August 27 - Saturday - On the road again.... Today we are off to Salsomaggiore which is a town in the Parma province, about 120 km southeast of Milan. We have secured an place for 10 days before heading down to Tuscany for two weeks. We decide to drive south to the coastal town of Rimini before catching the autostrata toward Parma. Traffic moves along fairly nicely for us, while in the opposite direction, the traffic seems to be stop and go as people are likely heading to one of the lidos (beaches) in this area. It promises to be another hot day today and it’s the weekend. As we approach Rimini and get closer to the freeway, our traffic becomes stop and go - oh yeah! It’s the weekend and last Saturday driving from Bologna to the Ravenna area was the same thing -” Is this what it’s going to be like driving back toward Milan?”. Oh well, we check out some of the large gardens which are being harvested for markets, while we inch along. At first things moved along well, but as we got further along, maybe 20 minutes later, we are in stop and go traffic again. No real reason for it other than traffic volume. It’s time to get off the beach-side highway and go on a secondary route - this is just not worth the hassle.
We have to endure the traffic until we come across the next exit. Once off the major route, things flow nicely and we see some more of the harvested flat farmland and fruit orchards. We drive to a town, Spilamberto which has the a museum on balsamic vinegar we thought we’d check out how this awesome vinegar is produced. Like with most products, there are varying degrees of quality. When we arrive in the town we go in search of the museum - and guess what - It’s siesta time - it’s closed for another couple of hours. This siesta time certainly is a drag at times! Even though we have now been here several months we still do not think NOT to do something from 1-4 PM. Well, this place isn’t that far away from where we are staying, so we can always come back if we want to. It’s of course mid-afternoon, and we’re hungry and find a place where they are actually serving hamburgers. M and T decide to have a burger which has slices of parmesan cheese along with balsamic vinegar - called “Spilamberto” burgers. The combo of the two condiments on the burgers was very good - we’ll do this again when back home.
We forgo the museum and head back to our vehicle and head out to Salsomaggiore, a town that is known for its thermal hot springs like Aqui Terme (visited in June). This town was wildly popular in the 19th century with its casinos - said to be have been as popular as Monte Carlo in Monaco. Supposedly there are a number of hotels which have thermal pools. We will see what its like when we arrive. Oh, the Miss Italia competition is held here annually in the first week or so of Sept. so it should be interesting to see what the town is like as we should be there during some of the prelims.
We continue to driving west and then south to begin our quick trip into the hills of this region to get to Salso... Both M and T agree it is nice to see some hills as we have been in the flat for a few weeks now. The hills are similar to the foothills of Alberta with some farming. We arrive in the town which seems to be amongst some hills and make our way through it to find our accommodation. We locate the key and let ourselves into the apartment. We are surprised by the size of the place - it has 6 bedrooms, 3 baths and a large kitchen. It’s much bigger than we need but the price is right. We are close to the town centre which is great. We unload our luggage and go in search of the grocery store we passed on the way into town.
Stocked with groceries for part of the week, we head back to the apt to unpack, get dinner on the go and make up rooms for the night. Tomorrow will be soon enough to see what’s up around here.
August 28 - Sunday - Today is time to check out what’s up around the town, try to secure a map of the town as well as see what facilities there are for everyone. We read up on the sheets which the owner had left for us on the table - finding out that there are events that happen frequently around the town, so it’s best to go to the info centre to get the lowdown for the week. We head out on a walkabout town. Following signs we come across the info centre. T gets a map and a listing of events for the week. There is a free concert in the piazza tonight - we’ll have to check that out. We ask about pools - there’s a public fresh water and also a thermal pool which might be open to children.
T checks at the main Thermal Bath spa in the centre of town - quite the fancy building. No one under 14 can go in - we figure it must be a mandate set in the country - couldn’t in Aqui Terme either. We walk around enjoying the place, there are a number of parks, tree lined streets and flower gardens and a number of large hotels which at one time had grand grounds but now are not as well kept.
In some cases we think some hotels are not being used at all. For a small town, there certainly are lots of hotels, so perhaps it’s a case of an over-saturated market, or as the buildings are quite ornate perhaps the hey-day of this town was 100 years ago. The walk along the streets shows everything from high-end fashion to budget. Like all the other towns we’ve visited in Italy, there is the pedestrian only section with its cobbled streets and a number of cafes, restaurants and gelateria to enjoy. Of course we stop at one of these cafes to do some people watching, and just soak up the atmosphere. We even find a Ferrari that M says he might consider buying for J when he is older.
After dinner we head back to the main piazza to listen to a performance by a youth orchestra from another area of Italy. The piazza is hopping with the locals coming out for the event. Many are dressed up and the spectator seats are already full and overflowing with 20 min. still to go before the performance. M suggests we sit at one of the outdoor cafes which have comfortable seats with a good view.
