Explore Emilia-Romagna
Generally reckoned to have one of the highest standards of living in Italy, PARMA, 28km along the Via Emilia northwest of Reggio, is about as comfortable a town as you could wish for, distinguished by the measured pace of its streets and the general air of ease and affluence. There’s plenty to keep you occupied here too – you could easily fill a day or two seeing the sights and sampling the delights of the city’s many excellent restaurants. A visit to the opera can be an experience – the audience are considered one of the toughest outside Milan’s La Scala and don’t pull any punches if they consider a singer to be performing badly – and the city’s works of art include the legacy of two great artists, Correggio and Parmigianino.
The countryside around Parma is a strange mixture: some of the major roads follow bleak gorges, skirting the edge of blank rock walls for miles; others look as if they will lead precisely nowhere before emerging into meadows and orchards with rich farmland stretching into the distance. Prime targets are any of the medieval castles strung out across the foothills to the south.
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Castell’Arquato
Castell’Arquato
Some 35km west of Parma is the beautiful CASTELL’ARQUATO, a nicely restored medieval town set on a hillside overlooking the Arda valley. At the top of the town is Piazza del Municipio, lined with some stunning buildings. The thirteenth-century Palazzo del Podestà isn’t open to the public, but you can visit the Basilica, a magnificently preserved Romanesque monument with an eighth-century baptismal font in the right-hand apse. The restored tower of the fourteenth-century Rocca Viscontea offers amazing views of the surrounding countryside.
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Verdi country
Verdi country
About 30km northwest of Parma, the small village of Le Roncole marks the start of Verdi country. By the main road on Piazza Giovannino Guareschi – named after the author of the Don Camillo books who also lived here – you can visit the humble house where the great composer was born. Some 5km up the road is Busseto, the childhood home of Verdi and the centre of the industry that has grown up around the composer, with regular opera performances during summer. It’s an appealing little battlemented town, but the main attractions are strictly for Verdi pilgrims. The Casa Barezzi, now a Verdi museum, was the home of Antonio Barezzi, a wealthy merchant who spotted the young Verdi’s talent and brought him in as a teacher for his daughter. Verdi lived here for a while and later married his pupil, Margherita. Now restored to its nineteenth-century state, the museum contains the piano that Verdi played on and memorabilia such as the baton that Toscanini used to conduct his Verdi memorial concert in 1926. The tourist office (w bussetolive.com) can give you information about the sights and about tickets for concerts in the Verdi Theatre.
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Parma's restaurants
Parma's restaurants
Many restaurants in Parma – especially the ones in the centre – can be rather pricey, though less expensive options do exist, most noticeably on Via Garibaldi and Strada Farini. Local specialities include the obvious Parma ham (prosciutto) and parmigiano-reggiano – which are often served together as an antipasto – as well as guancia di manzo, cheek of beef. For snacks, prosciutto stuffed into pastries and other local delights are available for around €2 from the many bakeries, and picnic supplies can be bought at the market by the river on Piazza Ghiaia (Wed & Sat 7am–2pm).
