Bologna and Firenze

I arrived by train in Bologna on wednesday the 12th of july pretty early. I immediately arranged a campsite. It was there that I had my first paid accomodation, and made eager use of luxuries such as a surplus of water, showers, an easy way to wash my clothes, and some time in the shade. The only downside were swarms of mosquitos near my legs and in the vestibule of my tent.

Italy was still under the spell of a heatwave, and as a result, so was I. It was manageable as long as one did not move too much, and tried to stay in the shade as much as possible. And so that was my tactic as I traded the camping in Bologna for a visit to an old friend in Firenze. I was shown my way around the city, and we had some time to catch up, I had a wonderful time! The next day I was walking around Firenze a bit and was confronted again by the experiences of the city. The shops, cafés, laughter, vibrance, tourists, architecture, homeless, and everything inbetween.

After a while I made the journey back to Bologna. Where I fixed my front light and adjusted the spokes on my rear wheel. The remainder of the day was spent looking for a bicycle chain (the 11 speed one wore out incredibly fast, I hope this was a fluke and not normal, considering the price of these things) and methylated spirits for my stove.

Getting the chain led to a silly miscommunication that made me laugh. I went to Bike Empire Bologna, where the owner came walking outside and, after the initial exchange where I explained my mastery of the Italian language is practically nonexistent, he asked me what my problems entailed. I explained I needed a new chain, whereupon he apologised and told me didn't have any for me. But he did have some very nice old bicycles, and when he noticed I liked them, he gave me a small tour of his shop. Fate would have it that one of his employees (I assumed he worked there, he could also have been a friend or a customer) started looking on a map to find a place that would sell me "a nicy chain for bicycle touring". I was simulataneously confused and excited about how a chain could be good for touring. Upon finding the store, he told me its name, allowing me to put it into my navigation application and set off. I made my first two pedalstrokes towards the shop when he yelled after me and asked about my bike bags. Enthusiastically, as the pride of making them hadn't waned yet, I told them about the bags, he showed me a set he was working in, leading to an excited conversation about making your own stuff and the associated skills. As we kept talking, the closing time of the aforementioned shop came nearer, and eventually led me to say goodbye, and to wish eachother good trips. I set off hurriedly to reach the shop! I arrived at the shop 10 minutes before closing time, walked in and realised that they did sell bicycle chains, but specifically ones that are intended to lock your bike... I must've looked like an idiot walking in, taking a look around, only to realise what just happened, start laughing and leave the shop. Not a problem though, just a hundred meters down the street was an actual bike shop.

The remainder of the day was spent getting pizza and reading a book in the park. To my surprise a band started playing some kind of psychedelic rock as the sun was setting, leading me to wander over to the venue and enjoying the rest of the evening there.

A reunion

On friday the 14th my girlfriend arrived in Bologna. After waiting excitedly at the airport, we saw eachother again after almost a month. The evening was well spent together.

On saturday we set off on our first day of cycling together. It appeared, and our suspicions were later confirmed, that the heat was getting even worse. We had a great day, although most of the day was spent in San Marino di Bentivoglio attempting to cool down in the tiny village's park. As we attempted to leave, a wonderful Pakistanian man, with whom we communicated half-gesturing and half-English, offered to drink coffee together and get something to eat. The language barrier ensured little was spoken. Sadly we saw our temporary companion's face turn to disappointment, after we'd drank our coffees, when we explained that we wanted to cycle on towards Ferrara, in turn making us feel bad as well. The language barrier had apparently led to some expectations that couldn't be satisfied. I made a mental note to ensure that in the future, there would have to be either: 1) no language barrier, such that our intentions can be made clear, or 2) that we clearly communicate when our intention is to continue cycling after a certain amount of time.

We found a nice wildcamping spot soon after leaving, where we settled down for the night. The heat of that day led my girlfriend to propose to leave early in the morning the next day, and to spend the hottest part of the day doing not much at all. A suggestion that I personally had tried to implement for the past weeks, but I only seem to be capable of doing so with some external motivation. And so at six in the morning we woke up. We set off in the morning mist, and with a relatively cold breeze, towards ferrara. Rather quickly the moisture heated up, and prevented our own sweat from evaporating.

Upon arriving in Ferrara it was early in the day, but late enough to once more experience the oppressive heat from the sun and the city's stones that it illuminated. That combined with future prospects of 3 days next to the Po river, with accompanying relentless mosquitos (literally 100 mosquite bites per pair of legs in two days), led us to take a shortcut towards Venezia. Whereafter we will reach the Venetian lagunes. Here we'll spend a day over the lagunes and perhaps Venezia.