Palmed off in Parma; bedded down in Bologna.

Thursday 4 October.  Today was one of those days with lots of activity but not much to show for it.  We caught the train from Ravenna at 9am for the one-hour trip to Bologna, put our cases into storage for the day, then after a bit of confusion about platforms (Bologna has two sets of platforms with the same numbers; you just have to know whether it is east or west, which unfortunately is not shown on the departure board – at least not in English), we finally boarded a train to Parma just before 11am, arriving there about noon.  The problem is that Parma shuts down for the hours between noon and 3pm, with the exception of a very few of its main attractions.  So we walked past the closed Duomo, the closed Chiesa (church) di Santa Maria della Steccata, the closed Chiesa de San Giovanni Evangelista and a few other closed museums and galleries.  However we did get inside the thirteenth century St Johns Pharmacy, with its collection of jars, 40cm high pestles with mortars, rare pharmaceutical and fresco-style paintings of famous doctors of times past (unfortunately no photos allowed). There was also a well in the laboratory and a cellar which was mainly used to store spices.   We did visit one small church, the Chiesa di Santa Lucia which again had beautiful frescoed ceilings. We then walked to the Piazza Garibaldi to view the giant 1829 sun-dial on the facade of a seventeenth century palace. So after walking past closed shops displaying delectable local hams and cheeses, we boarded another train back to Bologna, walked to our new apartment and met our most delightful hosts Rafaella and Marcello.  They are absolutely charming - as is the apartment, of two-storeys with a beautiful bedroom and bathroom/laundry downstairs. Upstairs is one large attic-like room with sloping ceilings, complete with full kitchen, dining table, lounge area and a large window that opens to look out over adjacent roofs. There is also a small glass-fronted room, with a clothesline that can be raised somewhere up near the heavens. Our hosts arrived with fruit, eggs, biscuits and a bottle of wine and we found the apartment stocked with other goodies that they insisted we use as we please – garlic, herbs, pasta and all the condiments we will need.  We know we are going to love it here.

Tomorrow: start exploring Bologna.