling was quite rich and creamy. I could make out ricotta, perhaps a bit of chard or other similar greens, some milky-salty cheese, it was quite satisfying, and filling. The sage butter sure didn't hurt things either.

A minute later, out came two plates of Nidi di Rondini (Swallows nests); roasted rolled pasta, with a nice crunch; rolled around cheese and salumi in a very tasty asparagus cream.

Crunchy-creamy-cheesy goodness.

Next up; the Roasted Veal and Potatoes.

Nicely roasted if a bit on the chewy side.....very nice gravy....but man, a whole plate of potatoes!

The pistachio crusted lamb ribs were quite tasty....the lamb nice and gamey, but also on the tough and dry side.

The mint and yogurt sauce helped a bit.

The Missus and I looked at each other and cracked up...…..this was way more than we wanted. Then dessert arrived.

Luckily, this was a light chocolate mousse topped with a tangy fruit compote.

We'd made it...we survived....then the cake arrived.

The Missus discreetly got some paper towels out of Her purse and snuck these away. Yes, we smuggled cake out of Osteria Carducci.

We did enjoy ourselves and the folks here were so warm, friendly, and welcoming. And after this, well, "hearty" would be an understatement....meal, we skipped dinner.

They sure don't mess around with Easter lunch at Osteria Carducci.

Osteria Carducci
Via Giosue' Carducci 6
Piacenza, Italy

We really needed to take a walk after that meal. So we wandered around a bit and ran into the Duomo of Piacenza.

The Cathedral of Piacenza was built between the 12th and 13th centuries in the Romanesque style. It is quite striking.

And the square in front of the Cathedral was fairly busy. This was the most people we saw during our afternoon in Piacenza.

It was fun seeing folks socializing and having a good time.

That's the Column of the Virgin Mary in the photo below.

 

We took a few minutes to walk around the interior of the Cathedral.

And then decided to head back to the car. I'd taken photos with my phone of the landmarks on the way from where we parked; but we were just down the street from Sant'Antonino Basilica.

And soon enough, we were on our way back to Parma.

It had been a been a fun day.....and Bobbio, I think we'll be back someday!

Thanks for reading!

Parma - Trattoria Sorelle Picchi

After returning from visiting Castello di Torrechiara and Fontanellato we returned to the Agritourismo and rested up a bit.

As the afternoon sun faded, we decided it was time to head to Parma for dinner. We again found parking alongside the Parma River....as double bonus, because the next day was Easter, the parking pass was good for two days! Instead of heading into Parma like we did the previous day, the Missus decided we should just walk up Stradone de Martiri Della Liberta', just called the "Stradone". Interesting history here as this was the first Italian Boulevard designed in the French style. We hadn't been on this street before; it was side, tree-lined, with some very nice houses along the way.

At the East end of the street is this interesting structure.....it stood out since it seemed to be isolated in the middle of traffic.

This is the Casinetto Petitot, once a stylish cafe, designed by French born architect Ennemond Alexandre Petitot, who spent most of his career in the Province of Parma.

From here we took a left, past the Chiesa di San Pietro d'Alcantara and down some side streets. If we thought that seeing a non-Italian tourist was a rare sight before....now it looked all local.

It was a nice walk.....and we ended up on busy Strada della Republica again.

Even stopping back at the same cafe as the day before for a nice shot of espresso.

It was still a bit early for dinner, so we just wandered around a bit more......

And ended up back at Parma Cathedral.

There a nice open piazza in front of the Cathedral.....it was fun to sit and people watch for a bit. In contrast to Florence, things seemed so laid back here.

The Missus noticed that folks were going in and out of the cathedral.

So we decided to take a look.

The interior and the frescoes were quite dramatic.

From here it was back across Strada Giuseppe Mazzini and down the busy pedestrian Strada Farini. This lively street was Missus's favorite in central Parma. There are busy bars, restaurants, and shops.

