On August 9, 2023, my son, Mike Palmer, and I boarded a flight from Pittsburgh, Penn. to Milan, Italy. We were on a journey to follow the footsteps of my late father, William Albino Vicini, who, in turn, made a similar trip to Italy in 1976 to visit our relatives and pay respects to his father, Albino Vicini, in Trefiumi, Italy.

In Milan, we gazed upon the Duomo, La Scala Theatre and da Vinci’s “Last Supper” — as my father once had. Then it was 120 kilometers south to Parma, where we soaked in the Palazzo della Pilotta, an awe-inspiring museum filled with world-renowned Italian artwork. We followed our palates to a Parmigiano Reggiano factory and sampled the famous cheese with their to-die-for Prosciutto di Parma.