Parma

One of the, if not THE biggest, benefits of my job here at SYA Italy is the opportunity to go on the school trips. Orientation earlier, well, was nice, but it was orientation and there was work to do. Workshops and discussions and adviser meetings. These past our days, it was museums, free time and just plain sightseeing. Trips are planned by my Italian colleague Santo S. (who I will get to chest bump me by the end of the year, you'll see) who just decides where he thinks is cool and makes it happen. A trip usually has a two year run and our trip this week to northern Italy was the second. Therefore, my guess is that next year's November trip will be a new one. The February trip, 13 days, will be going to Sicily and, wait for it, TUNISIA. My job is taking me to Carthage. This is a classics based program, remember, so Santo is throwing down and taking the school to North Africa.

Oh, right, so where did we go this past week? Parma, yes, the home of Parmesean Cheese and Prociuotto. Then we drove to NW Italy, to Torino, which being near France, has a very French feel, but still at heart, an Italian city. First up, Parma!

At the heart of Parma is this building of the 11th-12th Century, the Battistero, which is a baptistry. The Catholic Church was beginning to take hold in Europe and buildings were being erected after the Dark Ages with the Church's great influence. The Battistero is constructed of the famed pink Venetian Marble and built in an octagonal shape.

Even though the Battistero is many stories tall, the inside is one large room. Here's the ceiling.

Here is the actual pool in which people were baptised into the church.

If it's an Italian city, there is a Duomo. The outside of Parma's Duomo is uninviting, but the I liked the door.

One student with a good eye noticed an interesting "mistake" or perhaps intentional design feature of the pediment of the Duomo. See if you can find it. I'll put the answer at the end of the posting.

In another church near the Duomo, this was the pattern on the floor. The Geometry teacher in me loved it.

Near the Duomo was a monastery. Here's the largest of three inner courtyard.

Yes, I had to post pictures of food. It is Parma. This shop smelled so good. I would walk out so I could walk back in and be bombarded with the smell, which was almost one of being sweet, but was essentially the strong smell of fresh cheese and meat.

My colleague Frank and I purchased prosciuotto and cheese for lunch the next day, but we couldn't resist sampling it that night.

We were in Parma for an evening and night. The next day it was back on the bus to Torino. As for the "mistake". If you look at the arches on the left side, the tops point diagonally to the left, whereas the arches on the right, point directly skyward. Mistake or on purpose. You be the artistic judge!