Also on this street was a restaurant that was recommended to us named Trattoria Sorelle Picchi. We found the place which seemed really busy. Well, at least the outdoor eating area did. There's what seemed to be the kitchen, which could be viewed from the sidewalk.

There's a deli area and then the dining room, which, unlike the outdoor area, was quite empty when we arrived.

It did fill up quickly a few minutes after we were seated. At which time we noticed that there was an additional dining area downstairs. This was a deceivingly large trattoria!

Our Server was very nice, professional and attentive.

Of course we (I) started with the Culatello di Zibello, this one was aged 20 months. I loved how thin it was sliced.

Because of how thinly sliced and moist this was, it just melted away once it hit our tongue. Amazing......

This time it was the Missus who ordered the Cappelletti en Brodo.

First off, this capon broth was rich, chicken-ny, and not overly salty. It was really good. The pasta, stuffed with what seemed to be a meat-salumi mixture was excellent. The texture was amazing. I mentioned this to our Server who then brought back the menu and pointed out the names of the "Sfoglina" (the pasta makers) on the menu; Giuseppina and Luisella.

I ordered the "Trio de Tortelli".

First off, the ravioli like pasta was excellent, perfect pull, no hard spots, relatively doughy and springy at the same time. The erbette, which I believe is chard and ricotta had a nice milky-bitter-salty balance that was enjoyable. The Missus thought the "zucca" pumpkin tortelli was too sweet and I would probably agree with Her. The spalla (cured pork shoulder) in the green tortelli was nicely flavored and not too salty and the shaved Parmigiano Reggiano did help elevate it.

Overall, a very nice meal. We had really taken to the wonderful textures and flavors of the region. Things seemed so simple and yet the tastes and textures were quite amazing.

Trattoria Sorelle Picchi
Strada Luigi Carlo Farini 27/A
Parma, Italy

We had a nice walk back to the car.....through the part of Strada Farini that was more sedate.

It had been such a nice day and dinner just topped everything off.

Parma - Castello di Torrechiara, Rocca Sanvitale di Fontanellato, and Lunch at Ristorante Io Parmigianino (Fontanellato)

Our first morning in Parma was going to be about castles. Upon arriving at the Agritourismo, Adriano gave us a pamphlet with photos of various castles in them. After doing a bit of research that evening, it was determined that we should visit two of them.

The first being Castello di Torrechiara, located about 11 miles South of Parma, it stands on a hill overlooking the Parma Valley.

We parked our car at the foot of the hill and walked up the road. There was a slight drizzle, but that didn't diminish the wonderful view as we walked up to the castle.

The walk up to the gates seem a bit intimidating and forboding…..especially with no one else around on this morning. We had arrived just after 8am when the castle opened.

 

It does indeed look like a fortress on a hill.

And yet, once you walk upon the wall and porch, you start noticing things....like the magnificent views.

It is quite enchanting.

You start understanding that building this castle was a labor of love. In fact Pier Maria de Rossi built this castle, for the love of his life Bianca Pellegrini, a Noblewoman of Milan. Both were married.....

Once you enter the rooms and see the frescoes you really start understanding.

This is the "Golden Room", the bedroom of Pier Maria Rossi. Gold leaf once adorned the tiles on the wall.

The Room of the Jugglers.

Several other rooms have impressive frescoes......it's quite breathtaking.

It was quite impressive and quite a bit to take in.

It was still drizzling off and on as we walked back down the hill to the car.

We decided to head to the town of Fontanellato about 12 miles west of Parma.

We noticed that all the streets into the center of town were blocked off.

So we went ahead and found a parking lot right outside the town center.

We had actually stopped in Fontanellato to check out the castle; this one was built in the 13th century and featured a moat. But upon arriving in town we were immediately distracted by.....pirates?!?

And Food Trucks?

And Pop Music....American of course......coming from the castle? A quick look at the sign explained all.

"Castelo Street Food" it said....it was some kind of street fair.

We cracked up...….

We decided to just walk around a bit, then grab some lunch.

