Nov 24, 2012 - Parma

Our adventure in Parma was doing our laundry! We found a Lavenderia, which was a little hole in the wall of a place. The manager was very kind, and we managed to figure out what to do in spite of language barriers. The washing went fine, but after three rounds with the driers and dozens of euros, our clothes were still not dry. So we hauled all our stuff the the hotel and draped them over everything! They were dry by the next morning, fortunately.

Jun 2, 2012 - Cremona to Rimini 5/27- 6/01

From Cremona to Rimini One thing I've found along this trip is that I'm always pleasantly surprised. I've met a lot of cool people in different cities and in different countries and whenever I have to leave I think that " wow this place was really cool" and I don't think that I'll find something better. Which is kind of funny because I have had the same thoughts at least 20 times. The experiences keep flowing in and I'm continuously having fun in a variety of ways with a variety of people. So even though its hard sometimes to leave one...

May 15, 2012 - Parma, Northern Italy

We had a nice week in Parma. It, like most Italian cities had plenty of beautiful churches, galleries and museums as well as a couple of splendid theatres. With a population of about 178,000 it is a very vibrant and clean city. With the university here, there are plenty of young people as well. And on the one night we went out late, we found everyone very well behaved while having fun...unlike the gold coast.! Parma is famous for its food and rich gastronomical tradition. Parmigiano cheese and Prosciutto (Palma Ham) are from this area. Its...

Jan 6, 2012 - Bologna and Florence

So we woke up this morning, at 8, and the sun was shining for the first time since I got to Venice. It kind of stunk that this happened to be the day we left Venice. Although, it was also nicethat my last memory of Venice was the sun shining and reflecting on the grand canal. So we got up, ate breakfast at the hotel, packed up our stuff and said goodbye to Venice. We took the vaporetti, the water transport, to the train station. We boarded a train and an hour and a half later we were in Bologna. We met up with Adam's professor, Peter, who...

Nov 8, 2011 - Bologna

@@@@@@@ BACKGROUND Bologna emerged in the 6th century BC and over the course of its history it has been conquered by a wide assortment of invaders including tribes from Gaul, the Romans and then the Visigoths, the Huns, the Goths and the Lombards. During the 12th century, the city was the site of a leading European university and the wealth of the region was displayed prominently as over 160 towers were erected, each one meant to outdo its neighbour. A tight array of stunning palazzi graced the cityscapes within the medieval walls, and...

Sep 23, 2011 - Mantua and Bologna, Italy

We left Verona after two wonderful days of meandering, eating, drinking wine and generally have a blast, headed for the town of Bologna for a two night visit. In route, we stopped in the fortress village of Mantua. This ancient city served as a home for the powerful Gonzaga (yes the University in the US is named after this saint) families that ruled the northern Venetian Empire during the middle ages. We visited the Ducal Palace which took up about 1/3 of the walled city. It contained fabulous painting and frescos by many famous Italian...

Sep 16, 2011 - San Giovanni to Rimini

Friday, September 16: Our next stop is Rimini, Italy on the Adriatic Sea on our return portion of the trip. Arrived in Rimini around noon and got checked in to a Best Western Hotel Nettunia, one block from the Adriatic. Spent the afternoon sunning and paddling around in the warm Adriatic Sea...31 C today.

Sep 15, 2011 - chickens in Italy

Today was a very long, but exciting day! I went to bed early last night, after getting a tour of our headquarters in Florence and learning all about the poultry market in Italy. Today, I woke up at 5am Italy time (11pm USA) to travel to Bologna, and northern Italy with a colleague, to visit farms and customers. What a blast! Breakfast was interesting. Typical breakfast in Italy does not include eggs, sausage, bacon, toast, cereal, etc. It usually consists of pastries and coffee (what we would call espresso). We pulled into a ga...

Jul 19, 2011 - Bologna

Oh boy left the crazy chaos of Rome and drove 6 hours today to town called Bolognia. Stayed in lovely hotel 2 km from town centre and walked 5 minutes down the road (in the rain) to enjoy tea in an Italian - Chinese Restaurant, recommended to us by the hotel reception. Yes sounds strange but great, great tasty food. Enjoyed bright modern hotel and repacked our bags ready for the cruise, YAH!!!!

Jun 13, 2011 - 17. Venezia to Cortina

Day 30 Venezia to Tramonti di Sotto Last night was tricky because a restaurant next to the camp ground was having Karaoke and they went on until 11:30 when all I wanted to do was get to sleep. Eventually half a Restavit tablet helped but we had an early start with breakfast at 6:30 instead of 7:00. WE left our camp at Punta Sabbioni and rode along a beach front lined with campings and hotels for about 30km. It was along here that Terry and Bruce had a collision caused by some silly youths which resulted in Terry's back wheel and Bruce's...

May 2, 2011 - Modena

If you look at a bottle of Balsamic Vinegar you'll no doubt see the city of Modena listed on the label. While it is great that we can all buy it now at a relatively inexpensive cost, in reality, it isn't "traditionally made" balsamic vinegar, that has the same DOP that Parmigiano Reggiano cheese has. The cost of balsamic vinegar also has nothing to do with its quality. I'm glad that I can buy it at the supermarket and use it on salads, and that's what that kind is for. It is made by mixing normal wine vinegar with caramel coloring and...

May 2, 2011 - Parmigiano!

A long time dream was finally realized when I got to visit a Parmigiano cheese factory. We were met at our hotel at 8am and escorted to the factory, about 10 minutes away. They start production at 3am so we would be there to see them making that last batch. We had to cover our shoes and clothing with protective plastic-I got to skip the hat for obvious reasons. :-) There was a problem with the milk delivery so we couldn't see where they store the fresh milk overnight so the cream and milk separate. More cream is then added and the milk is...