Old and new
Piacenza to Parma, 8th - 9th April
After Piacenza, I had my sights set on a line of cities heading east: Parma, Modena, and Bologna (especially Bologna). This means deviating from the Via Francigena route, but I'll probably come back to it later; my road will also lead to Rome. Parma was around a 75km ride from Piacenza, a reasonable one-day distance, but after my unexpectedly long day I was happy to slow down and take it over two, booking a pilgrim hostel in Fidenza, my last town on the route.
The road out of Piacenza was frankly awful, as I was taken (on the official route) on the SS10 state highway, unfortunately necessary to get past the ring road and the A1 national highway. Leaving the highway for rural roads and flat fields was a relief, and I've been appreciating the many grand old brick barns which look centuries old. Some are still in use but I prefer the look of those in ruins. There's an odd mix of old and new in this region: I saw intensive farms as well as an old woman with a scythe, dressed in all black despite the sunshine.
In the village of Cortemaggiore, I was surprised to find a Punjabi grocery shop, especially since Wikipedia informed me that the population was 4,000. There seems to be quite a Punjabi community in this region of Italy - when I entered the shop, the owner was not at all surprised to see me or that I spoke some Hindi, but was quite impressed when I told him about my journey, and sent me off with a free can of Coke and a packet of Haldiram's moong dal.
Fidenza charmed me - I bought some local Parmigiano Reggiano, ate some excellent gnocchi, and had a long chat over cheese with my fellow pilgrims in the well provisioned hostel. One of them mentioned that the previous day's raised road along the Po was a dike, which seems somewhat obvious in retrospect. From Fidenza it was a short and easy ride to Parma, and I allowed myself a long lunch in the village of Collecchio, made easier by the relaxed Italian approach to cafe tables: nobody is ever going to come and present you with the bill, you can stay as long as you like without getting the slightest pressure to leave. My Warmshowers host only wanted to meet in the evening, so I was in no rush. When I reached the city in the afternoon, I first spent a few hours chilling on the riverbank before seeing the centre. Honestly, I preferred the riverbank. I don't enjoy old-town European city centres full of luxury designer shops and it was a mistake to spend my time walking around that area. I've since heard that the best thing in Parma is the food, but I cooked my own dinner at my host's house, using my newly acquired cheese for a carbonara. Perhaps I'll come back another time for the food.
