We will be arriving in Milan Friday morning and driving to Parma for the night before departing for our Villa in Chianti by Lucolena, which appears to be east of Greve, west of Figline and north of Radda.<BR><BR>Originally thinking of heading straight to Greve in the morning (hopefully making the market), touring Greve before hitting the co-op and checking into the villa between 5 and 8 p.m.<BR><BR>Now, I'm wondering since we will be relatively close to Greve all week, perhaps we should stop and tour another place on the way. Any suggestions from the Italy experts out there?<BR><BR>Grazie Mille!<BR>

One place I always stop at flying into Milano is Certosa di Pavia. it is a simply incredible renaissance structure with some wonderful artwork. It is not far off your route to Parma.<BR><BR>On the second day, you could make a stop in Modena or Bologna. Modena is not very weel known among tourists. It has a wonderful center, perfect for walking. There is the Este Library with an incredible art collection featuring Dosso Dossi, one of the great lesser known artists of the Renaissance. Modena is home to the production of Balsamico so try and buy a bottle of the good stuff. Modena also has a wonderful old fashioned covered market where you could stock up on supplies for your stay in the villa. Much better foodstufs than the Coop will have. Also remember that shopping for food will be very limited on Sunday and Monday.<BR><BR>If you are a car buff and do decide to visit Meodena, remember that there is the Ferrari museum in Marinello just a short ride south of town.<BR><BR>Another stop could be Reggio nell'Emilia where parmigiano production is the main business of the day. Reggio is a small, brightly colored and well preserved town. <BR><BR>Be sure to leave yourself enought time on the A1. The section from Bologna to south of Firenze is very traficcy. It can take as much as 2 hours to get to the 222 (the windy and lovely Chiantigiana) or the 4 corsi (the four lane also called the Firenze-Siena supererstrada).

Another option is to take an unusual route to enter Tuscany. Instead of using the autostrada, in Bologna move to the ordinary road and towards Pistoia. You will be cross ingthe Appennini, touching several vilages, reaching Porreta terme an than down along Porrettana road to Pistoia. Stop in Pistoia, maybe spend a whole day there looking for loding in some agriturism in the hill area north of the town.<BR>Another option is to enter Tuscany through Liguria. From Parma take the usually chocked Autostrada to La Spezia. Once in La Spezia, leave the autostrada and make your way to the Alpi Apuane area. These mountains are rich of marble and look white; in Colonnata buy sopme of the local lardo. Once you are through, keep going south and drive on small roads leading across the hills of the Pisa area until the Colline metallifere, with their gayser-like soffioni boraciferi, than move east to Chianti. This will make your trip longer but it is really worth travelling along thsi longer route.

Oh, I orgot. If you decide to follow Dean's suggestions about Modena and Reggio, you can visit "Acetaia San Giacomo", where Andrea produces his aceto balsamico.<BR>http://www.acetaiasangiacomo.com/ (the english version might be not yeat ready 8-( )

Thanks for the suggestions.<BR><BR>Dean, do you know how far a drive it is to Modena? I'd love to go to a market and stock up, which is originally why I wanted to head to Greve, but it's vacation, I didn't want to have to rush things getting there. <BR><BR>Is the market open all year? We are traveling in early October.

The train ride from Parma to Modena is about 45 minutes, by car I doubt it will be much longer or shorter. you can also shop in Bologna. RIght behind the two leaning towers there is a smaller than in Modena covered market but the surrounding streets (actually veryt tiny ones and pedestrians only) have tiny wonderful shops. I have a good friend in Bologna who is agourmet, and every time we meet there we take a stroll in the area we just look 8-9~°~°~°~°~°~°~° for the whole time, but they are really costly!!! if you go to Bologna, have a gelato at Steffino.

I would take the autostrada and get off at Modena Nord and follow the signs to the centro. A must stop in on Via Giardini at Crema Giardini for the best gelato I have ever had in Italy (maybe tied by Antica Delezie in Castellina in Chianti). I have only been in Bologna once and was not driving, but it seemed harder to get around in than Modena for a day trip.

Dean:<BR><BR>Next time you are in Italy, try Steffino in Bologna and Cardelli in Milano. if you decide to try cardelli, e-mail me: I work 100 meters from it ^_^

ttt