We Left Our Hearts in Parma and Our Money in Modena

Scott showed up with another hour internet card and it will be 30 minutes before our pizza arrives so I can write more.
Today (in an effort to escape Bologna) we took the train to Parma and Modena. As soom as we got off the train in Parma, I knew I would love it. Slow, laid back, small enough to walk everywhere. A university town (a small university, unlike Bologna, which houses the oldest university in Europe), the youthfulness is palpable. Shopped at an open air market, got many packets of seeds of classic Italian vegetables-radicchio, rape, mache, tomatoes, eggplant. Ate one of the best restaurant meals yet-Scott had pumpkin ravioli and I had tagliatelle with porcini mushrooms. Stunning! We walked and walked and had a great time. The open air fruit and vegetable market was a work of art and I longed to buy armloads and find a kitchen. I made Scott take pictures.
Took the train to Modena and went and sat in a park with ducks, geese and chickens(?). It was so nice and quiet. Then we went shopping in earnest. I found some amazing boots half price (it is the end of the season on boots and I have been drooling over them since we arrived) and Scott got some cool shoes...I had to talk him into them, but it wasn't hard. He is a worse "shoe horse" than I am! We found some stuff for the kids and then went to a shop specializing in balsamic vinegar. It was like a fine wine shop. We were given tiny spoons and tastes of 5 different vinegars, from 3 years old to 20 years old. They got sweeter and sweeter the older it got until the 20 year old had no acid taste at all and was like syrup you would use over fruit or ice cream. Needless to say we bought a few bottles (an 8 year old and a 15 year old) for our personal stash at home. By the time we left Modena our pockets were just about empty (we made sure to leave enough for the train ride to Bologna), but our hearts were full. I loved Parma and if we look to be anywhere for a good block of time (like to live for awhile) Parma gets my vote at this point.
Well, dinner is here and we still have packing to do, so I will sign off. We miss everyone, but am having such a relaxing (mostly) and lovely time.

Milan and Beyond

Scott says that I have to write about the Bologna experience, but honestly I would rather forget it...perhaps later in the blog (and completely out of sequence) when the sting has faded a bit...I mean, I haven't even written about Milan yet and that was days ago! Milan is such a big city, bombed heavily in WWII, but what remains is pretty spectacular! The Duomo took 5 centuries to build (makes me feel great about the slow progress on our house) and has over 3,400 statues perching on the exterior. It is a spectacular thing to see! Very delicate in some ways, almost lacy architecturally, but amazing. Off to the side of the Duomo stands the Galleria, a "mall" of sorts. I believe it was the first indoor shopping center in Italy. It is many stories high with a glass ceiling (or at least that is what it looked like). The upper stories are all offices and the structure looks very old...maybe 18th century (not very old by the standards here). The bottom is all stores. Marta would be in heaven...Prada, Mercedes-Benz, etc. Beautiful, pricey stores, but wonderful to window shop.
We got around by bus and the Metro. The subway was fun, albeit a bit confusing. We would head somewhere and after 2 stops realize we were going in the wrong direction and get off, cross over to the other side and get on another subway going the correct way. We had passes so could get on and off at will, which was great! Public transportation is very cheap here: bus, subway and train and we have utilized all three (the Nightmare on a Bologna Bus story is yet to come). Our room in Milan was in a hotel that was 5 flights up in a great old building. The elevator (like all I've seen in Italy) was tiny. It would fit either us or our luggage, so we would pile all our luggage in the elevator and then run up the 5 flights of marble stairs to meet it (feel the burn, Scott would tell me, and indeed I did). The room was simple and smelled constantly of sulfur. But it was clean and had a bathroom (which many did not, the common bathroom for other guests being next to our room hence the strong sulfur smell). We had a huge floor to ceiling window that opened out to a courtyard 5 stories below. We left the window open day and night. We found great paces to eat in Milan, dropped a pile of $$ at a restaurant called O'rologico for dinner the first night. It was lovely and romantic and we ate, drank, laughed and lingered until we were glad for the long walk back. The second day we met with a man named Massimo Novelli who has a shop called Motorcicli Veloce (basically Fast Motorcycle) and Scott shopped with a big grin on his face. Massimo was a wonderful man and I fell for him immediately! He had a smile exactly like my son-in-law Justin and was so sweet and mild mannered. He has a cafe named Motorcicli Veloce Cafe (catchy, huh?) and it has motorcycle memorabilia everywhere. He treated us to a wonderful meal, complete with some of the best wine we've had here. His partner, Marco, was quite a card. At one point, when Marco brought us our appetizer (a beautiful plate of assorted meats) he was explaining each meat (proscuitto, speck, etc.)and he got to one that was completely white and sliced extremely thin. He said "Lardo" and I looked up at him surprised. He held up his finger, "Wait, wait, don't eat yet..." and he ran back in the kitchen only to show up a minute later with a piece of toast that glistened gold on top. "This way," he instructed and placed a piece of lardo on the toast. Okay, I thought, lard on toast, this is something to tell the kids and I bit down. The toast had honey on it and since it was warm, the lard practically melted into it. It was heavenly! However, it is one taste treat that I probably won't make at home.
Tuesday evening we were to eat at Laurel & Emilios' home. It was a long subway ride (great for people watching) and then a 4 block walk through a cool part of town. Their place was great and we were so excited to have a visit with them, the last time was at Laurel's brothers wedding in Boerne in April. What a meal Laurel made! The best fish we've had on this trip (and Venice is known for it's fish!)...salmon served on a bed of grilled fennel with capers and topped with an orange slice. But the meal started with a scrumptious pumpkin risotto. Creamy and succulent, it was a dish to remember (this I will make at home!). Emi cheered us with many different kinds of wine and spirits (boy, did I have a hangover the next day!) and we were finally able to ask about all the oddities of Italy (what IS it with the bathrooms anyway??? another story that will come later...) We laughed and caught up and I was so impressed with this young couple, they are open, gracious and wonderful! Thank you Laurel and Emilio for making our last night in Milan our best!

