Day 44: Bologna to Parma, hot & sunny!, 30°

My Little Problems Need Solutions! 

Having arrived in Parma I also arrived to to a few problems that needed addressing. I found the Airbnb easily and received a nice welcome from my host. A funny little place, but it will do. I can cook if need be and there is a second bed for Costanza when she arrives at 18:00 tomorrow. It will be a short sleep anyway as we will be up before 5:00 to catch an early train to Fonovo to restart the Francigena. 

The first problem presented in the form of a cancellation of a reservation that I made in May for an ostello in Monteriggioni. In and of itself not a big deal, but there is absolutely no other bed in this beautiful medieval walled, hill top town. Everything has been booked out, and this is basically the situation from Lucca south to Rome. They offered me a bed in one of two other places; 3 kms before town and 5 kms after, on an already 28 km stage. Disappointed I checked the next place, Siena to see if I could add a day there. I could and probably will. I figured out the bus schedule and will likely see Monteriggioni and then bus on to Siena. Not a hardship to have an extra day in Siena as I had already planned a rest day there. Two days is nicer than one, but disappointed as to how my cancellation was handled. I suspect they gave my room to a couple and were paid more. A bit sceptical? Perhaps, but when I asked they wouldn’t explain their reasons. Doesn’t matter now as I’ve sorted out things in Siena. 

Annemarie flew from Dublin to Vancouver today. It seemed like she was still with me even though she was in Holland and later Ireland. Now she is on her way home. Actually a good thing because she will be able to support her sister Lia as she deals with Leo’s stroke outcomes. She and Lia are close. 

I’m drowning my losses in a very nice bubbly white wine while I wait for my pasta. Specially suggested by the owner. I toasted Caitlin’s birthday and a bon voyage to Annemarie. 

Everything is closed until 3 so I might as well eat and drink with the locals!  

My other problem is that today is the last day my data plan with Orange will work. I have tried almost everything including trying to converse with an online bot. That went really smoothly, not. It spoke in French and ignored my English! I figure I have two options left. Try to refill my plan in a tabaco shop as this works in France, or give up on Orange and find a Vodophone or Tim cellular shop and buy a new SIM card and a different plan. Either way I’ll get my phone up and running. A very necessary tool on this sometimes poorly marked route, and the easiest way to stay in touch with various parties as I proceed.

My lunch has arrived. Zucchini pesto sauce with thick, round pasta noodles and bacon. I’m in heaven!

The owner of this excellent restaurant has been very helpful and has suggested that the tabaco place down the street can solve my problem. Now a thunderstorm is going overhead. And the rain falls!

Later: the rain did arrive and fell heavily. My small table and chair were not undercover and two young women from Switzerland and a young woman from Italy kindly allowed me to sit with them in order to stay dry. We talked about many things for well over an hour. It was a very entertaining way to pass the time, and I enjoyed the conversation. They all seemed to feel that my best phone solution was going to be a replacement of my SIM card. 

After the rain stopped I walked down to a tobacco shop and paid €11 for what I thought was a data top up for my phone. However, this never happened leaving me with no alternative than to switch data plans and providers. I’m OK with that, but it will result in yet another phone number. My third phone number on this trip. Sigh. I can deal with this at 9 o’clock tomorrow morning and will be top of mind when my day begins. 

Decision made I went in search of a grocery store to find dinner and breakfast food. Along the way I stopped at the main cathedral. It was something special after all the somewhat glum churches I’ve seen. 

Not so much on the outside.

However, on the inside it was amazing! I hadn’t read anything about Parma before making the trip here. Really it was simply about discovering some of the culinary delights the city is famous for and of course meeting Costanza.

The painted ceiling and walls were completely unexpected and out of character for most Italian churches that I’ve seen over the years. Of course many are painted, but most are fairly plain.



I’m not completely sure, but I believe this is another painter’s impression of just what happens when people don’t behave themselves and fall into hells fires. Or I could be completely wrong and this could be someone rising up into heaven. Much of the art in these old churches was designed to tell bible stories to the masses who were generally uneducated and therefore unable to read. 

It appears that if you fed a donation box with enough coins the lights in the dome would turn on and another box property fed turned on the lights hi lighting the ceiling. I fed neither box and just took photos! 



Quite the sight!  

Outside again I continued my hunt for a grocery store. I kind of just meandered along because frankly Parma is a very beautiful city. I’m looking forward to discovering more of its delights tomorrow, but here are a few street shots.

The city has a real nice feel to it. Interesting and well-maintained buildings with cobblestone streets and old church towers in various spots. Lots to enjoy here!



Once I have my little problems out of the way, tomorrow is going to be a fun day of wandering back streets and poking my nose into various old buildings, museums and art galleries. And of course I’ll be looking for Parma ham and places that use Parmesan cheese in their cooking.  

I just received a text from Annemarie that she’s touched down in Vancouver. That’s great news, and she’ll be happy to be almost home. I think her plan is to return to Victoria on Thursday.

Happy Birthday Caitlin! Love you!🎂🍾🥂🎉🎉🎉