Po Valley, Italy by bike

Milan, Italy. May 11, 1999

To start our Italian bike ride, we jumped on the train to Lodi so as to avoid the industrial sprawl of Milan. We then rode along canals and flat farmland to Cremona, home of the Stradivarius violin (nice). We hung out for a day to have Sheila's wheels trued.

On our ride to Sirmione on Lago di Garda, we learnt the Italian for "terrible weather" ("tempo brutto") as we rode in the rain for most of the day.

The sun returned and it was off to indescribable Verona (one of the nicest cities in Europe) where we camped in the grounds of an old Villa (Youth Hostel).

From Verona, we headed for the walled town of Montagnana, then through a short burst of hills (Euganai hills, to be exact), by the old villas of the Brenta Canal to a peaceful campsite which provided an excellent base for Venice. The daily 20 minute bus ride into the town passed through a myriad of petrochemical complexes to the incredible ancient Venice, which really is like in the movies. Every tourist should Venice in their lifetime; it is truly amazing.

After a couple of days doing the tourist-thing, we rode south to the Po Delta, a huge mosquito breeding ground. At one point we rode 5 kilometres through a mosquito swarm. It was then along the Po River (longest in Italy). It looks innocuous enough, however swimming in the river is strictly forbidden. In a country where leaded gasoline and spraying herbicides without masks is the norm, it means that the Po must be really polluted. And it is; 60 tonnes of mercury and 250 tonnes of arsenic are poured into the river DAILY. We saw quite a few people fishing for 2 headed fish.

We stayed in the lovely Renaissance town of Ferrera then passed through Bologna and its incredible scooter traffic.

Further west, we visited the medieval Modena whose campsite is placed in such a way that it is completely surrounded by expressways providing a comforting sound of traffic all through the night. We continued to amble through the Po valley, reaching Parma and stayed within the ancient citadel walls. We thought Parma was known for prosciutto, parmesan and cobbled streets but we found that it is known for its ants in the campground that crawl all over your tent looking for parmesan and prosciutto. South of Parma, we visited the Torrechiara castle where a group of school children chanted their Italian cycling hero's name "Pantani, Pantani, Pantani..." while we panted up a steep slope.

It was onto Busseto, Verdi's hometown, where every street is named after a composer, back to the violin town of Cremona. Rather than purchasing a musical instrument, we invested in a bottle of French Pernod and rested up for the remaining flat territory. It was onto Pavia, where we popped into the University, Christopher Columbus' alma mata. Apparently his ashes are held in the director's safe...but when we visited Seville, we were told his remains are interred in the Cathedral there...hmmmm... Finally we completed the circle by returning to Milan.

TRAVEL NOTES

STYLE IS EVERYTHING: If you don't have cool sunglasses, square toed shoes and a cell phone, you are a nobody in Italy. Guys spend at least 10 minutes combing their hair. Car washes do a booming business.

SURPRISING: the number of people on bicycles in and around villages and towns and the number of lingerie shops.

DISAPPOINTMENT: the poor quality of bread and the high cost of it (sold by weight).

ON ITALIAN DRIVERS: They are quite disciplined and considerate on the country roads (much better than in Germany and Austria). However, within the cities, anything goes! Red lights mean look both ways before crossing, going the wrong way on a one-way street means proceed with caution and zebra/pedestrian crossings are solely decorations on the road. Cycling in Milan is best described as "exciting".

BEST DEALS: wine, tomato sauce, pasta, olive oil and lettuce.

COST OF LIQUIDS (PER LITER)

Gasoline: 1.10 USD

Coca Cola: 1.10 USD

Cheap table wine: 0.50 USD

ITALIAN CHRUCHES: Small villages have massive churches. The Milan cathedral is the 4th biggest in the world. Bologna would have the largest, except the Pope ordered them to stop mid-way through construction because he wanted the biggest. The confessional booths do a roaring business. Even our new tent even feels like a cathedral compared to the one we had last year.

PISA IS NOT THE ONLY ONE: It seems that most Italian towers have a distinct lean to them!

IT IS A HAPPY PLACE: Everyone seems happy and friendly. Sheila reckons that its all the beans they eat. Italians love to talk. The birds are especially vocal at 5:00 am.

ITALIAN SUPERMARKETS: Everyone puts on the provided plastic gloves when selecting fruit and vegetables. Pizza is often for sale by the kilo (they really do eat pizza in Italy).

TIPS FOR TOURING VENICE: We took the "poorman's gondola" ride (public service) to cross over the Grand Canal. We bought day pass rode the boat-buses for the day. There is a chain of free washrooms that even provide a map of their locations; they are called "McDonalds".

SAD COW DISEASE: Italian cows are kept penned up. The pigs are kept under even more barbaric conditions. Only some chickens and peacocks appear to be free range. Think about it you buy Italian parmesan cheese or prosciutto ham.

GRAZIE (THANK-YOU): the lady who invited us into her home in the middle of a downpour, Marcello who provided us with nice evening and a bottle of wine to go, and the chap who invited us into a coffee shop and bought us coffee. John and Karen too!