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Hotel Class: 
4 Stars - 47 Opinions
Via Reggio 51/A, Parma, Emilia-Romagna, I-43100, Italy
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of people enjoy staying here
47 Opinions
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Hi VT! Long time since I've been here. Since we resolved the Napoli question, I once again need your wisdom!
I'm supposed to take up a post in Parma in a couple of weeks, but am really finding it hard to get a sense of what Parma is like. I've looked it up and read lots about the food and castles, but could you'se maybe suggest some adjectives to describe it? There, easy, all I need are one word answers!
If anyone's been recently, or lives there, could you try to describe it to me.....sorry, I know this is the kind of abstract posting you'd be tempted to ignore, but spare a moment...please
Thanks
Just found Manara's Parma page, very helpful.
Parma is a mid-sized town - not so big as Milan where you can get lost for the cars (and have to have public transport), and not a small hilltown, either. It's a university town, so lots of young people. It's a town of art - when we were there, the local museum showed a special exhibit of works by "Il Parmigianino", a local artist of great repute (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parmigianino ).
It's a town where you get served chipped Parmesan cheese at every meal (really, the hotel restaurant did that, serving it on a separate plate - I know they're proud of the stuff, but this seemed a bit much ;-) ). It's a town where the local bread is surprisingly bad (rather flaky in a bad way, and tasteless) - well, maybe it was that same hotel, because we ate at pizzerias otherwise.
It's a town where the local Parmensan dialect sounds like French spoken by a German - that's how it sounds to me when I speak with an old college friend whose family is from Parma (and proud of it). It's a town that has its own character, yet it is easy to go other places, such as Milan, Cremona, Piacenza, Bologna, etc. with short train rides.
We have very fond memories of Parma, such as walking down the quiet streets at night, or finding the local pizzaria, where a young woman who was likely a university student sat the whole time smiling at us (me, my wife, and mother-in-law) either because she thought our English or my Roman-accented Italian sounded funny, or maybe just because there aren't many tourists in Parma in February).
Bill
Hey thanks for that Bill. Really helps me get a 'sense' of what it's like. So safe enough do you reckon, say to go for walks alone at night looking obviously not Italian? By night, I mean evening.
You're quite the sage!
Sandra
"So safe enough do you reckon, say to go for walks alone at night looking obviously not Italian? By night, I mean evening."
Good heavens, I wouldn't think twice about it...well, I am a good-sized Italian-speaking guy guy, so you might have a different perspective, but, really, I was out with my wife and her mother (70+) and didn't begin to have a problem. Parma is not as large as those cities that have a lot of outiders bringing in drugs and whatnot (I am sure that any drugs on the streets offered to you will be by students instead ;-) ).
"You're quite the sage!"
I have always thought of myself as basil, considering the volume of it that I eat in pesto and insalata caprese, but I am willing to entertain alternatives ;-)
Bill
apologies apologies, basil it is then! and your utter astonishment at my statement regarding safety is reassuring. glad it seemed preposterous!
Since I’ve seen just one game in Parma it’s quite hard to find a really good moment. But the challenge in every new town I visit is to find the stadium. Sometimes it’s easy, sometimes it’s really hard. In Parma it was thankfully really easy, the bus from the station took me all the way to the stadium, and I had plenty of time to look around the area before the game.
Palazzo Cusani is Renaissance style building recently completely restored. It was bought by the city community in 1602 in order to became the seat of the high school of medicine. Later on, the palace changed its dedication for several times and finaly in 2002 it become The House of Music. Nowadays it is an international point of reference for musical research and documentation.
This is a restaurant where I have dinner rather often with my partner. It is not luxurios but has an elegant simplicity. The service is efficient and polite.
It is suitable for a business lunch, a romantic dinner or a family meal.
The list of dishes in the menu is not very long, and all the items there belong to the local tradition. But there are always several dishes of the day to add variety.
One of the things I like most in this restaurant is that you can have good wines without paying a fortune. I can certainly rate the "Strozzapreti con pasta di salame" as my favourite primo piatto. It is a pasta dish with minced pork, very tasty, but also so substantial it could do as an only course. But if you want to have some meat after this dish of pasta, I recommend the "Controfiletto Robespierre": veal spiced with pink pepper and rucola.
For vegetarians I would recommend to start with a "Sformatino di zucchine e basilico" a mini-soufflé of zucchini and basil, and as a main course the traditional "Tortelli d'erbetta": pasta with a filling of ricotta, beet leaves and parmesan cheese.
In Parma's car-free historic centre, bicycles are a great way to travel around. Both conventional and electric bicycles can be hired from Punto Bici on the Viale Toschi.
We also noticed a number of bright yellow bicycles rented on the Zip car model, with pick-up and drop-off points close to various historical sites. I regret that I didn't get the full information about these services, but I seem to recall that you could get information from the Tourism office, 1 Via Melloni.
The Parco Ducale has an interesting history. Originally a plot of land yielding produce, fish and game for the Duke and his family, it gained a small man-made lake with an island in 1690. Some sixty years later, the park was redesign in the French style, gaing the Templet of Arcadia, and subsequently as an English garden during the tenure of Marie Louise. It wasn't until 1920 that the Trianon fountain was installed on the island, a relic from the Palace of Colorno.
The park was in constant use during our visit to Parma. Strollers, bikers, and old men playing chess, itinerant musicians, children attracted to the miniature railway just off via Kennedy, lovers entwined under the towering shade trees, concert-goers, and hordes of tourists setting off purposefully with their guidebooks prominently displayed all managed to co-exist.
Of course one may enter the park with a goal of touring the Ducal Palace, but since we never did so, I can simply recommend that those with more time than we had pay it a visit -- there are some lovely frescoes from the early 1600s if one is to believe what one reads in the city's self-published art guide.
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Q: how much do apts cost at Rubra Bed & Breakfast & how to contact them? "re:Rubra Bed & Breakfast in Parma. How do I contact them & what are prices?"
A: "See http://www.bbrubra.com/lang_eng/index.php Bill"
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Address: Via Reggio 51/A, Parma, Emilia-Romagna, I-43100, Italy
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