Tag Archives: Emilia Romagna

Day 61 – Arqua Polesine to Bologna

95km of 4014km so far…

Once again it was cold in the morning and for the first time after Pyrenees and the rainy days I cycled wearing my water/windproof and gloves.  By accident I noticed a cycle path running 20 meters parallel to the main road I was cycling, which of course was not shown on the useless map of Italy I’ve been using all these days. Generally maps and finding the way around in Italy is a little harder than France. Neither the maps or the roads have enough number signs. Then finding the right map is another problem. Where in France every book shop or supermarket would have at least 5 copies of the region and the nearby ones in various scales, in Italy it’s a matter of luck to find what you want. I’ve been to bookshops that only have ten random maps. One for a Greek island, one for Peru, one for Tokyo, but non for the region.

On the cycle path

On the cycle path

About an hour later I got to Ferrara which was my first stop for lunch and a quick wonder around. The city has an impressive castle in the middle of it and today it happened to be the local market. Within the castle there was a small exhibition of photos taken with electron microscope and since it was free I had a look and found it rather interesting. I left the city at around 2pm and headed for Bologna, my final destination for the day, where I knew there is a hostel.

Clasic car parade in Ferrara

Clasic car parade in Ferrara

The castle in the middle of Ferrara

The castle in the middle of Ferrara

The other side

The other side

It would be nice if cannons were just shooting pumpkins

It would be nice if cannons were just shooting pumpkins

Unfortunately when I got there I found out the hostel was 6 kilometers out of the center, which was a little annoying as I wanted to go around the city during the night. I did spend about an hour to see a few things and then headed to the hostel. Even more annoying was the fact that there were no restaurants around the hostel, but just a pizza delivery. So there goes the Bolognese pasta that I was graving all day on the bike!

The big church at Bologna

The big church at Bologna

One of the roads in the city

One of the roads in the city

The leaning towers of Bologna

The leaning towers of Bologna

rock 'n' troll

rock 'n' troll

And why not?

And why not?

Day 53 – Piacenza to Rivalta Saint Mincio

102km of 3605km so far…

I was ready and just about to leave the hostel when I realized there was breakfast included in the price, which of course I didn’t want to miss.The plan was to spend about an hour in the tourist office where there was wifi. I have to say though, these Italians should be a little bit paranoid with their state security or something, as I had to fill out forms and applications, give out my passport along with other details in order to get the login and the password to access the internet. A process similar with applying for a VISA and along with waiting the old lady before me to do the same, I really waisted half an hour of my precious morning time.

Nice little houses

Nice little houses

The weather was once again foggy and very humid, but I was in the mood for many kilometers. The scenery was preaty much the same with yesterday’s and flat for the entire day. It was a little bit more interesting though, as this time though there were a few rivers to cross.

Crossing river Po

Crossing river Po

Very nice to be able to see the river below

Very nice to be able to see the river below

The river side

The river side

The tyres of Hanoi

The tyres of Hanoi

The lunch break took place in Cremona for a picnic style food in the main square, where a big open market was taking place. Without knowing the facts, I assume Cremona is famous for its violins. I saw plenty of shops making and selling violins and many posters all around the town.

Cremona

Cremona

One of Cremona's churches

One of Cremona's churches

Violin shop

Violin shop

A big violin

A big violin

Initially I was Planning to go to Bergamo, but the tourist office told me there are no camp sites or hostels there. I had to alter my route a little and after looking the map with all the hostels of Italy, I decided to go more to the east, rather than North, to the village of Rivalta Saint Mincio, where there was definitely a hostel open all year round. Going there, I decided to leave the main road and join secondary ones and go through nicer landscapes. It was indeed a good option, as the road was very quite and the scenery a lot nicer. There were vasts land fields covered with newly born trees and I assume they export all shorts of trees. Again, looking at the map, I decided to go through one of the smaller road, that goes close enough to the river, which was off road for about 5 kilometers.

Me in half a century from now

Me in half a century

The off road bit by the river

The off road bit by the river

Some of the many trees

Some of the many trees

A nice and quite road

A nice and quite road

I got to Rivalta Saint Mincio and I found the hostel straight away, next to a fantastic setting by the river. After a pizza for dinner, I met another cyclist in the hostel. Christoph is from Germany and he has just started his year and a half cycle trip all around the world! He rode from the east Italy, so he gave me valuable information about the cities I am going to visit over the next few days and made me alter my plans a little bit.

That's just in front of the hostel

The river right in front of the hostel