Tales of A Journey

11/08 Photos

Careful consideration was given to how Europe was best to be explored given time, cost and the desire for immersion into the environment.  The challenge of cycling, unsupported with only a map and a general itinerary in hand was immediately appealing and welcomed.  After the unforgettable experiences, challenges and range of emotions, we firmly believe that cycling is the best means for exploration for so many reasons.

The diary of an American cycling tourist reads: “Rolling hills, winding road, me and my bicycle: emotions in motion.  The discrete presence of man and the wild soul of an unspoilt environment can be sensed everywhere.  The bicycle is the best way to enhance contact with nature and mankind.  The body moves, the mind is regenerated, the soul discovers the heart and the intimate well being of our land.”

The beauty of traveling by bike and for an extended time period, is the opportunity to experience first hand the true kindness, generosity and sense of community from those who surround us.

Susana  of Grindlewald: Susana welcomed us to our first campground and shared stories and knowledge of Swizterland that set the stage for our journey.  We will never forget the useful tip of the multi-purpose, silver sleeping pad (a story to be told after a few drinks)

German from Lake Lugano: After many mysterious noises in the night from the tent next to us, we expected a bear to crawl out of the opening the next morning.  Instead, a middle aged German man determinedly used his rusty English to share stories of this incredible Mediterranean area.

Peschiera: Spending a week in one campground allowed us to befriend the staff who gifted us with small appreciative tokens, meet a woman who so graciously offered us a salad and dinner after seeing that we had a hard day of biking, and to be gifted with coffee, sugar, olive oil and ice cream, among other items, from a departing Italian couple.

Generous Direction Experts: So many along the way, after seeing us analyzing our map, offered not only directions but their most valued treasures of their culture that they thought we may enjoy.

Lecchi: With darkness set in and no phone or specific directions to our lodging for the evening, a kind and thoughtful man ledus in his car, slow enough for us to follow on bike, to our cottage.  Without this help, we would no doubt have spent the night freezing in our tent with snakes and wild boar around us.

Gracious Hosts: Michelle of Bologna: Upon arrival, we found the fridge stocked, a fresh baked cake and fresh fruit on the table.  The place was thoughtfully decorated and supplied with calming music and a seclection of intriguing English books.  Michelle often left notes offering to wash our laundry and left surprise bag at the door, filled with fresh baked bread.        Charles of Lo Stallino: After a long, hard day of biking we were grateful to arrive to a beautiful home and a boisterous host who supplied us with a fine bottle of champagne, bottled water, fresh fruit and a stocked fridge, among many other items.   Charles and his wife Nancy truly opened up their home and hearts to ensure we felt at home.  A fireplace provides warmth inside and out in the evenings, while a wonderful patio and grounds allows the rays to beat down, while enjoying wine and a few good books.  Their dog Toby comes to visit and snuggle everyday.  The life style and choices of Charles and Nancy inspire us, as both are professors who seem to have gone against the grain and commit themselves to a lifetime of knowledge and learning, while choosing a different and more adventurous path from most.  Turning down tenure at Berkley, moving to Italy, marrying late in life and starting a family late in life seem to have provided a bright and fulfilling path.  A lot can be learned from those who create and live their own adventures.

A beautiful morning greeted us as we enjoyed a nice cappuccino, croissant and juice while overlooking the city of Florence.   The day ahead was expected to be a simple 25 mile bike ride to our last stay in a wonderful Tuscan  cottage.  The first two hours were spent climbing and descending hills, only to find ourselves where we first started.  Despite the lack of progression, we found ourselves in a small town of Impruneta, which was the site of a traditional chestnut festival.  Given the distance yet to travel we observed the event as passer-byes.  The rest of the journey consisted of  beautiful rolling hills through the country side.  As Nick carried a heavier than normal load, I proceeded to climb the hills with ease, as we passed a fine older gentleman on his evening bike ride.  As we stopped to analyze the map, the gentleman also stopped and engaged us in a conversation about the Tortoise and the Hare, wondering humorously if we ever heard of the story.  Nick kindly refused to point out the difference in the loads being carried.

