Among Cured Meats and Parmesan

At last we managed to organise ourselves, so today we're going to visit our friends Silvana and Alfredo, whom we met on our honeymoon. The trip from Milan to Collecchio is quite short and even if the weather isn't the best it doesn't matter — what counts is spending the day with them.

Collecchio doesn't have much to offer a tourist; by now it's famous only for the well-known Parmalat affair, but our friends live in a quiet spot out in the open countryside, the town is only a distant memory, it feels like going back in time: there are vineyards and various crops, animals roaming freely in the courtyard, but above all the flavours are those of once upon a time, and the salami they make is divine! After lunch the sun came out from behind the clouds, and we went for a little trip first to Torrechiara (in the municipality of Langhirano), where we saw a magnificent castle set on a hill that enjoys a fine view both towards the mouth of the valley and towards the city.

After that we headed to Parma, which Mirko had never seen, a classic little tour of the centre from piazza Garibaldi, passing by the Duomo, the Baptistery and the Antica Spezieria to reach the Palazzo Ducale with its adjoining Parco Ducale. Now it's our friends' turn to come and visit us in Milan. We'll certainly go back to Parma sooner or later; they eat far too well around there…