We are now on our last night in Bologna and I will be glad tomorrow morning when we wave goodbye from the train as we head for Florence. It hasn't been all bad...had a fabulous meeting with Biancamaria at Dream Engines about the MotoGiro and then we were given a private tour of the Ducati factory and Museum. Fascinating! But had the worst food of the trip yet here (a shame and a travesty here in the food capitol of Italy!) and then the Nightmare Bus Story. Suffice to say that I walked along a deserted road late at night about 30 Km from our room, sobbing. Yes, Scott was with me, he was walking ahead of me speaking very calm, soothing words, wondering where to run if I completely flipped out. He finally called a taxi (when we got somewhere where a taxi could come get us...I am not kidding) and he had them drive us back to our room. I rode the whole way with my head on his shoulder, glad to be with him and heading back.

Well, I am running out of time on my internet card, so more later from Florence. Shopped like hell today-oooh boy, did we get goodies!
Ciao!

Driving in Italy

We took the bus to the airport in Venice to pick up a car and I could imagine what people were thinking as they looked at all the bags we were hauling, "...those Americans...". So much stuff! It was nice to finally have a turtle shell in which to keep all our belongings. Our Fiat Punto was small (as most all cars are in Italy) and zippy and although I was nervous at first, it was great fun to drive. I thought that after we left Venice proper we would encounter coutryside like what we have surrounding Fredericksburg. Instead there is tiny village after tiny village with a medium sized town every now and then. There are few traffic lights, but what are called "roundabouts" (I don't know the word in Italian) where you enter an intersection and head right (ALWAYS right) and merge and continue around the circle until you hit the road you need to take off the intersection. It was a bit disconcerting at first, but I grew comfortable with them and found them fun to drive after a while. Scott commented after I passed a few cars on the impossibly narrow roads, that I was driving like a true Italian!

