We left Ian and Carmel at the train station, and after another stroll around the beautiful Camogli we checked out and drove to Parma. This is the town that invented parma ham (prosciutto) and Parmigiano Reggiano cheese (kind of like parmesan, but not).

Our hotel was an old medical centre that looked like an old, gated sanitarium. It was huge with marble floors, walls and chandeliers dripping all over it. The hallways were wide and the room generous. It reminded us of the mansion in The Shining. In fact I went to check the piano bar and there was no pianist or other customers, only one bartender standing behind the bar smiling at me creepily.

We walked around Parma to get our bearings and had a coffee overlooking the quaint, cobblestoned streets. That night we went for a traditional Parma meal at a restaurant recommended by our concierge. They started the meal with a free plate of Parmigiano Reggiano cheese. Lidia doesn't eat cheese, so I had to eat all of it, such a hardship. The cheese here is definitely not just for grating over your pasta. It is absolutely delicious.

The next day we spent hanging around Parma. They have an amazing old cathedral with an incredible mural of Mary ascending to heaven in the massive dome. Next to the church is an octagonal baptistry made entirely from pink marble. Apparently the marble was sourced from Verona and due to a fight between the two towns, it took 200 years to build because Verona refused to send marble for a period of time.

Apparently Parma invented parmigiana as well, although they don't make it like in Australia. It's basically an eggplant dish. Naturally we had to try it so we enjoyed some really tasty eggplant parmigiana for lunch. We then went for a tour of their opera house, which is a beautiful baroque theatre with boxes lining the walls all the way around and for four levels. A massive mural is painted on the ceiling and the wall behind the stage.

After this we went to a market to buy a few things. Lidia went downstairs to go to the toilet and I waited upstairs. I was checking out some of the local products, like prune filled pastries, parmesan cream cheese and a huge prune tart like a giant jam fancy. 20 minutes went by and I was wondering where Lidia was. I went downstairs to inspect the situation and found the toilets in a back corner of the store. There was a sign on the door "Please get the key from the cashier". I knew Lidia had not done that and there was a hell of a racket going on in there. Lidia was locked inside the toilet and was banging on the door like a woman possessed. Apparently someone else had been in another cubicle. Someone who had actually gone to get the key. Lidia came wandering into another cubicle and meanwhile the stranger left the toilet and locked the door on their way out. So I went to get the key from the cashier and then went back down and unlocked the door. A very unhappy Lidia emerged like a bee out of a bottle.

Anyway after we had all settled down, we went to a local enoteca to sample some local wines. Parma is famous for Lambrusco wine so we had to try that. It wasn't that great, although better than the sweet stuff we get in Oz. We then went to a local deli and bought some cheese, parma ham, grilled veges and bread to have for dinner.

The next day we drove to a tiny little town outside Modena for a balsamic vinegar experience. On the way we passed a toll booth where we had to pay for using the road. We have gone through lots of these so far on our journey and usually you pay by throwing money into a box. There generally isn't a toll-booth operator. So in this case I drove past the toll booth to pay, opened my window and heard a voice say "Bon Giorno!" Turns out there was a person in the toll booth. I put the car in reverse and backed back to the toll booth. I paid my toll, said "Ciao!", put my foot on the accelerator and promptly drove backwards. I had forgotten to take the car out of reverse. Fortunately there were no cars behind me, so other than feeling like a moron, there was no harm done. I almost felt as stupid as Ian must have felt when he tried to get money out of a cigarette machine in Turin. After putting his credit card into it, it took him a few minutes to figure out that it wasn't an ATM.

The balsamic vinegar experience was in an ancient farmhouse in a tiny village called Nonantola. It took us a while to find it, but eventually we drove down the long driveway to the old two story house. Our host, Guido, met us there and after another couple from Boston arrived, we started the experience with a glass of Lambrusco with a wedge of lemon in it. Guido is a balsamic vinegar producer, a business that his father started. When you make balsamic vinegar, you have to wait a minimum of 12 years before you actually produce anything. That's the minimum ageing. Guido had vinegar in barrels that his father started in 1968. The process is intensive. You need to move the vinegar to smaller barrels every year. The barrels can be made from different kinds of wood to change the flavour, such as cherry wood, oak or mulberry. Guido was vey passionate about his craft and even has a set of barrels that are specifically for his daughter, Guya. He said that if anyone harmed those barrels he would literally kill them. They are like family to him.

Guido gave us some tastings of his vinegar and then took us into his house where he prepared a magnificent lunch for us. The lunch took 4 hours to get through. There were courses upon courses of food coming out and it was all delicious. Of course, we had to add balsamic vinegar to just about everything we ate, including fresh strawberries, cheese, tortelloni and ice cream.

After our lengthy lunch we headed into Modena. The next morning we walked around this cool city. They were having a motor show weekend and the place was buzzing. Modena is home to the factories of Ferrari, Maserati and Lamborghini. The main square had a display of 3 Padani's. They were gorgeous looking cars. We went to a Ferrari museum which was awesome. On the way out we were approached by a girl offering us a drive of a Ferrari. I was pretty keen, so we went for a spin. We had to choose between a black or a red California Ferrari, so of course we chose red. Lidia sat in the back, I drove and an ex race car driver named Lorenzo showed me how to drive the thing. We actually drove through the streets of Modena, passing 6 or 7 other Ferraris on the way. When we arrived at the entrance ramp to the highway, Lorenzo told me to stop and wait until the highway was clear of cars and trucks for a couple of hundred metres in front of us. He then started yelling "Go! Go! Go!". I planted the foot and the Ferrari took off in a roaring fury, shooting up to 100kmh in 3.2 seconds. Lorenzo kept encouraging me, so I kept accelerating and it was like driving a fighter jet. Eventually Lidia started screaming "Stop it!" from the backseat, so I eased off, much to Lorenzo's disappointment. We dropped the car back at the starting point, the adrenalin pumping through my veins. What a car.

While were enjoying Parma and Modena, Ian and Carmel were having a ball in Cinque Terre. They got off to a rocky start when Ian left his new hat and second pair of sunglasses in Camogli, adding to the lengthy list of things he has lost on this trip. Carmel had a small hiccup when she got drunk on a kayaking trip and then fell into the water. Besides these minor issues, they loved the 5 towns of Cinque Terre and had a fantastic time.