We weren't in Emilia-Romagna to eat burgers or fish and chips....food trucks were out. We passed by a few nice looking places, but just didn't "feel it".

Then down on of the side street from Rocca Sanvitale we saw a deli....which seemed to have some tables in the front....it also had a nice small menu. The woman behind the counter waved at us; so we walked in.

The shop had a nice little dining area in the back of the shop.

The menu was totally in Italian, but it had started getting pretty easy ordering. Since this looked to be selling a lot of salume, formaggi, and trays of pasta to locals....ordering was easy.

Salume Misto con Torta Fritta (12€).

All the salumi were good; but the Culatello di Zibelo was the star. I swear, there's a porky start, with a cheesy, mushroomy finish to it. 

The torta fritta was a bit thicker and not as light as what we had the previous evening. It was however, super hot, and seemed to bring out the best in the prosciutto, culatello, and especially the fatty pancetta canusina.

The Missus had never bought into the combination of balsamic vinegar on Parmigiano Reggiano; but I couldn't help but order the Gustazione Parmigianno Reggiano (10€), which had 24/30/36 month old cheese.

While we both enjoyed the 30 month old the best; a balanced nutty-milky, the Missus isn't a big fan of the crunchy tyrosine (it's NOT SALT) crystals in aged Parmesan, She did enjoy the 36 month old cheese with the balsamic drizzle. Oh, and none of these cheese were salty.....that's what we found with Parmigiano Reggiano, it's not especially salty. This was a lot ofcheese and we ended up taking half of it with us to go.

The pasta en brodo (9,5€) here was Cappelletti....."little caps".

The broth here was a bit darker than what we had previously and not quite as rich. Nice chicken flavor though and the cheese filled pasta was lovely; milky, not overly milky. There's something about capon broth and these pastas that are so good.

The Missus got the Tortelli de Patate con Funghi Porcini (9€).

Porcini was really the way to go as mushroom and sauce was earthy and almost sweet. The potato filling was pretty much that.....filling; the texture of the pasta was a nice al dente, the grated parmesan added a nice milkiness to thing. This was quite filling.

The Missus enjoyed the Lambrusco....I was driving so I just had H2O. The two young ladies, one which seemed to be the woman behind the deli counter's daughter were very ncie.

A nice meal overall.

Io, Parmigianino
Via Guglielmo Marconi 21
Vicino Alla Rocca Sanvitale, Fontanellato, Italy

It's amazing.....a random spot.....another nice meal.

Parma - I Tre Siochett

After lunch at Osteria dei Sani in Sasso Marconi we headed to Parma. It was a rather uneventful drive. Figuring out the toll process was pretty easy. Since we had a car and central Parma is a restricted traffic (ZTL) zone; that is only vehicles with permits are allowed in the central area, I decided to book an Agritourismo….which turned out to be a mixed experience. Even at only a few miles outside Parma, it was a pain driving to the city, though we did manage to find parking....not in one of the pay lots, but alongside the Parma River (Torrente Parma). And then take a nice walk into town.

And while we didn't spend too much time in the city itself; except to eat and wander the streets. That's the Governor's Palace above.

We did take in some of the sights. That's the Sanctuary of Santa Maria della Steccata below.

The Monumento ai Caduti…..the war memorial.

And the large open space in front of Parma Cathedral which we'd visit again a bit later.

On this afternoon and evening, we were just trying to get our bearings and stretch our legs a bit after spending most of the day driving. 

We headed back to what we considered the main street in the city; Strada Giuseppe Mazzini and just headed up the street where it suddenly became Strada della Republica.

We decided to stop for a coffee right before Chiesa di San Sepolcro.

You could tell that Parma wasn't a heavily American/English/Asian tourist destination. Some folks were quite surprised to see the Missus and I. My linguistic ability is basically nil, except for food, but folks in Parma were really warm, kind, and easy to smile. The woman working at this cafe; I believe it's called Provinciali was so nice. When we returned again the following day later for coffee she waved and smiled to us.

