Parma

Palazzo della Pilotta

Memorial near the Palazzo

From the Palazzo looking across the piazza towards city centre

Sorry for the delay in these posts - life has been pretty busy, hot and tiring.... plus the next lot of assignments are due next week! Last Saturday we went up to Parma to visit with Christina, Jessica and Selina from Jeddah. The weather in Firenze on Sat was supposed to be 37C and although we left early the heat was already beginning.We caught the train, had to change at Bologna and it was generally OK as the carriages were air-conditioned until some young gypsy hoodlum came into the carriage at one of the stops and opened a window so he could see where the conductor was on the train (they don't buy tickets you see) - then walked out of the carriage leaving it open. It was at the other end of the carriage and no one else got up to close it so I did at the next stop as it was starting to heat up.

Piazza Garibaldi

Piazza Garibaldi

We arrived in Parma to find that the weather was worse than in Firenze! Although it wasn't 37C it was really humid with little breeze - so it was pretty sweaty walking from the train station! We set off in the general direction we needed to go and came upon a market that was being held at Piazza della Pace. We had a quick walk thru and continued on down to Piazza Garibaldi.

Altar of Basilica Santa Maria della Steccata.  Prayer started so we didn't have long inside the church

We met up with Christina and the girls and had a bit of a look in the shops - in Firenze city there are mostly shops with items that the tourists like to purchase - Parma was 'normal' so I managed to get some shorts for Jacob (he has grown out of the ones we brought with us whilst we have been here). We had a lovely lunch and took a walk, being Saturday afternoon a lot of the shops had shut, but there were still a few open - including a bookshop - so we took advantage of their aircon! We returned on the train with no issues and back to Firenze to find that the change and breeze had arrived - but although the temperature stayed lower the humidity crept higher.......

The Duomo - the capanile (tower) is undergoing restorative work

Eating gelato on the steps of the Baptisttery

The Baptisttery