Finally we are getting around to posting some pictures of the great time we had with my parents, who were here in September. Their visit proved to me just how much I still (and always will) have to learn from them. Though they hadn't traveled outside of the US/Canada since 1977, my parents impressed me with their travel style and skills. As an example, they each came with only 1 small, carry-on size luggage for an entire month abroad. We started to call their luggages the silver bullets. Here they are upon their arrival in Milano.
I seriously need to learn this skill of packing light -- apparently it isn't automatically inherited. With or without the luggages, my parents were speedy and kept up with full days of walking.
They spent their first week with us in Emilia-Romagna, then travelled on their own to the Amalfi coast and Rome, and the we met up again and traveled in Umbria and Tuscany for the final part of their trip.
Here are some of my favorite pictures.
We had fun showing my parents our neighborhood in Bologna and doing a little cooking at home.
We saw some beautiful churches and some creepy relics.
Paul also showed them around Verona one day while I was at the clinic.
Our friend Vincenzo gave us a nice tour of Felino, a town outside of Parma where he is from. We went to the Felino Salami museum and also to Vincenzo's house where we got to sign his motorcycle.
Then, with Vincenzo, we went to a prosciutto festival outside of Parma in a town called Langhirano. Our friend Michela had been working for months on this event so we wanted to make sure to see it, and were not at all disappointed. One of the best aspects was a tour of a local prosciuttificio where we got to see the various stages of production and aging and afterward got to sample the prosciutto pared with local wines. Here we are on the way to the tour.
Paul and my dad were in hog heaven.
My mom, who doesn't eat much meat, was a good sport. Though I did think I caught her holding her nose in that prosciutto factory!
The next day my mom and I balanced things out by attending a huge international health food fare called Sana held at the Bologna Fiera (fair grounds/convention center).
I shouldn't actually be referrring to these two events as polar opposites though. There was also prosciutto and plenty of other locally produced specialties at Sana too. But along with that came lots of other more typical health food items like whole grain pastas and new forms of veggie meats. I've never been a fan of fake meat, but some of the grain products made with things like farro and kamut were excellent.
While Paul and my Dad went to a motorcycle show, my mom and I had another girls day. My mom got a new haircut which I love. Here she is on the way to dinner that night.
For the last part of their trip, when we met in Tuscany, we rented a car, a Fiat Panda to be specific. Paul and the Panda got along famously.
The countryside was absolutely beautiful.
The local culture was charming. Here we are at a small "palio," which in this case was a soap box race.
The agriturismo was a good place to rest between day trips.
And of course the food and wine were unforgettable. Here is a duck risotto that my dad ordered one night at the agriturismo's restaurant.
And dinner we made in our little kitchen.
My parents stayed home at the agriturismo for a day or two because my dad got the flu, and meanwhile Paul and I had a crazy day in Montalcino where we tasted Brunello in the basement of a family's castle where 26 generations have been wine makers. This warrants its own entry, but for now, here are a few pictures.
Once my dad was feeling better, we went back to our normal full schedule of sightseeing and checked out Montepulciano, Orvietto, Siena, Pienza, and more.
It was an amazing visit and it was hard to see them leave.
But the perfect ending was meeting up with Helen and Anthony, who arrived just before my parents left. We had a day in Milan to spend all together and the family baton was passed on.
Here was our final toast at our favorite spot for aperitivo.
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