As darkness was approaching, we were starting to grown concern over the ability to locate our cottage.  As we climbed the last hill to a small town of Lecchi, once again we were greeted with the genuine kindness of the locals.  After attempts of  broken English and Italian, a kind man led us by car all the way to our host.  We were greeted with enthusiasm as we winded our way up in to the charming countryside.  We were once again overwhelmed by the hospitality of a stocked fridge, fresh fruit and a bottle of champagne.  In the darkness, only a glimpse was to be obtained of the history and beauty of the place we will call home for the next 3 weeks.

The departure from Bologna reoriented ourselves to our bikes as we loaded our panniers and headed to the train station.  As tickets were rapidly purchased to Florence, we found ourselves with 6 minutes to load our bikes and luggage (Nick was quite surprised to learn of my rapid and haste ticket purchase).   We frantically rode our loaded bikes down the platform to our Bin and with seconds to spare, got oursleves and luggage aboard.  Often on this trip, we find oursleves extremely fortunate for the time and blessing of events as they unfold.  Thankful to be aboard and on to the next leg of our journey, we anxiously got off one stop too soon.  However, with map in hand, we felt confident to find our way.  As we took off pedaling from the train station, the map flew from our bikes, as a kind couple hailed us down and graciously used the limited English they had to try and help us.  Seeing our tent and luggage aboard, they kindly recommended a wonderful campground overlooking Florence.  As firm believers in fate, we found our way through the busy roads of Florence to Michealango Campground.  As we set up for the evening, we engaged in jokes about the Monster of Florence and wondered if we would last the night. To our surprise, we found a kind Scottish gentleman next to us, which after a quick glance, we expected a nice bottle of chianti and fava beans.

Freedom was once again reborn  by the exploration of a city on bike and engaging in wonderful stories shared by fellow campers and bikers.  There truly is no better way to connect to the beauty of an area.

This time frame spans the remaining days spent in Bologna. The majority of our time was spent trying to blend into the daily Italian life.    Unexpectedly, this boiled down to the simplicities of living.  Great time and effort were placed on meal planning, as ingredients were bought fresh daily at small local markets.  As we contemplated if this placed us into the Bolognese gastronomical culture, we quickly remembered our bountiful breakfasts, untypical of the simple cappuccino and croissant.    We often searched out new Gelaterias daily in pursuit of the perfect gelato.  Many disappointments were had when the craved after, dreamed of hot fudge was thought to be found, only to taste the ever present hazelnut/nutella, that cannot seem to be escaped.  Thankfully, someone at last remembered the almond, which was glazed and blended into a smooth amaretto tasting cream (www.lasorbetteria.it/index_eng.php). 

Balance was needed and sought after with the indulgence of such fine meals.  Destination-less exploration of the city and long, winding runs through the country side around San Luca, helped provide this balance.

Nights were often filled with loosing ourselves in novels, mainly with Italian backdrops.    Restlessness typically set in, with our minds wandering to home in the search of goals, accomplishments and other things missed.  We remind ourselves of the pleasures of a slow, meaningful immersion into another culture, while knowing the return to our lives and friends in Madison (and beyond) will be greatly welcomed.

This is to those of you who refer to us as Mario’s parents and to those who first question when hearing about our trip was, “what about Mario?”

From what we heard, the grandparents have been providing quite the vacation for our “not so little anymore Mario.”  He had endless playtime with his sister Savannah and mom, Malibu, while no doubt chasing a few little kittens.  He has enjoyed runs, doggy daycare and swimming, and will soon be enjoying some time in the woods with Grandpa.

Thank you Tom & Teresa, Cindy & Jeff, Harvey & Brenda for providing such wonderful care to Mario.  We do have our doubts that he will want to return to us after all the fun he has had!!

We are out of the mountains, off our bikes and are now integrating into the city life of Bologna.  Arriving by train, with bikes and luggage in tow, we were met by a populated city of 600,000, which was a little overwhelming.  However, that feeling quickly dissipated as we stepped into our new home for the next two weeks.  It is a beautiful flat, simple and elegant, including a most gracious host who stocked the fridge and provided us with fresh bakeries (Not to mention the king size bed that is larger than our tent).

