Parma

Some rainy days in Italy

What comes to your mind, if you think about Parma? Probably it’s the food, especially the Parma ham and the Parmesan cheese. But this Italian city is far not as famous as for instance Florence which I visited while staying in Parma. Still, I spent a few days in this small city and would like to share my experiences with you.

What I will surely remember from Parma is that the weather was always gray and rainy, and quite cool, during my five-day stay. I always needed a jacket and an umbrella when leaving my Airbnb. And my first impressions after my arrival were not so pleasant at all. First, it was difficult to get into the Airbnb, then I had to walk a lot to find a fast-food restaurant for a quick lunch, and a supermarket for a first grocery shopping. Everything seemed to be far away, there were long walking distances, and it was a bit of a challenge to manage work and travel in this place. Regarding the public transport, there are basically only busses running in town, but I was told that I cannot buy a ticket from the driver, the application didn’t want to work, and I gave up searching for a tobacco store for buying a ticket – I was rather walking a lot. Once, I got lost on the way back to the apartment after having lunch downtown. I lost my internet connection and couldn’t check Google Maps. I was already panicking a bit, but then I realized which street it is and that I’m close to my Airbnb. I was already a bit late from my online class. I had challenges and difficult situations both in the street and in the house. There was a washing machine, and I needed to wash my clothes, but it didn’t start the centrifuge program, and my clothes came out totally wet. I couldn’t put them out and drying on the balcony was impossible in that cool, rainy weather. So, I waited a few days for them to get dry in the house and helped them by using the hairdryer… These are some of my memories from Parma. 😀

To be a bit more positive, I can say that Parma has also got some nice churches, its cathedral is indeed beautiful and definitely worth a visit. You don’t even need to wait in line, it’s not like in Milan, Florence or in the Vatican (Rome). The downtown area is quite nice, too, it’s a good feeling to walk in the streets full of small shops and other stuff. And of course I ate some tasty food there, for instance a delicious gluten-free pizza with ham and mushrooms. But I was happy to go on daytrips to Florence and Bologna – staying in Parma was more than enough for a few days.