We found the home of the Laverda's and they welcomed us like long lost friends! They are the most gracious and accomodating hosts! They live in an 18th century estate of Palladia design. It took 20 minutes for Luisa to give me a tour and we didn't see it all. I counted 3 kichens, one with a hearth large enough to roast a whole hog, which Luisa told me her father did often when she was a child. This kitchen, which Luisa called the "summer kitchen", had a long (maybe 8') stone trough where the dishes were once washed. It was now used as storage. The fireplaces were painted tiles inside with marble mantles and surrounds. Our room was on the third floor and was quiet and comfortable with a window over the desk that looked up the hills to the estates further up the mountains. The road was so narrow that as you rounded corners you honked (or in the evenings, flashed your lights) so drivers coming the other way would pull over so you could pass. From our window we could see the road snake up the mountain until the switchbacks disappeared into the deep woods. A heavy fog had moved into the area the day before our arrival and it gave a timeless effect to the view. Our first evening at Luisa & Piero's, they drove us into Vicenza to show us the old city. We walked downtown and Piero kept a running commentary about the architecture. It was fascinating! We saw a cannonball imbedded halfway into a rock wall from a battle of Napoleon's in 1805. The old buildings (most late 17th and 18th century) were turned into shops, restaurants and bars and we went into a cafe/bar for a tapa and an apertif. We had a "spritz", a mixture of wine, water ("frizzante" or bubbly water) and bitters and it was amazingly good.

We headed home to have a classic dinner cooked by Luisa consisting of risotto with porcini mushrooms, fennel au gratin and pork sausages cooked with sage. A word here on the risotto. I have made this dish at home a few times and I have to say I really enjoy it. Creamy rice cooked with broth and wine and whatever else you wish to throw in. But it is a time consuming dish to prepare so I don't make it often. Luisa made it in about 10 minutes in a PRESSURE COOKER!!! And it was as creamy and flavorful as my 45 minute version with no standing and stirring for all that time! It will be a winter staple at our house from now on. She makes polenta the same way! My first Italian cooking lesson! We finished dinner with a yeasted cake made with grappa and finely minced dried fruit. With this Luisa served up tiny cups of dried fruit soaked in prune liquor that she had made before Christmas. It was so good and Scott had seconds and I got the recipe! After 2 bottles of wine with dinner (a white with the risotto and a red with the sausages) and an after dinner liquor we were ready for bed and climbed the 3 flights of stairs VERY carefully.

The next day, Piero had a meeting with a man from Germany who had driven down to buy a motorcycle frame. Thomas was a pleasant getleman who spoke excellent English with no German accent. I commented on this and also the TX sticker on the back of his van and he said he was born and raised in Austin! I told him Scott and I lived not far from Austin in the Hill Country and he asked where. When I told him Fredericksburg, he opened his jacket to show us his t-shirt from a Fredericksburg restaurant! The guys headed out to the shop to play with the bikes and Luisa and I drove up the mountain to go for a walk. We took Belo (sp?), their sweet dog and we parked by an old church. We walked for a few miles into the woods and thank goodness for Luisa's more than competant english as we were able to converse the entire way. I recognized more than a few plants and was surprised how much the land looked like home.

After the walk, I went with the guys into Breganza to visit some of Piero's motorcycle friends. We ate at a small trattoria where I had homemade spaghetti with rabbit. The pasta was astounding...thick and chewy and so flavorful! Scott had pasta shells with tonno (tuna).

We made the rounds of the bike shops, the first being Guiseppe Andregetti's (this may be spelled wrong), a wonderfully happy faced man with a shop floor painted brilliant orange (the color most often associated with Laverda's). Thomas and Scott were in heaven amidst all the Laverda parts that I'm sure they considered almost unobtainable prior to this visit. Thomas told me he felt like a kid in a candy store and he was both glad and sorry he had come with a pocket full of Euros! I know Scott felt no sorrow for the bundle of Euros in his own pocket, only for the lack of room in our suitcases! He envied Thomas' almost empty van! I had a great time watching the guys discover treasure after treasure in the small parts house.

More on the visit with the Laverda's later as Scott wants to go have dinner now. I am still full from lunch (pizza in the park surrounded by pigeons), but Scott eats constantly here! Ciao!

