We started our day at 4:45 to make our early tour in Bologna. Bologna is famous for its food. Even the Italians claim that, other than eating at their own mama's house, it is the best place to eat in the entire world.
We had signed up for this tour because it was rated the #1 tour in all of the Florence area. Our tour guide, Alessandro, was not only passionate about food but also very entertaining and funny. There were only seven others in the group: a couple from Ontario, Canada and a family from Australia. Beth suggested setting up her niece Erin (presently working in New Zealand) with one of the sons.
The tour began in the Emilia-Romagna countryside, the only place on earth where Parmigiano-Reggiano is made. We witnessed the entire process of this cheese being made
from a local farmer hooking his milk truck up to a hose which then entered the building to the final aging room.
There is a chef at the factory and 3 other employees that work 365 days per year. (UGH... this brought back memories of dairy farming for Mary.) The chef's 9- year-old son, who was present during the tour, will some day take over the master cheese maker duties.
Through observation, we now understand why Parmigiano-Reggiano is so costly. It takes
320 gallons of milk to make 220 pounds of cheese, and the milk can only be from 3 types of cows fed only in that region. They only make 16 wheels of Parmigiano each day in this place. We saw them warm the milk, add enzymes to separate the whey, craft the curds, form the rounds of Parmigiano, and store > 8 million dollars worth in their "bank" of cheese. We learned that there are 3 levels of cheese. 1 is the best and gets DOP stamp of approval. The final product is tested by pounding a mallet and listening for a consistent sound. Those rated a 2 do not have a consistent sound, meaning there are air bubbles. 2s still get a stamp from DOP, but lines are cut in the side on the rind. 3 becomes table cheese and does not get the DOP stamp. We also learned that the cheese had to age 12 months before the inspectors even came to visit. Needless to say, they're into their Parmigiano !
Following the tour, we were able to buy cheese that was aged between 2 and 4 years for one quarter the price that we would pay in the States. We were served 1 and 2 cheese with glasses of red Lambrusco. Their Lambrusco does not taste like the inexpensive Lambrusco back home! Donna dropped her cheese and spilled her red wine down Alessandro's front. He had to spend the rest of the day with red wine stains on his white t-shirt, jeans and tennis shoes. Luckily, he was very gracious.
From there we drove to Villa San Donnino where we visited the Balsamic Vinegar Villa . After learning about the process of reducing grapes to vinegar, we tasted multiple versions of Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale di Modena DOP (the fancy name for certified balsamic here) to include 6-year-old, 14-year-old, and 45-year-old balsamic vinegars. They also served us vinegar poured over vanilla gelato; it was surprising good!
We ate lunch at a local family restaurant where the 85-year-old grandma made homemade pasta. We feasted on 5 different kinds of pasta with local red and white wines. Our favorites were spinach pasta with four cheeses and the pork and beef tortellini with cream sauce and nutmeg. We had rabbit (yup, tastes like chicken!) and goat (too gamey for our tastes). Wild boar was also on the menu, and we weren't fans. For dessert we had coffee rum sorbet. Despite the waiters refilling the vino, Donna (the driver) opted to stay out of foreign jail, switched to Fanta and thought of John Bradley (Mary's youngest son) since they drank the orange soda together while visiting the Bradley's during their military tour in Germany. Alessandro kept saying he'd put all of us into a "food coma.". In actually, we were simply miserably stuffed.
After the tour, Alessandro was kind enough to take us downtown and get us a parking spot at his friend's hotel. Georgia let us go up to the Hotel Touring's terrace to get a beautiful city view. She also allowed us to park nearby for free. It's nice to have friends in high places!
We wandered into Piazza Maggiore. The Basilica di San Petronio was built between the 14th and 17th centuries and is one of the largest churches in Christendom. Organ music was playing during our visit. We loved the statues of the birth of Christ and of figures lamenting Jesus' death.
We saw the Fountain of Neptune with XXX -rated females and the city's Twin Towers.
Donna got pooped on by a pigeon. Mary says that means lots of luck. Brenda was smart enough to carry HandiWipes and kind enough to clean her hair up with them. Donna called first dibs on the shower.
We made it back to our B & B and decided to go do laundry. Donna left to get the car, while the rest of us sat on the bench with our garbage bags full of dirty clothes. We attracted a lot of local attention. Beth was the prettiest " bag lady" we had ever seen.
Elisa was kind enough to let us park right next to the B & B in her spot overnight, since we will leave early in the morning for a tour of Tuscany.
Donna, Donna....
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