Day 2 - Part 1

I pulled the covers over my head at about 9:00 on my first night in Parma and did not set an alarm. I fell asleep quickly enough, but woke about two hours later to the sound of voices that seemed to be right in the apartment. They were coming, however, from the street outside my window. The high walls create a kind of echo chamber. I am definitely not used to sleeping in an urban environment. Eventually I awoke and was surprised to see that it was 8:30. I did get a good night’s sleep after all. I was eager to get going, so I  washed and dressed, had my coffee, ate my breakfast and set out. My first objective was to see the complex right outside my door - the cathedral, the diocesan museum and the baptistery. As I was preparing to leave, I heard the bells of the cathedral start tolling. ”There must be a funeral.” I thought. I’ll do the museum first.

The diocesan museum has an important collection of pieces from the 13^th century cathedral, which were removed when the cathedral was “renovated” in the 1500’s. Many pieces, especially the sculptures, are the work of Benedetto Antelemi, an artist/sculptor who played a major role in the construction of both the cathedral and the baptistery. The museum, while not large, is well laid-out and nicely documented. In fact, it is possible to download to your phone a free online guide for all three parts of the complex. After the museum, I toured the cathedral. Unfortunately, it was a very dark day, so I did not bother to take any pictures. I then moved on to the baptistery.

The diocesan museum

 The baptistery is probably the most important work of art in Parma. For some reason, the practice of administering baptism in a separate structure seems to have survived longer in Central Italy than anywhere else. One only needs to think of Florence and Pisa. Still the baptistery in Parma is an amazing structure. I will spare you the art history lesson, however. What really caught my eye was a series of sculptures done by Antelemi representing the 12 months of the year and the agricultural tasks associated with each season. I found them as beautiful as they were interesting. I was lucky enough to be the only one in the baptistery at the time, so I had the whole place to myself.

Sculptures of the months: L- R August, July, June

By now, it was noontime. Antonia had called with a proposal to take a drive outside the city to see a local castle and to visit her sister’s organic farm and market. We were leaving at 4:00 and knowing that this was Italy, I suspected that food would make an appearance at some point. So the question was what to do about lunch? Antonia had mentioned a supermarket with a food court. I needed to by some more coffee, so that seemed like a logical choice. To reach the supermarket, my path took me towards a major edifice that house several of Parma’s most important museums. (It was on my docket for Sunday when entrance would be free!). I spent some time looking around before I found the large piazza where the supermarket is. It also happens to be the place where Parma’s outdoor market is held on Saturdays - but more about that later.

Outside the museum complex

I found both the supermarket and the coffee, but none of the food really grabbed me. When I left the market, I noticed a restaurant, Osteria dei Servi, that I had read about on TripAdvisor, so I walked over to look at the menu. It looked interesting and they had wild boar, one of my favorites. When I went inside, I could tell that they were very busy. I indicated to the person at the door that I was alone. At once, I saw that look of consternation that passes over restaurant peoples’ faces, when you tell them that. But then, he picked up a menu and led me to the table.( I have found that once they give you the table they are just fine.) I studied the menu briefly. I knew I wanted the braised wild boar for my main course, but wasn’t sure that I wanted pasta as well. They were offering a squash flan as a first course and I decided on that. Unfortunately, the Italian name for that is ‘tortino’ and it must have registered as ‘tortelli’ with my young waiter. I didn’t send them back, though, when they came. It wasn’t worth the fuss. They turned out to be very good. The wild boar, on the other hand, turned out to be underwhelming. You win some, you loose some. While I was eating, I realized why the place was so busy. A young man walked by me with a wreath of laurel leaves on his head. This is traditional in Italy for university students on the day they obtain their degree, or laurea. There was a group of family and friends having lunch with him to celebrate. After I paid, I was waiting near the cash register to use the bathroom. I asked the fellow behind the counter whether they were always that busy at lunchtime and he said ‘No, it was the graduation’. Then he said, ”May I offer you an after dinner drink on the house?”  I wasn’t going to say, “No” to that offer.  I enjoyed my grappa. You have to love Italy.

Tortelli di Zucca at Osteria dei Servi

Osteria dei Servi -Note the little the little stove bottom right corner