Parma parking

We went to Parma - it was far too hot, but parking was impressive - yes sad, I know, I'm supposed to admire the cultural treasures. But at the car park entry barrier, the sign told us how many parking spaces were free on the floor we were entering. As we drove round, we realised that each bay had a red light above the car that occupied it. If we looked for a green light, hanging from the ceiling, we could see from twenty cars away where there was a free space. And there was calming music (Greensleeves) to soothe stressed drivers - not a bad experience considering it was only a boring functional place.

We did also go and see the cathedral and the baptistery.

The paintings in the cathedral were wonderful. See the videos too.


and this video

Italian holiday

We've spent a week on holiday in Italy at an agritourismo here called Cergallina with family. Lovely.

"We" is husband and his son and family, so I got the chance to know them better. Their two little girls are five and nearly three, so interested in everything and interesting, but needing a lot of time and attention. Their mother seems a tad tired, having two pre-school children, when nearly all her time is devoted to them. I think a mother needs the friends and family who share that time with her because for a couple of years there's hardly any time for an adult life.

Husband and I stayed for a week. Son and family stay two weeks.

"Here" is a hamlet, where it's quiet except for the buzzing of flies off the cows, chirping crickets the shouting workers watering the vegetable patch, and occasional braying donkey. But it's not an isolated place. From the bench under the fruit trees I can see a village in the valley. At night I can see lights in various different directions, like Vernasca to the north on the other side of the hill ridge. This page shows you where. But it's quiet enough for son and family to have visited her at least three times. His wife's sister-in-law comes from a village twenty minutes walk away. The quiet pleases them, and the animals and swimming pool please the children. The animals include at least two cats, a cow and her calf, two mules, a donkey, some horses, geese, hens and ducks. Granddaughter tells me that last year she rode on the horses, and I have a video of her riding them this year.

Disappointment - no ice-cream

We went to Castell'Arquato, a village, a short drive from here in Cergallina. LIke many Italian villages it is on a hill with the church at the top. We parked in a low car park, promised the little girls gelati (ice-creams) and walked into the town, through the narrow streets, but past the first cafe. The next one too had a big sign "GELATI" but we walked past that too. Their parents revealed their intention to walk all the way to the top of the village to get the ciecreams from the cafe opposite the church, at the very top of the village. So we walked, marched and sang:

"One rainy day at the battle of Waterloo,
the brigade made a glorious charge to see what they could do."

You can find the words here. Granddaughter was pretty plucky, and kept going for at least three full renderings of this, but marching up a hill, encouraging a five-year old and singing too, I was flagging by the time we arrived at six flights of eight steps and needed her daddy to encourage.

We arrived, sat at a table, ordered coffees and ice-creams.
No ice-creams!

What a disappointment. The girls were great and settle for biscuits.

Italy - azienda agrituristica

An azienda agrituristica is an Italian holiday place to stay where it's agricultural. It's like a farm holiday. We're staying at Cergallina, which you won't find on your GPS because it's not been uploaded on the database. In fact, Judith, the proprietor tells us, Cergallina is a name that she made up. Then the authorities told her that she lived on Via Cergallina, which she didn't like, so she asked how to register Cergallina as a locality. the town hall said she could change it to a locality because Via Cergallina was the name that post office held, so she toodled along to the PO and told them that they'd got it, wrong, that it wasn't Via locality, but the locality locality. Then the people at the PO said sorry for getting it wrong, changed their records, and Judith could go back to the town hall, who now agreed, because the PO said so, that locality was a locality.

You couldn't do that in England!