All three of us enjoyed the evening - although J says he prefers other kinds of music to the classical he heard tonight. Understandable at his age. We head back to the apartment around 10:30, with the concert still going.
August 29 - Monday - We’re trying to get setup for J’s on-line schooling which in according to the website calendar that orientation begins tomorrow. Since we haven’t heard anything from the school, we send emails to a teacher contact we had from April and he got back to us with info. After a couple of back and forth emails, we now feel confident we know what’s going on for the next few days. The next issue, is, how do we find a wifi network. We head off in search of the library, finding out we need to get a network password card from the tourist info bureau. We decide to split up, so M seeks out the elusive Internet connection, while J and T head to the pool.
M heads to the tourist information center and finds he needs a driver’s license or passport, so its back to the apartment for him to get dome documentation. He then gets the Internet sign-on card, good for 3 hours use. Next is the search for a network (believing that there is one that will work at the library where we earlier today). Although M finds several networks along the main pedestrian street, there is difficulty logging onto the correct network for the sign-on card he has. We’ve found that Italy certainly doesn’t have the reliability nor network capabilities like what we are used to. M can find no internet cafes in the town - some hotels have wifi, but only for their guests. Somewhat frustrating. Eventually M heads back to the tourist bureau and uses their network, which works, but means he has to sit on a park-bench in the hot sun to get any work done. M tries to download the needed software for J’s online schooling - but alas the network speed is slow and after 30 minutes downloading loses the network and get nothing for his time. M gives up and will try again tomorrow.
T and J head over to the local public swimming pool to enjoy a few hours. J eyed the pool slide with anticipatory glee, unfortunately it’s only open on the weekend - maybe we’ll come back to it. The water is refreshing and both go in, however, J is disappointed T only wants to stay in for a bit, as he could stay in for hours. He does enjoy the water - brings back memories for T of all the hours spent swimming at the Warfield swimming pool in Trail every summer.
August 30 - Tuesday - It’s market day in Salsomaggiore today and it is in the parking lot across the street from where we are staying. It’s a hoping place this AM. M heads out early to see if he can possibly get on the local network near the tourist info centre and complete what he could not get done yesterday, as J’s on-line schooling orientation is supposed to begin later today. After some challenges M gets the software downloaded although it takes over an hour before all is done.
Later J and T head across the street to walk through the grouping of vendors and their trucks to see what is there and what they might want to buy. Of course, we check out the veggie/fruit stands which have amazing produce - even better than what we can find in the grocery stores. It’s peach, pear, and nectarine time - so we definitely want to load up on these!
Of course we load up on various veggies which we’ll want for the next few days. The market will be back on Friday, so we will be going again to buy things for the weekend.
While walking around J spies the mascellaria truck which has on site rotisserie roasting amazing mouthwatering chickens, wings and ribs as well as fries, and other cooked and uncooked meats. These trucks are popular with the locals as evidenced by the long lineups at the counter. Can’t blame them - absolutely delightful! We had our first taste at a market in Aqui Terme courtesy of a vendor who thought we should sample a roasted chicken piece. We have been sold on the stuff since and have bought some at other markets when we have come across the trucks.
This afternoon we drove back to the town of Fidenza near the autostrata to check out an outlet mall. We looked around some, but were disappointed with the selection of stores - not wildly busy. Oh, well no big deal. We decide to do a drive out into the surrounding hilly area to check it out.
It’s really dry here - don’t know if it’s typical or its just this summer. There hasn’t been precip in this area since we’ve been here since mid Aug.
Many of the fields are harvested and already plowed under. The river and stream beds are dried up or virtually all dried up. Some of the trees are starting to lose leaves. Later in the week M happens upon a local who speaks good English and she tells hims the in summer its typically very dry, even so the stream and river beds will go completely dry, but the water comes in the winter when everything fills up again.
August 31 - Wednesday- J wakes up this morning with not feeling well and is ill not long after letting T know. He takes up position on the couch and sleeps for several hours more before waking and feeling somewhat better. Later we head into the town centre try, yet fail, to get on the network to do his orientation. T uses her Iphone wifi finder app to locate nearby wifi networks. (She’s very glad she had the foresight to do this as it has proved usual, although, not always up-to-date.) She finds a cafe about 15 km from Salso, so we set-up navi and go for a ride. We head out to a small town, and navi brings us to the location, however, it would appear the cafe doesn’t exist and the locals don’t know of it either.... However, right in the middle of this town is a fabulous castle with a moat full of large fish. A nice surprise, neat how castles are still standing and being used as venues within towns big and small. Not something we see in N.A. but we have certainly come across many on our trip in northern Italy. Always amazes us at the size and magnitude of these structures.
