Our last day in Italy we spent in Parma at a local authentic parmesan cheese factory. We got a short tour of the facility where they make the cheese and soak it in salt water. We then saw where the cheese was aged. The cheese can be aged for a minimum of twelve months and up to eleven years or more. After the tour of the facility we were able to sample cheeses that had been aged for various amounts of time, which included twelve months, twenty four months, and thirty six months. As the cheeses aged they developed a stronger flavor.
After the tour of the parmesan factory we headed to downtown Milan. I was looking forward to spending time in Milan shopping but we only had an hour and a half to spend there before we had to leave for the hotel.