Modena center

On Saturday morning, I was pretty sad to leave Parma, even though we had a full day ahead of us before we reached Bologna. I feel like Parma is really a place you could live. It is a manageable sized city, and I think it would be easy there to get to know people. I also found out later that there is an international school in Modena, which is right outside Parma. I'd be all set!
It turns out that outside of Parma, it is rather rural. In Germany, on the outskirts of a city, the suburbs tend to still be rather full. Yes, we have farmers who live in our town, but there is little room for anyone to have much land here. You have to go much farther outside the city to see the kind of land that people have outside Parma.

I had made reservations at a traditional acetaia, or vinegar producer, in Modena where balsamic vinegar originates. Since we were a bit early to go to acetaia, we decided to check out the center of Modena.
Modena is a very old city, and at one time, because of its location on the Via Aemilia, it was an extremely important city.
The city center is positively charming. We parked as close as possible to the center, and were immediately overshadowed by the Palazzo Ducale. The once palace now is home to the Modena Military Academy. Unfortunately, I couldn't caputre the size of the building in the picture, but it is really HUGE!

It was in this parking lot that we had our first real view that things have changed in Italy. Joern and I have been talking about the change in northern Italy we fist noticed last year when we visited Venice. We noticed the extreme number of new large German cars. On our many trips to Italy years ago, I always felt that we stuck out a bit. Joern always had his BMW 5 series, and somehow, it was larger than most cars, and well, German. Last year, we were like the lower end of the crowd. In the Parma area, which is very rich, we were like the little guy on the block. In Modena, we parked in front of a brand new Aston Martin, the third I had seen in 2 days. We saw more BMW X6s than I have ever seen in Germany. Not to base everything on cars, but it seems like the Euro has really brought a change to northern Italy, which they deserve because they are hard workers, and saw lots of their money go away in the past. It can be difficult in Germany to see the effect of the Euro, namely because the most it has done here is to raise prices.
We walked into the center of Modena to discover another charming, wonderful town. We wound our way through the cobbled streets to the Piazza Grande, which is bordered by the town hall and the cathedral.


I wish I could have accurately caputured the lean of the church. I have read in guidebooks about the leaning bell tower, which was covered for restoration, but the church has a crazy slant too! But, it is quite old, from the year 1000 and really quite beautiful from the outside.
Due to time constraints, and our pending appointment with the vinegar producer, we could not really go into the museums or cathedral, but have put it on our "to do when we return" list.
As we explored, there was an open doorway, these usually lead to courtyards. I took a peak inside:

I'm pretty sure it depicts a scene from a literary work, but not sure which one, this was a private courtyard and not public. Of course, it could also serve as a warning to those who enter the courtyard.
The synagogue was extremely beautiful on the outside. It was so large, and the marble columns were incredible.

We were happy with our "taste" of Modena. Of course there is much more there to see, but we had an appointment to keep, so it was time to go.

Parma

We spent one full day and two nights in Parma. Obviously, the first night didn't really count, as we arrived at 12:30 am, and pretty much fell into bed.
As I said in my last post, our hotel was really lovely. It was not in the center of Parma though, and I was so thankful that we had our car, as the trek into the city sans auto would have been tough.
All I knew about Parma before our trip was prusciutto. Turns out that Parma is incredibly well-off, mostly based on the food industry, which spans much farther than just ham. Before we went into the city center, we drove around the outskirts, which Joern loves to do when we travel. Here's what we found:

It was my first view of the hugeness of the food industry in Parma.
We also found dairy automats all over the outskirts. Dairy is hugely important in northern Italy, and the automats contained cheeses, yogurts, and of course fresh milk. I was a bit skeptical at first, but Joern was more than excited to try it.

We later found out that the automats are really popular for people in the city, they can drive out to the automats on Sunday or Monday morning when the stores are closed. They also have high standards for the cleaning of the machines, which was what was important to me.
Once we had our fill of driving and sightseeing, it was time to park and explore the center. As we walked into the center, we were greeted with some of the many delights for which Italy is famous.

The center is wonderful, and large. We first stumbled upon the Palazzo della Pilotta, which was huge! It was built in the 1500s as a public buidling serving the Ducal Palace. Unfortunately, in 1611, work was directed to cease, and the building was left unfinished. The Palazzo was also bombed during World War II, and part was rebuilt. It houses museums and the Teatro Farnese today.


From the Palazzo della Pilotta, we headed into the center.


Another beautiful area is the quiet, large, Piazza Duomo, containing the Duomo, or cathedral. The cathedral and bell tower were beautiful, but also the pink marble baptistry that lies in the same area.

The baptistry and Duomo are known for containing some incredible art, including a fresco completed by Corregio. Normally, I do not visit churches, but really wanted to see the interior of the Duomo and baptistry. Since it was Good Friday though, the church was not open to visitors.
Joern and I were really tired, so we decided to head back to the hotel for a nap and to decide where to head for dinner.
Once we got ready, we headed out to Fontanellato, a small town north of Parma. The highlight of the town is the medieval castle surrounded by a moat. Even at night, it was quite an imposing sight!


Unfortunately, it was cold and rainy, so our hopes of a lovely dinner al fresco with the castle in the background were out of the question. We decided to head back, and found a lovely pizzaria along the way home. No, it wasn't Michelin starred, but it was simple, good food. The wine was delicious too!
We wearily made our way back to the hotel. Over dinner, we discussed the fact that even though we were leaving in the morning, I really wanted to see the interior of the Duomo. We decided that we would head back to Parma for our last night of our trip. This made parting with the charming city much easier.