Our first venture led us to the Universita, which is one of the oldest universities and one of the first universities in Europe dating from the 11th century.

Porticoes, which are noted as a hallmark of Bologna, take us through the entire city as we explore.  The leaning towers (Torri Pendenti) that escaped demolition, allowed us to take in one of our first views of the cityscape.  The Asinelli tower took us up 498 narrow steps, where if you were daring enough to look down, one could see each disappearing floor all the way to the bottom.  Another cityscape view was enjoyed by climbing 1000ft through the longest porticoed sidewalk in the world, consisting of 666 arches.  The construction began in 1674 and continued without interruption for 65 years.  This amazing construction leads to the Santuario di San Luca, the protector and guardian of Bologna.

Through the help of a few wonderful books, we learned that Bologna is nicknamed la Dotta, “the learned”; la Rossa, “the Red”; and la Grassa, “the fat.”
La Dotta refers to the ancient university city, with 100,000 students from various locations.  We find many hints of Madison and the free thinking, more liberal atmosphere.
La Rossa refers to the political left, or the Democratici di Sinistra (Democratic Party of the Left).
La Grassa links to Bologna’s reputation for the temple of Italian cuisine.  We have indulged, many times, in the wonderful varieties of gelato and will soon be tasting the famous Tortelloni.  A pastry shop close by has also pulled us in twice, where each time a kind worker helps to refine our Italian.  Hopefully the next stop in will allow us to order, error free.

As we ended our 5-day stay in La Peschiera, which is on the shores of Italyàs largest lake, La Garda, we remark on many of the great experiences enjoyed here.  La Peschiera, although a very tourist-oriented  destination in Italy was our first introduction to the style, distinction and flavor of Italy.  With perfect weather, we tented for 5 nights at a campground that was clearly infrequented by tenters.  The average camper was German with a VW camping van or a small RV, amany arrived by bus and stayed in one of the many mobile homes, or cottages that were available for rent at the campground.  Our site was nicely tucked between two cottages, our privacy gained by two hedges, one of which was of bamboo, with the most prominent characteristic being the location which was directly across from the campgrounds restaurant.  Differently than in the US, all European campgrounds have full course restaurants, where many of the campers dine daily.  We had the pleasure of seeing the intense work’ethic of the two waitresses that served the 20+ tables, along with an extremely intense janitor who swept, moppped and cleaned with overwhelming passion, the occasional Italian cursing heard when he encountered new dirty footprints into the restroom.  La Garda is a gorgeous, crystal clear leak, its climate is tropical with citrus trees of lime, lemon and kiwi along its shores, the climate established through the protection of the Dolomites from the north.  Water-skiing and motor boating is not permitted on portions of the lake, and the north and eastern shores are world-renowned for wind-surfing.

Sterling and I enjoyed a first hand view of the lake’s treasures as we tooka  1-day bike trip around the lake.  We estimated the distance at about 105 miles, which was completed with ease upon legs that now have been built while biking in the Alps.  The route was exasperatingly carved into the dolomite cliffs, creating miles of tunnels that required our sharp whit while traveling along with the breakneck Italian drivers.

Dinner out was enjoyed one night at the campground restaurant (Restaurant Basilica) where we each enjoyed our own pizza selection and ‘un litre de vino rossa’, which us both being very green with metric conversions, seemed like a good amount for a couple glasses of wine at the 6 euro price.  The waitress confirmed the request with a hint of surprise and we confirmed it back. We were then served an enormous carafe of red wine that offered us each at least 4 glasse of wine.  Upon paying, we were gifted (on the house) with two shots of Limonesca and Sterling was also given a teddy bear.  The following day we were also generously gifted with coffee, sugar amongst other things from a departing Italian couple that were staying in a nearby cottage.  It truly seems that people have a certain respect for how Sterling and I are travelling, bicycling and tenting is a tiring course, or posibly we wonder if many just think we are homeless and wandering!