Tomorrow we leave Venice and head for the Laverda's home in Vicenza. We will stop in Breganza first to visit with some of Scott's associates. It will be the first day of driving in Italy. Venice has been surreal, we have walked so much and gotten lost multiple times a day...part of the joy of being in Venice! It has been cold and we know not to leave the hotel in the morning without gloves, scarves, jackets and double layers. When we get too cold we stop in a cafe for a quick espresso and then head back out , walking with a bit more life in our step...
Food has been great, everything from fresh caught seafood to incredible polenta to our paninis this afternoon-proscuitto and buffalo mozzarella for Scott and grilled radicchio and brie for me.
Finished reading Eat, Pray, Love last night when I woke up at midnight and couldn't sleep (still struggling with the time change). Thanks Janelle for the suggestion. It's an amzing book and I am going to pass it on to Laurel in Milan.

Here is the way NOT to start a vacation in Italy...on less than 2 hours sleep in 24 and carrying about 80 lbs. of bags about a mile in 45 degree weather. After finding our hotel -very nice indeed with everything in the room being varying shades of blue and gold and a stunning view from our 3rd floor window-we went out for our first stroll. It was a false start as the temp had dropped even more and after about a mile we headed back to dress warmer. Then back out to wander the streets. We had a gelato (mine hazelnut, Scott had tiramisu) even though it was cold out. Walked various palazzos and window shopped and finally stopped for a mediocre dinner at a restaurant very near our hotel. Scott had calamari and I had gnocchi (Ann had sent an e-mail: eat lots of gnocchi!) and then we went back to the hotel, took showers in our spotless but incredibly tiny shower and went to bed where I proceeded to have a meltdown. After about 12 hours sleep we woke up VERY refreshed and had an amazing breakfast in the hotel dining room. The coffee was perhaps the best I'd ever had and the rolls were crisp and slightly sweet. Off now to find a grocery store. Later...

Spent the night in Houston last night with our friend Claudio. He was born and raised just outside Rome. A wonderful host, he entertained us all evening while being Mr. Mom to his 2 children, Daniela (5) and Marco (4 months) while his wife, Ramona was at work. Dinner was amazing and started with a great antipasto plate of proscuitto, salami and smoked fontina cheese. He then made his mothers' recipe of pasta with mixed seafood sauce. Whole mussels and lots of octopus made up most of the sauce and it was incredible. It will be the first recipe in my Italy journal! I keep having to remind myself I am on vacation...I know it will seem real when we get on the plane in 6 hours. Ciao!

After a wonderful massage last week, Gaby began talking to me of the difficulties of staying present. A few days later she came into my "office" at work (the kitchen) and we picked up the same conversation. It has become my focus for days and now, hours from leaving the house, I am struggling with the idea. So many last minute things have reared up and now the van has a motorcycle tied down inside and an extra stop will have to be made to drop it off. Arrangements for work in April that HAVE to be taken care of now, e-mails to send...Scott and I each have lists that we are checking off as we buzz around the house. I just had to take a minute to sit and write a bit and B-R-E-A-T-H-E!
Scott received an e-mail last night from a business contact in Milan. He had hoped to visit this mans' shop. He read the e-mail to me- "I look forward to your visit. We can have lunch at my little restaurant...". Boy, did my ears perk up! Scott can pick his brain on bikes and I can get into his kitchen!

A month away from home...it is strange to think about. Even stranger is the thought of being on the other side of the planet. Thank goodness Scott speaks the language and we have friends to drop in on every week or so.

Planning for this trip-or in Scott's case NOT planning-has really shown me the differences between us. I am not a control freak or anything (although this could be debated by friends and family...I don't know as it has never come up) but I like to have plans. I like to know what is coming next. Scott's attitude has been, "We don't really need an itinerary!" and then when he's trying to arrange business meetings, "Hey hon, when will we be in Vicenza?". So he let me amuse myself and make reservations in a few places. Out of the 27 days, we now have 12 accounted for, meaning places we HAVE to be because we have paid for rooms or have dates with friends. The rest of the time we are free floating around the country.

We are flying from Houston to Frankfurt and then on to Venice where we will park ourselves for 4 days. After that we are roaming all over northern and central Italy. Padua, Vicenza, Verona, Milan, Parma, Modena, Bologna, Florence, Lucca, Pisa, Ancona, Rimini, Ravenna...I have studied maps for so many months I can see these places in my head. For Scott and I to be alone, to be looking forward to my upcoming 50th birthday (what a half century celebration!) and to be so completely out of our element...well, I just can't imagine anything better. Stay posted...