Cheese tour pictures here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/debstah1/sets/72157622585466171/
And blog:
1:50pm: Train to Cinque Terre (through La Spezia) just pulled away from Parma station. Pretty empty so I have a whole little cubby of 3 seats to myself :)
So, what a morning!!!! Didn't sleep too well for some reason but woke up to the alarm at 6:30 and finished packing. Went down to Lino's Coffee (one of Italy's few chains) for a cappuccino and fresh chocolate cream-filled (and I do mean filled) croissant (for all of 2.40 euros. Eat that starbucks.)
Walked to the taxi stand about 10 min into town and was a bit earlier than I needed to be so I wandered around a bit before hopping on a taxi a little after 7:30. This was so much easier (and cheaper) than calling one. About 10 min and 12 euros later I was at the cheese dairy, called C.P.L., seemingly in the middle of nowhere yet so close to town. I must be honest, this was one of the things I was looking to most about my whole trip. I was there a bit early and soon after a group of 4 Swedes showed up, then an older American couple with their son and his Italian wife, and finally a few other people showed up. Then we were waiting for a big group of students from BC of all places. How funny. Anyway around 8:30 we went in and saw the milks (they use part skim from the day before, mixed with raw whole milk less than 2 hours old from that morning) mixing together with the rennet. It was basically a 3-man operation, and this is one of the bigger of the 400 dairies (it's a consortium of 12 milk farmers). This is simply fascinating. I took many videos and pictures to try to remember it all. We then went into the room where the cheese sits for just a couple days. In my pictures you'll see many cauldrons of milk - each one of those produces TWO WHEELS of parmigiano. That means this dairy makes about 24 wheels a day. Unbelievable. So after they sit for a few days, they sit in salt for about a month. Then they go to the warehouse where they must sit at least 8 months before they can be tested because, she explained, that's how long it takes the salt to permeate all throughout the wheel. And as this process continues, they keep losing moisture and weight (and calories and fat!). After about 1 year the cheese can be stamped with the official parmigiano-reggiano seal and can be sold with that name. In the warehouse, a machine (and sometimes by hand) brushes and flips each wheel. We got to see this unique "robot" in action. The cheese is whacked by a hammer and only is approved with the seal if it passes the test. Otherwise it gets processed or sold within Italy and stuff. This warehouse holds about 17,000 wheels of cheese when full. Then they have to send it out to the wholesalers where it sometimes finishes aging.
She explained the aging process, how it is best for the cheese to age through two summers until it develops the white spots throughout it. She said that's not salt deposits, but amino acids, which gives the cheese the complexity, smoothness, and easy digestion. Very interesting stuff.
Then we went back in the main cheese-making room where the curds and whey had sufficiently sat in the rennet and cooled and whatnot, so the three guys collected the curds in each cauldron with a huge cheese cloth, cut it into 2 pieces, then let them hang there before putting it into the wood molds. Absolutely incredible ordeal this milk goes through to become parmigiano.
Anyway, then I bought a piece of cheese (of course) - it was only about 11 euros a kilo, which is about half of what the good stuff costs in the states - plus someone said he finds it just tastes better when you buy it from the dairy (plus it directly supports these hard-working people). We also got to sample some 30 month old cheese - amazing. And everyone on the tour got a little authentic parmigiano knife! So then I asked the tour guide how I could get a taxi back. The professor from the BC students' tour heard us talking and said if I needed to go back into town I could catch a ride on their bus! AWESOME! It would've been more expensive to call a taxi to get back, because in Italy they start charging you from the moment they leave from wherever you call them, so it saved me probably close to 20 euros!
Anyway, this has to be one of the coolest experiences of my life. Forever I will respect and admire how they make this cheese - these three guys doing all the work and carrying around these approximately 100 pounds of cheese. I don’t think I can ever by "parmesan" again. It's worth it to know the amount of work and love that went into this stuff. The tour guide said that this dairy's master cheesemaker has been doing it for around 40 years. That's dedication. I'm so glad we were able to take pictures so that I can always remember this special experience.
