Parma - Days 4, 5, 6

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DAY 4 - Sunday
This morning, before the sun was up, we had to catch a train to the airport to meet John's students as they arrived. The trains/train stations are hard to figure out here, not very informative (which we'll come to find out is that way everywhere we are in Italy). We asked an employee where to go and went there. Thankfully, he realized he told us the wrong information and came to tell us the correct platform we needed to be on. It was very kind and very thoughtful of him to do that and made our day much easier. After having some airport coffee we sat at the arrival area to greet the students as they came out. Barilla Academy (our hosts in Parma) met us and provided bus transportation to Parma.
One student was standing in the wrong area, missed the bus and had to take a train later in the day. It's her first time in Europe, these things happen. John explained to her on the phone how to get the train and met her at the station. He also carried her 100 pound duffle bag from the station to the hotel, about a mile. Her first time in Europe, these things happen...
Central Parma is closed to all but local traffic and is mostly a pedestrian city. The bus dropped us off outside the city center and everyone had to lug their bags a handful of blocks to the hotel. Most people were able to check in right away but our room wasn't ready. Student and Cook Street employee Christa went to lunch with us. Marleah is still not feeling good so simple food is the only way to go. Every meal involves several courses, each one involving prosciutto and Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, these are the things that Parma is famous for and that's really all there is to eat. It comes via pasta, pizza or bread and if you're a vegetarian, celiac or an adventurous eater, this is not the place for you. So begins our search for vegetables.

This weekend, in Parma, they are celebrating the festival Palio di Parma. Many Italian cities have a palio or horse race or community games of some kind. The Parma version dates back to 1314 and was still held into the 19th century. All the noble families in Parma came together to celebrate and compete in games with medieval weapons and horses. The tradition died out with Napoleon and the World Wars but was brought back in 1978.
The town is divided up into 5 different areas/teams, each representing the original neighborhoods of the city dating back to Roman times. There is a medieval fair, sword fighting, donkey races and lots of parades. European festivals are the best, they really give you a sense of the history of wherever you are.

John bought Marleah a harvest flower crown and we walked around looking at the stuff for sale and taking in the sites. After checking into our room we went right back out because we needed to buy some shampoo and conditioner (easier than lugging big bottles in our suitcases!). This time while we were out we saw the Palio parade. It was amazing!! Each family was represented, the nobility, the court, the people, the peasants and workers. There was flag twirling and drumming, loud drumming that hit you right in the heart. It was a super duper fun way to start our stay in Parma! We loved it!!!
Weaving our way through the people, the parade and through the little streets we made it to the grocery store to buy snacks and water for the room.
Unpacked and settled in, Marleah immediately went to bed and John had to go meet his students and people from Barilla for a welcoming pizza party. John has now consumed approximately 3 pizzas in as many days. 7 beers, 3 pizzas, so pretty good so far.
Marleah slept and ate grapes and potato chips for dinner.

DAY 5 - Monday
John woke up and joined the students for the first day of school. The facility is great, the staff is super accommodating and the students are excited! The focus is on pasta today. The students made 7-8 varieties while John documented the day. The pasta was great, if a little under seasoned. After school, the group went on a guided walking tour of Parma. The guide was an English ex-pat, Melanie, and she was absolutely great, full of cool stories and color. John was super happy with it until it ended up, like all things in Italy do, with a LONG tour of the Duomo church. It was here where John began to fully appreciate just how deep seeded the religious aspect of Italian life really is. It controls the hours and days things are open. It controls (still) a good part of the diet (things that were deemed "good" by the Church became staples). Zero separation between Church and State in the foundations of life, even though Italy views itself as a secular country. Fascinating, but maybe an hour too long.
Marleah spent the whole day sleeping, taking multiple baths and reading Percy Jackson. Solo lunch at the same cafe in Piazza Garibaldi we ate at the day before, soup and salad.
John didn't get back to the room until 7:30 and Marleah was worried that someone kidnapped him!
We couldn't decide what to eat for dinner and so we went to a gelato/crepe place and ate sweet crepes. We're rascals! Nutella forever!

DAY 6 - Tuesday
Today John decided he didn't need to join his students in class, he definitely needs some down time to relax and explore on his own while we're here.
After free hotel breakfast we went out to see what we could see. First stop, the main square, Piazza Duomo. The Duomo (cathedral) has carvings above the doorway that represent the months of the year - planting, threshing, harvesting, etc.
Inside the baptistery, next door to the cathedral, also has carvings inside representing the months including twelve corresponding constellations (now regarded as signs of the zodiac) and the four seasons. It's nice to see reminders of pre-Christian culture still displayed.
Parma has a very long history. Founded by Romans in 183 BC, it became an important Roman trading post and resting place for pilgrims en route to Rome.
Napoleon’s second wife, Marie Louise of Austria and Duchess of Parma, had an extraordinary influence on Parma. She returned many of the city’s artworks, had the Regio theatre built and had the monks create an essence from her favorite flower – the Parma violet.
It is the birthplace of music conductor Arturo Toscanini and artist Girolamo ‘Parmigianino’ Mazzola. Antonio Allegri da Correggio spent most of his career painting in Parma.
The city hosts the world-famous Verdi Festival and has one of the oldest universities in the world founded in the 12th century.
It's wonderful and fun to learn the local history of a place while you're staying there.
We walked around the city center and felt like we got our bearings here. Time to go get some carbs!
We tried to eat at a place that John had scoped out earlier, but while perusing the menu a gypsy started screaming at John so we had to walk away. She was mad because we wouldn't give her money but she was especially mad at John, she kept saying "what if it was your mother?". John is a notorious freak magnet. If there's a gypsy, hippy or other fringe-dweller around, it's a sure bet that they're going to zero in on him. Fun! We ended up at a place that Marleah saw while walking around on her own the day before. It was across the piazza on a street that we all started calling "the fancy street", due to the younger and cooler look of most of the patrons. The food was good but not very memorable and everyone around us seemed to truly enjoy staring at us while we tried to eat. John's Italian is getting less rusty so conversing with our weird waiter was a little bit easier. Lots of horse meat on the menus.
On the way back to the hotel we stopped for gelato, Marleah had lemon and John had straciatella (cookies and cream).
Back to the room for a nap, then a late dinner at the now gypsy-free cafe. Very friendly staff, cheap food. Marleah had plain spaghetti which was good since she's still not feeling well. John had a cured beef salad and beer. We sat outside, enjoying the night (even though it's pretty chilly) and enjoying being in Italy together.

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Photos

Inset Bowls
These bowls inset in the building would let pilgrims know that they could get a meal and shelter for the night.