The rain chased out of Monterosso, but the sun welcomed us to Parma.
The train ride from Monterosso was long and at times the girls were bored with the activities they had: stickers, drawing and colouring, stuffed animals, iPods, Guess What I'm Thinking, and chewing gum. But they were relatively good sports and we made it through kilometers and
kilometers of rain to a sunny Parma.
We walked from the train station to our rented apartment, and while the girls discovered their bedroom and the spiral staircase leading up to our loft bedroom, Derek and I made ourselves at home.
Once we had unpacked a little we went out into the sunny afternoon. We knew things from here on out would be different for us: we would no longer be one family of tourists among thousands, but rather we were a family of foreigners in a city that was mostly filled with Italians who live here. Already on the train we were the only non-Italians in our car.
So as we walked around Parma we got to see how Parmagiani live and what they do on a sunny Friday afternoon. And there was something comforting in seeing that it's not that different from what we would be doing in Ottawa: getting together with friends, hanging out and chatting.
Derek says that what likes best is that it feels like home, only it's happening in Italian. So far, this is his favourite place.
We've arranged to meet my cousin (well, first-cousin, once removed)
Monica and her husband Pietro and their 3-year-old daughter Giulia tomorrow. They'll be taking us to Verona for the day. Maia is very excited to see Juliette's birthplace (of Romeo and Juliette; who knew she already knew about them).
A tavola!
Parma is known for its delicious food. Marco, whom we met in Florence assured us there was nothing to see here, but that the food was worth the trip. Most of the culinary world agrees, and there is good reason. When you nearly cry because of the beauty of the taste, you know you are among giants.
We started with a plate of antipasti of thinly sliced Parmagiano
meats, along with a torta fritta, a light pastry our waiter suggested would accompany the meats nicely. The girls wouldn't try the meats at first, but once Solanne tried the Mortadella and Prosciutto, she was sold! The kept yelling out, "ham!" like her current favourite movie character, Ponyo (look it up; it's worth seeing).
The girls shared a serving of tortellini stuffed with ricotta and spinach, another Parma specialty (is there any awesome food that these people *didn't* invent?!). I had the artichoke-stuffed tortellini; Derek had a pasta with porcini mushrooms. The flavours made us stop our conversation; our mouths were too busy enjoying. Then Derek asked if it was so good that I felt like dying? "How can you die if you're already in heaven?" was my reply.
For secondi, I had eggplant Parmagiano and Derek had a super tender beef concoction with a side of polenta. The girls were convinced that the polenta tasted like popcorn, and I guess if you throw together corn and butter, there are only a certain combination of tastes you'll get.
Despite the fact the eggplant was easily the best I'd ever had, I couldn't finish it. Derek had some and thus most of our food was done. The waiter seemed duly impressed. Derek asked him for a suggestion for a digestivo, and he brought Derek an amazing drink that starts with a B but whose name I don't recall, and managed to convince me that I did in fact want a limoncello. The drinks did their trick and burned all the way down and alleviated that full feeling. Brilliant.
The Italians know how to eat, and I'm glad to share in some of it, if only for a few weeks.
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