Anyway, I got back earlier than I expected so I wandered around a bit as I meandered from where their bus stopped back to my B&B. I went back to Lino's coffee and got a hot chocolate, because it started to rain. Then I went to the pizzeria and got a margherita foccacia for all of 1.60 to tide me over til the train ride. Went to my "room" where the maid was cleaning. Got my luggage and left the money and keys on the table like Max told me to do. Hope that was sufficient as he didn't answer his door.
Bought a bus ticket and got on the 12:41 bus to the station. This ended up to be quite a pain because what seemed like an entire class of kids got on the next stop after me. Anyway, I confirmed the schedule and waited til the train came and now at 2pm here I am on the way to Cinque Terre. It wasn't really raining in Parma when I left but it is raining now on the train. Definitely out into the countryside here with beautiful scenery (would be even more beautiful under a clear blue sky but maybe not as mysterious-looking :))
2:23pm: after not being checked from Florence to Bologna, or Bologna to or from Ferrara or Bologna to Parma, or on any of the city buses I've ridden, I was FINALLY asked for my ticket. Amazing!
2:55pm: don't know where we are but it's raining pretty hard out :( Also, this is a Regional train, so it is not as fast or nearly as smooth as the high-speed trains. Blech. We're passing on ground level underneath some pretty freaking high bridges that I am really glad we're not driving over.
3:05pm: stop in Pontremoli, wherever that is. Think La Spezia's about 40 more min.
9:14pm: Whew, long afternoon. Made it to Vernazza fine. Found Piazza Marconi (hard to miss, it's the main square and there's one main street through town) and got Martina's brother, I believe. He showed me the room and everything's good to go. The room's nice, the view's wonderful, you can hear the breakwater crashing against the harbor. No tv, no phone, no internet, pretty bare bones, but very big. And up a LOT OF STEEP STAIRS. Anyway, got settled and went out and about to take some pictures and explore the little town. Had a gelato at a little place that said theirs was homemade. It was quite tasty, of course. There's a little coop supermarket and I bought a delicious-looking jar of olives from Livorno (a town near here). They look, quite frankly, awesome. I guess it's because these towns are remote (and touristy), but things are eeeeeeeexpensive here. The coop prices are a good 2 times that of what I saw in Bologna and Parma.
It's really quite gorgeous here, stunning and unique. But, the first thing I noticed was the prevalence of English. Having just come from Bologna and Parma which are not all that terribly touristy (and completely ignored by Rick Steves), it's a bit shocking to see some things in english ONLY. And almost everyone walking around is American (or secondarily, British). I can see why people come because it's so uniquely beautiful, but I can also see why a lot of people are disappointed by the "Rick Steves effect." I can only imagine what the locals think.
So it's much warmer here, but it has indeed been raining on and off. All of the hiking trails but the one "paved" one are closed, at least today. Not that that's a problem for me. The main street's lined with shops, enotecas and restaurants, pretty much. Besides some production of local agricultural products, like pasta, olive oil, wine, lemons, etc., I'm pretty sure the only industry is tourism :/
Chatted with a British guy and (I presume) his son, who've been in Vernazza several days already - said the weather only started to change this afternoon. Of course. Very nice people and we talked about the "Rick Steves effect" a bit.
Had dinner at a recommended pizzeria right next door to my hotel. I had olive pizza and it was delicious and definitely homemade - the pizza was not at all round, the crust not at all even, and just tasted homemade and cooked in a wood oven. And while olives and pizza are definitely two of my top five favorite foods, I really don't think I like them combined together that much. Anyway, it was still good. The place is really cute inside, all old and stoned with arches and whatnot. What bugs me though is that all these Americans come and that's great but, at least try to speak a few words. It's just so incredibly rude. Imagine if an Italian went into a restaurant in the US and just started speaking Italian without even asking first.
Anyway, wandered around a bit more, came back to the room, washed out a few things in the sink, and now just waiting for Renee's arrival. It should've been around now, but her train out of Pisa was delayed :(
10:05pm: I don't have much to do. Organizing and photoshopping the pics I took since I arrived in Vernazza. Day 1 with no internet or TV… 11ish more to go. Oy vey.
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