San Cataldo

After we loaded up the car we drove about 20 minutes outside of Bologna to FICO World. It’s a food amusement park created by Eataly. I was very impressed. It was organized into sections. Each section was devoted to a different food that Italy is known for. Wine. Olives, Cheese, Pasta, Fish, Beef, Risotto, Pizza, Truffles, Vinegar, Gelato, Pastries etc…There were several school field trips there. It was a huge place. They had bicycles for you to ride around. Which seems like a good idea, until there are kids doing it. They offer cooking classes to the public. We took the gelato making class. We all enjoyed it and will be trying out the recipe at home. I thought it would be a good idea for Eataly to have a couple of presentations scheduled during the day about the different foods. It would of been more informative. Some of the sections had videos and very well done interactive touch screens that shared information.
Italy has many Consortium’s. The Consortium regulates and controls the production and sales of MADE IN ITALY products. It’s purpose is to make sure that, for example, Parmesan Reggiano is made in the same way buy each producer. It helps keep the product special and the price higher for the producer. If you don’t buy Parmesan Reggiano made in the Parma region, you aren’t buying Parmesan Reggiano. You are just buying Parmesan cheese. Which is not the same!
We arrived at the house we are staying in for the next several days. It’s very cute. It has outdoor spaces and is in more of a neighborhood outside of the city center. We are going to the grocery store and to the laundry to wash clothes. We plan to eat in tonight because Gabe has several work meetings. Ciao!

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