Parma and Milan Italy

I finally managed to see Italy!
It was a private trip; Veronica wanted to show me where she was born and lived. And feed me.

We landed in Milan but took a train to Parma, about an hour away.
What a beautiful city, so underrated!

Many nice parks. Loads of details to discover:

Some weird things, too:

I ordered the world’s most petite Espresso:

But the highlight for me was the food.

There was something I didn’t realize until I was there. Reflect on the city’s name, Parma; what does it remind you of?
Right, this one:

In a restaurant, they put big chunks of Parmesan on the tables, plus bread and olive oil, while we were waiting for our dishes.

I’ve never seen Parmesan this way, and I asked Veronica what I was supposed to do with it.
Her response was, “Eating?”

Oh boy, since this moment, I’ve been a Parmesan addict. Preferable 24 months or older.

My main dish.
It’s various tortellini with butter and, of course, Parmesan.
Now guess where tortellini was invented?
Right, here!

Also, ever heard of Parma ham?
All the good stuff comes from this city or one of the neighbors – Aceto Balsamico from Modena, the famous Ragu alla Bolognese from Bologna.

Next day, another restaurant:

The next picture dish is Duchessa di Parma and is chicken rolled in Parma ham, first fried for a bit, then backed. A sauce with cream and, guess what, Parmesan:

And this one doesn’t need no introduction:

The restaurant was called “La Forchetta,” and I will never forget it. The food was just unreal. I already want to come back.
Heck, I want to live upstairs!

After four days, we went back to Milan and had around 36 hours in the city before we moved on.

Of course, there are two things to see if you go to Milan.
Here, I took pictures for you, so you don’t have to go yourself:

We also went to the Armani Cafe for a little treat, but to be honest, I think the city is overrated.

As soon as you move 100 meters outside the center, it’s just buildings that look as if they’re going to collapse quickly and a lot of old and partly empty business parks and factories.
There’s a lot of rubbish on the streets and graffiti everywhere; it’s a shame.

I was glad as we moved on to the second part of our Italy trip the next day.