Parma, Italy to Lodi, Italy
Today was a relatively easy day with 61 miles of completely flat road. It wasn’t a very scenic ride, but there were some nice farm views at points. Most of the day was spent on busy roads with narrow shoulders, but it was still an enjoyable ride.
I woke up this morning in the hostel and couldn’t wait to get out of there. The pictures online made the hostel look pristine, but it was more a construction zone. I was in a room with 3 bunk beds where I had a bottom bunk. Around midnight I was woken by some commotion and then saw a cot being set up in the middle of the room for a 7th person. I’m not sure if the hostel got overbooked, but we were over capacity in the small room. There were supposed to be 2 bathrooms for the 7 people staying in this room, but one of the bathrooms was in the process of being constructed. The other bathroom was a complete mess. The shower leaked out onto the floor meaning there was standing water on the floor. There was also no soap or paper towels and no lock on the door. With everyone trying to get ready this morning it was impossible to find a moment to even enter the bathroom. I headed out to the balcony of the hostel and started looking for a close by café. I got my usual cappuccino and croissant and then used the café bathroom which was in much better condition than the one at the hostel.
After breakfast I headed back to the hostel and quickly got my things together. I wasn’t in a rush to get on the road this morning because I knew it would be a quick day, but I did not want to stay in the hostel any longer. I was on the road just after 10:00 and had about 8 miles of riding to get out of the city congestion. On the way out of town I saw a McDonald’s and stopped for a second breakfast. I knew the croissant I had eaten at the café would not sustain me but an egg McMuffin would do the trick.
By noon I had ridden 20 boring miles and was getting hungry again. I stopped into a grocery store where I got 2 Powerades and some candy. I then went to the café next door and got a panino. It took a few tries on my part to get the order in properly, but I made do. The 2 women behind the counter didn’t understand a word of my English so I moved to my broken Italian instead. I basically speak in nouns only, which eventually gets the message across.
After my lunch I got back on the bike and made it another 25 miles before I was hungry again. It was time for my second trip to McDonald’s of the day. I’ve eaten some great food on this trip, but sometimes McDonald’s just hits the spot. All the McDonald’s have kiosks to order which allow you to switch the menu to English. It makes for a pressure free snack that doesn’t have to involve translating menus or talking to people in the handful of Italian words I’ve picked up. I had an Oreo McFlurry and then got back on my bike to finish off the day.
The last 15 miles of the day were the most scenic. It was mostly farmland, but I was at least off the busy road I had been riding on for much of the day. Italy hasn’t been the greatest in terms of finding cycling routes. Googlemaps doesn’t even have the bicycle routing function in Italy. I’ve pieced together some nice rides, but I’ve had a couple rides like today where I’m on busy roads going through small towns without much scenery.
I got to the motel around 4:00 where I have a room with a king bed all to myself. A nice change from my room with 7 people last night. Once I was settled in and showered, I spent some time doing route planning for the next few days. I will head to Milan tomorrow and will arrive in Switzerland on Saturday.
Musings:
- There isn’t a single place in Italy to just sit at a bar and have a beer. In fact eating or drinking solo seems to be frowned upon. I thought it would be difficult to socialize in Italy because of the language barrier, but it turns out the structure of bars and restaurants are inherently antisocial if you arrive alone. I’ve been to a few bars and even sought out breweries and bars that specialized in craft beer. In all of these places no one sat at the bar. There are always a few stools, but everyone tends to show up with a group and retreats back to a table with their drinks. At restaurants they often don’t know what to do with a table for 1. When I went to the restaurant at the campgrounds I stayed at in Viareggio I was turned away from the restaurant. They wouldn’t even sit me at a table because I was by myself. I’ve overall really enjoyed the food in Italy and have in most instances been fine showing up to restaurants as a solo traveler, but it has been interesting navigating the social differences of bars and restaurants.
Ramblin' Dan: Bike Touring Adventures 