Saturday November 9th, 2019
We leave by car in the direction of Parma, but just before arriving, we stop in Colorno for the palace. It can only be visited accompanied by a guide (at scheduled times), we are a little early, it is still closed. We wait a bit, then we visit the palace, passing through the various rooms, most are empty, but with beautiful floors and frescoes, then we visit the chapel, and finally the garden. When we arrived there was a slight fog, now it’s sunny. We continue our journey and reach Parma.
Our hotel room is not yet ready, so we park the car and leave our luggages at the reception. We go out and look for a place to have lunch. Then we visit the Camera di San Paolo with its frescoed ceilings. Then we pass in front of the Palazzo della Pilotta and return to the hotel. We rest a little. I go out again: Palazzo della Pilotta, Teatro Regio, Madonna della Steccata, Palazzo del Podestà, Duomo and Battistero. We enter the Palazzo della Pilotta, where we spend the remaining part of the afternoon, seeing first the archaeological museum, then the Farnese theater and finally the Pinacoteca. When we go out, it’s already dark. We go back to the hotel, then we go out for dinner, take some pictures of the illuminated city and go to sleep.
Sunday November 10th, 2019
After breakfast we go to the church of S. Maria della Steccata for the Mass. Then we walk a little along the central streets, we see S. Giovanni and the Duomo (both inside), and the Battistero (only outside). We leave Parma and stop in Fontanellato. There are many people around the Sanctuary, and even the restaurants are full. We move a little and find a place to have lunch. Later we visit the fortress, also here with a guided tour. Inside, unfortunately, it is not possible to take photos. Before returning home, we stop in Soragna. There is hardly anyone around, we are undecided whether to visit the fortress or not (it would be the third in 2 days, after Colorno and Fontanellato). At the end we decide for the no, so we just take some pictures outside and go back home where we arrive in the late afternoon.
Read about my previous trip to Ireland here.