Our host at the Agritourismo, Adriano was super friendly, and even gave us a list of restaurants...…..places he ate at. I Tre Siochett was outside of Central Parma, it looked fairly close to where we were staying....though we were warned, "it's not so easy to find in the dark". We did find it though.....

Just along a roadside....the place was hopping! The guys working here were very friendly. We were handed menus and I immediately ordered something from the menu.....the Italian menu mind you.....the guy looked shocked....we were immediately brought an English version of the menu and I still ordered the dish....more on that later.

Of course we had to have the Salume Misto, which was a bargain at 8 Euros!

The culatello and the prosciutto were very good; but it was the item on the left side of the plate we both loved.....our first experience with Ciccioli, all the wonderful fatty and scrap pieces of pork, so porky and delicious. Also, this was truly served the Emilio-Romagna way. With lovely, yeasty, light pockets of dough called "torta fritta".

Each version we had was a bit different. This one was light and crisp, not overly "lardy", with some decent salt. You open up the one end of the torta fritta and place your salumi in it and eat....at least this is how we were taught. I also saw folks eating two pieces of torta fritta with salumi between them like a sandwich. Regardless....this was heaven with salumi.

Every area within Emilia-Romagna seems to have their own type of stuffed pasta......and the best way to eat it is "en brodo" in a clear chicken based broth. In western Emilia-Romagna it's Anolini.

Usually the most expensive primi on the menu (it's all relative - this was 12 Euros); because of the amount of work needed to make the pasta, the payoff, like this version, was usually quite good. A bit of meat, cheese, or sometimes "Zucca" (pumpkin). Loved the texture of the pasta.

And then, there was the "Pesto di cavallo con pestata di capperi" (10 Euros). I ordered it from the Italian menu, then was immediately brought the English menu......just for clarification purposes and we still ordered it. Just so you know, cavallo is horse, and this is basically horse tartare. The really nice Server just wanted to make sure. Because as he said in English, "even Italiano...it is yes-no, yes-no, yes-no...." Which made the Missus and I crack up.

This was definitely a "yes"....served with a caper relish on the side....a squeeze of lemon...the finish is so clean, the flavor almost refreshing, with a slight sweetness. The acid and brininess adding character to the dish.

The Missus ordered the "cake" for dessert and holy-moly.....this is one serving of "cake".....

The place was even more packed as we left. We loved the gracious, friendly service. This was a fun meal and folks here just put us a ease.

I Tri Siochett
Strada Comunale Farnese 74/A
Parma PR, Italy

Adriano was right when he said finding our way back via the side streets outside Parma in the dark was going to be interesting....even with a GPS. I think we took a couple of circles....the good thing about roundabouts is that if you miss your exit, you just take another loop. After what seemed like 45 minutes for a 15 minute drive, we ended up back at our room.

There was something about the cuisine of Emilia-Romagna that really seemed to suit us.

Osteria dei Sani - Sasso Marconi (Emilia-Romagna)

Though we had enjoyed our time in Florence, I was really looking forward to spending the rest of the trip in Emilia-Romagna.

But first we had to get there. We'd be spending the next three nights in an Agritourismo outside Parma. So I rented a car. Somehow, we found our way onto Autostrada A1 in the direction of Bologna. Driving in Italy was interesting, in a good way, I loved that slow traffic went to the right, the middle lane was for most folks, and the left lane was for passing or driving like a bat out of hell. I gotta say, there's nothing like going 160 km/hr (99.5 mph) and seeing some properly dressed "Nonna" driving a Maserati pass you like you're standing still!

I knew we'd have to stop for lunch on the way to Parma, so I did some research on restaurants between Florence and Bologna and one place kept popping up; Osteria dei Sani. So that's where we headed. We got to sleepy little Sasso Marconi (population approx 15,000), found parking next to the park at the edge of town (like three blocks from the center) and easily found the restaurant.

