Dancing with the Wolves (I'd preferred foxes)

Day 15 - August 13

No more signs of clouds on this nice, crisp morning, by 7:30, I was packed up, ready for the day ahead. I soon reached the next town, called Casalmaggiore, was amazed to see the large dome, the imposant town square, the narrow streets and many other churches. Again, no sign of tourist crowds, though this town definitely would be worth a visit.

...and here, ladies and gentlemen, I had one of the best breakfasts of all my life. I had a small pizza, a small croissant, an almond croissant, an apple pie, a fresh orange juice and a double espresso, and paid just Eur 6.60 for all of this! The name of this sacred place is Pasticceria Cafe Royal. Wow, grazie mille, bella Italia!

Bella Italia: yes, now I was really on the right track. Long forgotten was the dull stretch of road close the Garda Lake, I was really enjoying myself in this authentic piece of Italy. But this was to be topped: my map indicated a must-see place to visit, called Sabbioneta. I hesitated before going there, as it was a detour of close to 10 kilometers (that is 20 km counting both ways) - but then I went for it.

Boy, was I glad to! It turned out that Sabbioneta is on the UNESCO World Heritage list. It is a medieval town surrounded by thick walls and within the town are some wonderful churches and even a synagogue. Once again, I'll let the pictures tell the story, but if you have the chance, do visit this amazing place. I have to say, even the tiny villages between the towns are full of buildings worth a visit - this is a truly romantic part of the country.

After leaving town, I got back on a main (though not all too inspiring) road which led to a bridge, where the architect must have been in a bad mood - it was not the most pleasant crossings, with a very narrow path for pedestrians and cyclists. Luckily, no one came the other direction - we would not have fit.

I was in for more surprises: the next town, close to Parma, was called Colorno - and here was a palace not unlike Versailles! It is actually called the Versailles of Parma. It was built by the duke of Parma in the early 18th century. Behind the palace was a pretty park, where I had a short rest. Attached to the huge palace was an institution called ALMA, which is an international cooking school for Italian cuisine.

Such wonders of architecture - all of it in an (at least for me) unknown part of the country...and then, in the middle of nowhere, I spotted a gigantic church, just sitting there in the middle of nowhere. It is called CSAC and is a museum and research center of the University of Parma (it was closed for the summer) - very impressive.

I reached Parma - and now I am not doing justice to this city. I dedicated just two hours to this place - one could have easily spent a couple of months there, discovering it. There was a thunderstorm building up that afternoon, I was tempted at staying a hotel room and discovering more of the place, but I decided against it, promising myself to return with more time at my hands. The dome and the square surrounding it were breathtaking.

I had a great icecream, rested for a while and decided the storm will be short-lived. It was quite intensive, but I found a bike store just when the downpour started - to check my brakes, they were getting quite worn. I entered the shop, spoke to the guy, he told me there was another shop a few kilometers away, as he did not have the spare parts, cleaned my chain a bit - and by the time he was done, the storm was gone...gone with the wind.

I found the shop he mentioned, they took their time even to look at me - and finally, for 30 Euros, changed my brakes - no more squeeching.

I reached the town of Fornovo di Taro, where, in 1495, French and Venetian troops fought a battle, with decisive victory for the Italian side. This town was the Church of Santa Maria Assunta, built in the 9th century.

I had a quick ciabatta at a small bar (run by a Chinese girl, I had noticed that many bars are Chinese-run in Italy) and then I did something not really rational: even though it was past 6 pm, I started climbing up the Apennine Mountains. Especially the first ten kilometers were tough, the road was really steep. I was a bit afraid of running out of water - so I stopped at a house, where they presented me a nicely cooled bottle, with the addition, that there would be small water fountain on the side of the road. Soon I was in the midst of mountains, enjoying the view of a nice sunset.

I was quite aware that there would be no accommodation that evening, or even if I were to find one, it would probably be booked. Yet again, I found a spot between a village and some smaller houses, started setting up my tent. Some dogs started howling, I thought they must have smelt me, that is what disturbed them, a little while later it was all quiet, the masters must have calmed down. I lay down on my mattress, closed the tent zipper - time to sleep. The howling continues. I located the source, it was evidently coming from behind the houses, where a forest had started. Darn, could it be...could it be wolves? I looked up the internet and entered "wolves in Italy" - and the first item found was a long article about the Apennine wolves. Oh no. It was not all too late, around 9:30 in the evening, but already pitch dark. I thought it might be better to look for a house to sleep at. There was a place a mile or so back, yes, that indeed was a small motel, let me call. First, they do not respond, then, on a second try, a sleepy voice responds and in "solo Italiano" informs me that there is no vacancy. I was torn between packing my tent and moving on, would have felt safer on the road (even though there was hardly any traffic) or just doing nothing. I opted for the latter, as I was really tired, hoping the wolves would not find me. The website said they avoid people, I hoped they count me as a biker to the group of people. I lay awake for the longest time, listening to their howling - it was at least a dozen or so animals in this pack. At around 2 at night, my drowsiness won and I felt asleep.

Here is the map of this day, it was about 90km and 1,000 meters of altitude gain.