Getting Away from it All - In the Middle of Italy
appenino
John and Bill went to get the car rental in the morning and came back with a Citron that was smaller than we had requested. The trunk is jammed but we have lots of room up front.
We hit the road before noon and arrived in Parma for a late lunch at Menu Mama.
We ordered the Magnificente Five to share with Prosciutto di parma Sant’Ilario DOP 30 months, salami di Felino IGP, cuppa del Cav. Ferrari IGP, culatta IGP, cooked shoulder of San Secondo, parmigiano reggiano DOP. The rest of our meal was rizzoli with anchovies, zucchini, mint, and parmigiano for Betty, Arugula and stracchino (cow’s milk cheese) on tigella (looks like an English muffin) for JR and San Secondo with cooked shoulder of San Secondo and mustard pear compote for Bill. We could have ordered ground horse meat or horse meatballs but did not!
We briefly explored the city centre in Parma and loved the interior of the Santa Maria Della Steccata (Church) that dates back to 1539. It had lots of gold, amazing frescos on the ceilings and walls, and beautiful statues.
From there we took the scenic route to our Airbnb. They did warn us that most navigation would not take us to the right spot and they were 100% correct. If we had been able to get internet, we could have course corrected sooner, but that was not the case. Luckily the vehicle navigation got us back to the closest town, then a nearby town, Castelnovo ne’ Monti, had a Coop Marketo and we stocked up on groceries and wine for Happy Hour and Dinner.
We were able to back track and find the post office in the nearby village of Rosano, then were able to follow the step-by-step instructions from the owners (with photos) and were able to find the spot without further delay!
The owner and our hillside neighbour, Mathieu gave us a brief tour, answered our questions, then left us to enjoy this small slice of heaven.
We stocked the fridge, started laundry, then poured some wine, and headed to the pool. John was the only brave soul to take a dip. The rest of enjoyed the ambiance and the vino.
After a while we migrated to the patio, had a lovely charcuterie plate prepared by Betty with fresh picked figs from the tree by the patio!
Betty and John prepared a feast for us for dinner with grilled chicken and zucchini, potatoes and vino!
It was so great to hang outside in the fresh air, enjoy the view of Pietra de Bismantova (the table top mountain across the valley), and have a home cooked meal!