The folks here are super friendly and warm. Something we'd find throughout Emilia-Romagna. I'm sure they found us to be a bit "different" from their regular clientele.

There was just one other table of customers when we arrived.

But the place filled up fast and it seemed that all the customers knew each other.......

This being Emilia-Romagna, I just couldn't wait to dig into some salumi, so I ordered the Sfiziosita de Salumi a combination of salumi, which was only 8 Euros!

That mortadella was delicious as was the salami; but the pancetta canusina, pork belly was so mild and almost silken. And my favorite by far, the culatello, which was firm at first, but then gave way while chewing. The flavor was amazing, slightly sweet, a bit funky, with a finish like cheese. It was love at first bite. I'd end up ordering culatello everywhere the Missus would let me. And each was different......

One of the classic dishes of the region; the Tortellini in brodo (10€). It seems that every area has it's own stuffed pasta that would end up in broth. While this dish seems so simple, it was often times the most expensive primi on the menu. It's because these tiny stuffed pasta is hand made and also so tasty.

The texture is tender, pillowy, yet with a slight pull. Simply stuffed with cheese and a tiny piece of salumi....well, that's all you need. The chicken broth had just enough fat and though we'd have much better brodo later on during our time in the area, I instantly knew I'd love the food here.

The Missus got the Tagliolini con Tartufo (10€). Yes, the Missus was still in "truffle mode".

The fragrance was amazing, but the flavor rather mild. Let on during the trip, the Missus would start switching up to porcini. The pasta was a tad over-cooked for our taste, but this was still very good.

The Missus wanted to try he Scallopina all Aceto Balsamico (10€). 

The balsamic vinegar based sauce was quite tangy and sour....it was actually quite good with the bread....at least I thought so. The veal was a bit too lean and tough for us.

Overall, a very nice meal and a great start to our time in Emilia-Romagna.

The Gentleman who seemed to be the owner was very friendly and came by to greet us and shake our hands. Service was warm and friendly. The Missus enjoyed Her glass of wine and the price was very reasonable.

Osteria dei Sani
Via Porrettana 324
Sasso Marconi, Italy

If every place in Emilia-Romagna was going to be like Osteria dei Sani, we were going to have a great time!

From San Diego to Bologna

It was quite interesting. When I mentioned to folks that we were headed off to Florence; everyone seemed thrilled, there was all that art, the architecture, and the history. When I mentioned visiting Emilia-Romagna, I'd often get quizzical looks....why not Milan, Verona, or "fill in the blank"..... And yet, getting to the source, the home of Parmegiano-Reggiano, Balsamic Vinegar, Mortadella, Prosciutto, the (at that time) mysterious Culatello, and of course what folks here call "Bolognaise" sauce, the "Ragu" drew me in. On my shelf resides a cookbook that spawned an entire series on NPR. Published back in 1992, The Splendid Table (which spawned the radio show), won a James Beard award, and is about the food of Emilia-Romagna. I'd always wondered about the food and foodways of the region and I finally had my chance. Plus, I just had to visit a city whose nickname is "la grassa" (the fat one) and since Bologna's other nickname is "la dotta" (the learned), I might learn a thing or two.

First things first of course. We had to get there. Our flight from San Diego to London Heathrow was ten hours long. We then had a five-and-a-half hour layover, before flying to Bologna. We'd be arriving at 1130 pm. Things were a bit hectic, so we didn't have time for dinner before leaving. We figured we'd get something on our flight.

Still, our flight wasn't until 845pm and we needed something, however small, to eat. Since we were flying in Business Class, we had use of the Airspace Lounge. Be it ever so humble, flying on British means that you have a choice of complimentary wraps, appetizers, and desserts in the lounge. Along with drinks.

Which aren't half bad. Though the Missus doesn't care for the glassware used for wine and champagne in the lounge; who are we to complain? It's a nice getaway from the chaos before boarding.

I'll go over BA's Business and First Class seating in a future post.

