Parma e Bologna

Parma

Il Duomo di Parma

One of our many great appetizers at the Parma wine bar-Gavanasa

Last night I returned from my first weekend trip to Parma and Bologna! I went with a group of 10 other people on my program. We left bright and early Friday morning at 8 am to catch our train to Parma. The train ride itself was pretty awesome. We went up into the snow-filled mountains during the ride. They were beautiful although we were all very worried it was going to be snowing when we got to Parma. Luckily, it was just snowy because we were so high up in the mountains. It was a very chilly weekend though. Nothing like the below zero temperatures back in the Midwest, but it was in the 30s and 40s. (We were a little spoiled our first week with it being sunny and in the 50s). Plus we were outside all day, and buildings are not heated very well.  Anyways, we arrived in Parma around 10 am and immediately went to a café because we were all in need of some espresso. After asking a few Italians for directions we found our way into the middle of the town. Of course, the town was adorable! There were lots of little shops, beautiful brightly colored buildings, and a friendly atmosphere. We found some of Parma’s beautiful spots, like its Duomo and a lovely church. It was really fun to just wander around on our own, to have no agenda, and just discover Parma for ourselves.

 After walking around we got hungry, so we sat on some steps of a building in their main plaza and ate the lunches we brought. We were all freezing after being outside for so long so we went on a search for a nice wine bar to sit down in.  We found one with enough room for all 12 of us called Gavanasa. We ordered some delicious white wine, and found out we could get some free appetizers when we ordered drinks. We ended up getting about 10 plates of free appetizers! The waitress just kept bringing us more and more. She brought us plates of prosciuto, little pizzas, artichoke bread, zucchini bread, and mini sandwiches. We were all absolutely stuffed afterwards. We probably should not have had lunch right before going there.

           After our long morning and afternoon in Parma we decided to check into our hostel and rest a bit. I think we were all a little nervous for the hostel. I have never stayed in one so I had no idea what to expect, but it ended up being completely fine. We got two rooms with 6 beds in each. We didn’t have any random people in our rooms either, which was nice. We rested up, and headed back into downtown Parma later that night. We decided to try out a different wine bar called La Dolce Vita. We ordered some more wine and once again got free appetizers. This place had pasta, pizza, French fries, prosciutto, mozzarella sandwiches, and more. Once again, all of the food was amazing. We didn’t end up buying any meals in Parma because we were all so stuffed from all those appetizers! The atmosphere of the wine bars at night was really fun too. There were heat lamps outside so people could stand in the streets, there was loud American pop music playing, and lots of friendly people. It was a really fun time.  

 We got up and headed on another train to Bologna at 9:30 the next morning. After an hour long train ride we arrived and started walked around the city. We met up with some other people from our program that had stayed in Bologna the night before. It was a bit cold and gray out, but the city was still beautiful.  We saw some of their famous towers, and walked around the University. We ate lunch at a little pub, and I got a yummy veggie Panini. It had great mozzarella, zucchini, and eggplant. Next on our agenda after we ate… gelato! Haha. I don’t think I’ll ever get sick of it. We ate at this gelateria called Gram, which is apparently all over Italy and even in New York. I got dark chocolate and mandarin gelato, which was also very yummy. We walked around some more after all our eating, did a little shopping, and headed back to the train station. Unfortunately, we got on the wrong train! We were supposed to take a regular train, but ended up getting on a high-speed train. We all had to pay an extra 21-euro. It was frustrating, but we did get to ride a high-speed train, which was cool. The ride should’ve taken an hour and half, but took us 20 minutes. Crazy!

 Other than the slight train mix-up the whole trip went very smoothly. I really enjoyed traveling through other Italian cities, and I can’t wait to check out more! I am loving my time here in Italy so far. I love the culture, the food, and meeting new people. And I am very excited to travel more. My next trip is to Belgium and 2 weekends!

Miss and love you all at home!

Molti Baci!

-Laura

Bologna

Andi and I eating gelato at Gram