Monthly Archives: December 2006

Again the sciopero raises its ugly head. We had been scheduled to visit a cheesemaking factory and then a dairy farm on Wednesday and Thursday, but the bus strike would have affected our, um, bus, so the visit and our … Continue reading →

Lining up for the blind tasting On Tuesday we attended a Barolo wine-tasting at a local enoteca (wine bar), called Ombre Rosse. We went through to a private room at the back where we rather swamped the place and probably … Continue reading →

Monomento alla Vittoria (Victory) in Parma – unveiled in 1931 and made out of enemy weapons. A long weekend in Parma: we had a holiday on Friday (Immaculate Conception) which I squandered on a day of rest and rehabilitation, trying … Continue reading →

Colorno fountain We learned something about cheese tasting yesterday in a first class on that subject, when we went nose-to-rind with four fabulous cheeses. It was very exciting and entirely delicious, which was a small miracle given the continuing cold-type … Continue reading →

Last night’s welcome dinner was an amazing and many-splendoured thing. It began with a logistical assembly on the Piazza, where beneath the Christmas tree, 24 of us were sorted and parcelled into car-sized batches, according to ultimate destination, for transport … Continue reading →