Strangely, both that Missus and I have found that food on international flights from the US is not quite as good as on return flights for both BA and JAL. I'm not sure why. On this outbound flight, I really didn't enjoy my dinner very much.

The crab rillettes presentation looked odd and it was really bland. The beef filet was really tough. I enjoyed the fruit plate the most. Nice and refreshing.

Because of the lie-flat seats; we were both able to get a couple of hours of sleep, which I believe is quite important.

We both actually enjoyed the Traditional English Breakfast. Which wasn't too bad.

To be perfectly honest; I've mentioned this before, Heathrow is not my favorite airport. The lack of signage, having to go through rather chaotic security check a second time, the "cattle call" flight notification in Terminal 5....you cool your heels, while trying to find some seating until your gate comes up, sometimes waiting until 45 minutes before your flight. In many cases you have to then catch the tram to your find you gate and so forth.

So even though the Galleries Business Class Lounge can be pretty busy. It's still an oasis during a five-and-a-half hour layover.

For some reason, we always find seats tucked away in the corner. The Missus can watch Her movies on the iPad. I can check work emails and catch up on things.

We can hydrate, the food is nothing to write home about, but on occasion, we'll try something like clotted cream, which a coworker of the Missus said we just "needed to try".

I'm still not certain what the symbolism of the Horse with the Lampshade Hat is to BA though.....

Eventually, we made our flight, and arrived in Bologna at 1130pm. I gotta say, getting through immigration at Guglielmo Marconi Airport was amazingly quick and efficient. It helps that we travel with only 8-10 kilos of luggage each, regardless of whether we're staying two weeks or two months, you usually don't need more. Plus, this is Europe, you can usually get whatever you might need. 

Because of our late arrival and having to catch the train to Florence the next day, I booked a hotel two blocks from the train station. It was the most expensive room we'd have during our entire stay; but the check out time (noon) was convenient for our 155pm train and they served what was a pretty good breakfast.

We still have over three hours to kill before checking out. So we headed out.

From the Porta Galliera, which was one of the original gates of the medieval city of Bologna.

 

Past the Park of Montagnola.

And down Via Indipendenza which is considered the main street of the city. Bologna is famous of the "Portici" the porticoes which cover over 22 miles of the city.

To what is considered the heart of Bologna, Piazza Maggiore.

This large area is connected to the Piazza del Nettuno, which houses one of the most well known of landmarks, the Fountain of Neptune. Erected in 1564, there's quite a story behind this fountain, you can read more about it in this wonderful post. A really neat fact about the fountain; Maserati's logo is based on the trident of the fountain.

That large church is the Basilica of San Petronio. Construction on it was started in 1390. It is the 6th largest church in Europe. There's a distinctive look to the façade of the church. That's because it's unfinished. According to the design it was to be larger than Saint Peter's in Rome (link to our post), but Pope Pius IV put a stop to that, diverting the funds to create a new university. Hmmmm......more intrigue.

We'd end up hanging around Piazza Maggiore when we returned to Bologna. Though we ended up not spending quite as much time here as we wished.

We headed down one of the side streets....quite surprised at how quiet things were.

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We wandered down the porticoes when the Missus noticed this church; San Giovanni in Monte.

From here, things went off the rails a bit, as the Missus seemed fascinated with just wandering around.

We then got a bit lost. When trying to locate our position on the map; it seemed we were off of it! Time to turn on data and find out where we were.

Turns out we were on a street named Via Libia and pretty close to the Bologna San Vitale rail station....pretty far off course.

We righted ourselves and walked back; through the university district, pass the Le Due Torri, the two landmark leaning towers of Bologna.

Time was tight, but we did make the noon check-out and walked the short way to the train station. The high speed rail from Bologna to Florence is supposed to only take 34 minutes. However, like we'd find while riding the rails in Italy, unlike the Shinkansen in Japan, trains here are terminally late. And this was no exception; 25 minutes late.

We actually found this kind of humorous. And we were on vacation.......

Next stop; Florence!

Thanks for reading!