We reprogram Navi to take us to the city of Parma - parmesan reggiano cheese and parma ham are the local produtti tipici. We find a wifi cafe with ease and acquire a internet card and order a few drinks. M tries to log on, can’t - great, the network is down. Ah, it happens to be the same carrier as Salsomaggiore town network - now we know.... So, the wifi app on T’s phone has a filter to use to identify by carriers, so we put it to use, find another cafe which has a different carrier and head off to find that place. Fifteen minutes later, we are at a different place, M goes in to see if they have wifi - yes - and it’s working! M provides the necessary documents to be able to have access and then we get to work. M and J get logged on, J does the first few assignments of the orientation , then M downloads the rest of them so J can work off-line as the cafe will be closing soon.
We head back to our place, J sits down and works on a couple more of the assignments while M and T walk into the center of town to sit at one of the outdoor cafes, listen to some music and have a pre-dinner drink. We talk about the past 4.5 months and make plans for the time we have before going home for Christmas. Then it’s time to head back to check on J, and get dinner ready, and read some more of the last book in the 39 Clues series.
September 1 - Thursday - It’s homework time this AM before we can do anything. J has a number of orientation lessons that need to be completed and then we need to go in search of a network to email in the assignments. While J works on his assignments, M and T read. Once done, we go off to the town square to log onto the tourist centre network. However, we can’t get on again. Ok, we’ll go back to the internet cafe in Parma, buy lunch and go on-line. The drive to Parma is with ease and we basically go the same route, except when we get in to the city and Navi offers a different route.
We arrive at the cafe, order a very tasty lunch and proceed to send in completed assignments and do the couple that require being online, plus M does some more research for our adventures after Turkey in October. We leave the cafe and go in search of a “Media World” we saw on our way in - a cross between a Future Shop and a Best Buy at home. We thought we could pick up a few more movies - since we had the chance. It was a challenge to find it as there were a number exits off the main highway into Parma. `after a couple of failed attempts on our own, T remembered to check her iphone for the address and plugged it into Navi and we were in business. 40 minutes later, after the initial attempt we were in business.
With purchased movies in hand, we head off to explore the countryside. We had seen a fortress the day before and wanted to see if we could find it. We did, but it was all gated - would have been cool to walk through it as it was in great shape.
We did see signage indicating it was property of the nearby town, but not open to the public today, too bad. We found our way back to Salsomaggiore on yet another different route, which was more hilly and panoramic than the main one we had been using and brought us into an area of town we actually recognized.
Once back at the apt. J began the last assignments for orientation and M and T headed into the town square to have a refreshment and do what we do best, kick back. As we have a DVD player attached to the TV here, we decided to have a movie night and introduced J to the first of the Back to the Future series.
September 2 - Friday - J has slept in until 9:30 - the longest he ever has, so we get a later start today. T hangs and continues to read a book while waiting for him to awaken. M took the car and went to have it serviced by a Peugeot technician (we had found their shop by accident as we took a wrong turn yesterday) but we were glad we did as M wanted the car serviced before we take off to Greece at the end of the month. The car now has over 5000 km and this will be the only service we need before we drop the car off in November. For those that like statistics, between the cars and van we rented and this leased car, M has driven around about 13,000 km so far on our adventure.
Again it’s market day and we’ve going across the street to check it out and purchase a few things we will need until Tuesday when we leave here. M arrives back just as we about to go over to the market, so he comes with us. We visit a couple of veggie/fruit stands, stop at a pesceria and buy spada (swordfish), a chunk of parmesan cheese and some buffala mozzarella. Of course we stop at the mascelleria truck and buy a rolled chicken breast wrapped in bacon to cook tomorrow, as well as some already cooked-on-the-rotisserie wings and ribs. A very delicious lunch to follow! It’s lots of fun to shop and mingle among the throng of locals who have come out.
We spend a good deal of the afternoon uploading and downloading stuff on the net because we finally found a hotspot in Salso that works! We spend a pleasant afternoon in one of the town squares doing “homework” . M and J enjoyed some gelato while T had a couple of tastes and then we head back to cook some of the things we had picked up earlier at the market. T is making a pot of minestrone soup and M found a recipe on the Epicurious app on the iphone for the swordfish. Both turned out wonderfully. We are certainly broadening our repertoire of foods which we have come to enjoy and want to cook. After dinner, T heads back to town centre to see if she can Skype some friends who aren’t at work or school and has some great chats. What a cool device Skype is! Tonight the connection was really clear - almost like we were down the street. We end the evening with the second movie in the Back to the Future series. J eagerly awaits tomorrow’s movie night so he can learn how it all ends!
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