Tigers Helping an Ospreys Fan Viadana

OSPRELIYA · Post by **OSPRELIYA** » Sun Oct 18, 2009 6:58 pm

Hi Tigers, Me and the better half are off to Viadana 11-13 Dec for the HC game. A few tips would be brill. Accom booked in Parma and return flights to Milan. Where to eat, drink and be merry would be great. Great game last week, how we hung on eh !!!!

tigerburnie · Post by **tigerburnie** » Sun Oct 18, 2009 8:29 pm

Might take a week for them to get back,be patient

hiraldos · Post by **hiraldos** » Mon Oct 19, 2009 6:02 pm

Hi, we did the same as you flew to Milan and then stayed in Parma.
Our hotel was a little way out so we got taxis to 'Plaza Giuseppe Garibaldi' which we called the central square - from here you can get taxis back and there are a few restaurants.

On the street behind 'Plaza Giuseppe Garibaldi' is 'Via Goffredo Marneli' this has a not very irish 'irish bar' called 'Mastiff' - it serves Guinness and looks like a real bar food pretty average (5/10)

A better irish bar is on 'Borgo del Correggio' (the end nearest the church) it has a sign outside with a pint of Guinness and the word 'pub' lots of fans were singing fairly badly in here after the game. They also serve litres of beer and food.

A reasonable restaurant we tried was 'Ranzani' or 'Ronzani' which was a 2 minute walk from the 'Plaza Giuseppe Garibaldi' (on via 'Bruno Longhi'). It was normal italian pizza/pasta type place nothing to write home about but nice enough (7 out of 10 from me). Though as a few fans had problems finding somewhere to eat worth keeping in reserve.

We had a nice sit down lunch in the ground before the game - a massive ham hock 12 euro but tasty and did the job.

Hope you have a good time - we did, oh and they seem to serve Parma ham with everything - anyone would think they made the stuff there!

OSPRELIYA · Post by **OSPRELIYA** » Mon Oct 19, 2009 8:04 pm

Thanks for spending the time for giving us some top tips, much appreciated. Rugby has some great followers.

Has anybody else got experinces from their Viadana trip ?

Rubymint · Post by **Rubymint** » Tue Oct 20, 2009 6:30 pm

Hi OSPRELIYA

We flew into Bologna and hired a car to get down to Parma - Like hiraldos we stayed a little way out of town and went into town by taxi (about 10 Euros per trip) - We at the Holiday Inn Express which we would recommend if you havn't already booked somewhere.

We had really good meals - firstly at the Pizzeria on Plaza Giuseppe Garibaldi (Can't remember the name but if you stand with your back to the clock tower its in the left corner) - Just up the road by the side of the Pizzeria is Dolce Vita where we also had a good meal (the restaurant is at the back of the bar) - between the 2 eateries there is a good little wine bar with very good english speaking staff that we would also recommend.

We arrived at the ground about 2 1/2 Hours before kick-off to pick up our tickets and decided to stay and had a lovely ham-hock meal in the hospitality area which is open to all (just ask one of the waitresses for a table)

Another pointer is that the stadium is free-seating and we sat above the Viadana dugout in front of the Radio comentators where we had a really good view.

Hope you have a good time (but not too good!)

OSPRELIYA · Post by **OSPRELIYA** » Wed Oct 21, 2009 12:17 am

Thanks for the help Rubymint. Looking forward to hosting you all at the Liberty.

Thanks

Any more ?

Tweentown · Post by **Tweentown** » Wed Oct 21, 2009 8:32 am

Parma is a very pleasant city - the food is great as normal in Italy - and I'm sure you'll have a great time. Many of the bars are 'cafe' style - we also found the Irish bar close to the cathedral which is more like a 'pub' and was taken over by singing tigers fans much to the amusement of the local Italians.

Some travel advice which maybe useful - there are actually service buses running between Parma and Viadana (although not many) despite the Viadana Rugby website suggesting this is not the case - the cost is about 2 Euro - meant we could enjoy a pint or so at the game. In the end we decided not to hire a car at all - we used the trains which are frequent and good value for travel to and from Parma (out via Bologna and back via Milan) - you can book tickets on line on the trenitalia website (English version available) - discounts if you book in advance on line,

KD · Post by KD » Wed Oct 21, 2009 10:45 am

Italian happy hour is something to look out for - drinks are the same price but in most of the cafes / bars in the main squares they will give you free food (olives, pitza, crisps, nibbles etc.) with your drinks although it only seems to work with alcoholic drinks, but I doubt that will be an issue!

Drinks are expensive - round of 8 drinks at the Irish bar by the cathedral was 35 Euros. The Irish bar looks like a typical British pub, there is no sport on TV, unless you are going in there with some other fans don't expect too much in terms of atmosphere.

The Viadana ground is great, plenty of food and drinks with free car parking right outside the gate. Despite Viadana being small you will not find the ground without directions.

beech · Post by **beech** » Wed Oct 21, 2009 3:30 pm

We stayed at Astoria Residence Hotel - 5 minutes walk from the station - and the cost was 75 euros per room per night for bed and breakfast. We were fortunate that the Tigers Away Supporters Club arranged coaches fro the railway station to the ground so we were able to enjoy the fantastic atmosphere in their club house after the game.

Leicester Tigers