Two Girls From Texas in a Car: ITALY - VISITING PARMA AND MODENA

PARMA

Straddling Via Emilia, was the home of Correggio, Il Parmigianino, and Toscanini. It has also given us prosciutto (Parma ham)

did I mention truffles???

, and parmigiano cheese.

If the inspectors tap the cheese and it sounds hollow, they will destroy the batch.

Parma rose in influence and power in the 16th century as the seat of the Farnese duchy, and is still one of the most prosperous cities in Italy.

A bust by Canova of Marie-Louise

The town is famous for it's violet soap, perfume and sachet . A favorite of Maria-Louise- It became the symbol of Napolean Bonaparte.

It's most beloved ruler, Marie-Louise, widow of Napolean and niece of Marie Antoinette, arrived in 1815 after the concress of Vienna awarded her this duchy. Marie Louise became a great patron of the arts, and much of her collection remains in the city.

The city has also been a mecca for opera lovers such as Verdi. He was born in the small village of Roncole , north of Parma, in 1813. In time, his operas echoed Marie-Louise. Because of Verdi, Parma became a center of music.

IL DUOMO

Built in Romanesque style in the 11th century, with 13th centgury Lombard lions guarding its main porch, the dusty pink Duomo stands side by side with a campanile constructed in the Gothic-Romanesque style and completed in 1294.

The octagonal cupola was frescoed by a master of light and color,

Correggio (1494-1534), one of Italy's greates painters of the High Renaissance. His fresco, "Assumption of the Virgin", foreshadows the baroque.

Benedetto Antelami painted the transept to the right of the main altar "

The Deposition from the Cross". the bas-relief is the best-known work of the 12th-century artist, who was the most important sculptor of the Romanesque in norther Italy.

BAPTISTERY Among the greatest Romanesque buildings in northern Italy, the bapistery was the work of Benedetto Antelami. It was begun in 1196. Made of salmon-colored marble, its spanned by four open tiers. Inside the bapistery is richly frescoed with biblical scenes "A Madonna Enthroned" and a "Crucifixion". But the sculpture by Antelami that's the most worthy treasure.

MODENA ( MASARATI,FERRARI, PAVORATI AND BALSAMIC)

PANINI MUSEUM

The Hombre farm is 825 acres with 500 cows. It is owned by the Panini family. Umberto Panini invented the "stickers" and became wealthy. We met Umberto's son, Matteo Panini. Umberto bought this collection in the 50's.

He was proud of the history of the auto industry - Maserati challenged Bugatti, Auto Union and Alfa Romeo that was owned by Mussolini.

This is an incredible and priceless collection.

SAN DONNINO

The "traditional " balsamic is not what we have been buying at Whole Foods. The traditional is only made with the white Trebbiano grape or the red Lambrusco grape.

Only from this area. The grapes are cooked for 24 hours and are then fermented in wooden casks - only of chestnut, cherry,oak,mulberry,juniper, or ash. The fermentation is for a minimum of 12 years. Older balsamic is 25 years of age. We met Davide Lonardi

who is the 3rd generation of balsamic producers in this area.

This is the "Traditional" bottle

He kindly showed us his villa that his grandfather purchased in 1910. The fresco's were the original works of Aroldo Bonzaghi 1887-1918.

MASERATI

We were able to visit the Maserati factory that produces 4,700 of the 30,000 Maserati cars that are produced each year. There are no robots.

The cars are completely hand made. the first Maserati was built in 1928. It was the Tipo 26. it weighed 1,675 lbs; a supercharged 1,500 cc engine producing 120 hp at 5,300 rpm. In this car Alfieri Maserati, wone his class in the 1926 Targa Florio race.

Masareti colors are red and blue; the trident is the sumbol of Maserati. It was taken from a statue of Neptune in Piazza Maggiore in Bologna, where the Maserati brothers lived.