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I drove from Cremona to Parma over the back roads through the Italian countryside very relaxing compared to the frenetic Autostradas. An hour and 20 minutes at 60 kph.

Parma – Famed as a UNESCO City of Gastronomy, famous for Parmigiano Reggiano cheese and Prosciutto di Parma. The famous Balsamic Vinegar is made in the nearby city of Modena. It also hosts the European Food Safety Authority and home to corporate headquarters like Barilla and Parmalat. I went on an all day tour of the Cheese, Prosciutto and Vinegar factories and I was enlightened.

I learnt the meaning of DOP which stands for Denominazione di Origine Protetta (Protected Designation of Origin), an official quality label created by the European Union to protect regional foods and culinary traditions in Italy.

Every single step—including production, processing, and packaging—must happen in a designated, specific region.The raw materials and traditional methods must be native to that exact area, shaped by local climate and human know-how. Independent control bodies test and verify the product to prevent cheap global knockoffs or untracked ingredients

Parma has two very nice Cathedrals and a Museum in a building that is a museum in itself and it has a painting by Leornado da Vinci. Another city for your bucket list.