We’re gradually working our way around Italy by car which means that each time, we try and go by a different route so we’ve started visiting the less touristy places. Last time, we went to Parma, famous for its cheese – parmeggiano-reggiano, known in English as Parmesan. We also visited a balsamic vinegar works and stayed in a wonderful B&B nearby called Corte Bebbi. The city itself has several monuments worth visiting, particularly the duomo with its lovely fresques and gold-leaved capitals and baptisry which unfortunately was closed when we got there. We had an uninteresting meal at the Gran Caffè on Piazza Garibaldi with its mixture of Renaissance and more recent buildings but it was fun to watch the world go by.