Roccaforte, Italy
It's crisp and cold this morning with a light frost on everything including Blaze. But the sun is bright and the skies are stunningly blue. And as I pedal along amongst the autumn leaves down this quiet winding lane I can feel the chill in my face as I pull into the shade of the trees and then the warmth as I pull out into the sun again. I can smell the fresh manure spread on the field. I can hear birds chirping and see them fluttering through the trees. Yesterday I stopped and watched three black birds dip and dive as they played with each other. How else can you have this experience except by walking or pedaling slowly through the world? And this morning as my toes warm up (finally), I'm pinching myself at how lucky I am to be able to do this and do it alone. To know I can. To realize I am brave and strong and capable. These aren't things I realize everyday. "But if people keep telling you often enough that you have a tail, maybe ya oughta look:)". So it's starting to sink in.
Today I cycled down a lovely back road that wandered through little hamlets of houses and past farms and through woods. Felt almost like hiking the AT (Appalachian Trail) at times. Flashbacks! Then it dumped me in a large town. Grocery store. ATM. Phone card. I need these. First woman I asked, in English, smiled and pointed down the street the way I was going. Ok. I continued. There's a bank. Done. Back to Blaze who I left across the street (yes, I leave him unlocked everywhere...it be a bit obvious for someone to ride him away). More people to ask and they mime " follow us". Ok. Sweet little grocery store. And the people were so excited for my trip. They were speaking Italian. And I was speaking English. Crazy how that works.
I asked in the grocery store about the phone card and they said Cuneo, the city nearby. I was hoping to skip that city but I guess not... Unless I just wait until Savona a couple of days away. I have no fine detailed maps without my phone which adds a challenge. So I head towards Cuneo. I spot what may be a mall. It's possible the phone store is there. A woman in the parking lot says No. It's at the piazza in town, but it's also closed until 4 pm. It's only 1 pm. Guess that's not going to happen.
So I head back to catch the back road I had hoped to take. I can't find a route number. After several kms and winding through several towns, I find out Italy is like France used to be: you go from town to town. The roads have no names or numbers.
(I'm sitting in the sun in the roadside park where I'm camping tonight and these tiny white bugs are annoying me. They are so small they literally climb up the hairs of my legs. It's the first bugs I've dealt with in awhile.)
The road I was taking was not quaint. Busy. Industrial. Not a pretty part of Italy. I had to get my afternoon dose of water. There have been many fountains on the side of the road or in the villages pouring out mountain water. Love it. But can't count on where they will be. So when I see people outside, I stop and ask for "agua", which turns out to be correct. It was a bar that was closed and the husband was doing some carpentry work with his saw outside. The daughter spoke English too so I was able to share my story. And momma brought me out a cup of Italian coffee (a small cup of espresso). I don't normally drink caffeine after noon but how can I refuse this kindness? I can't. I don't. It was good. Then I ask about a picnic spot for camping and the papa, talking with his hands, tells me 3 kms and there's this something overhead. I thought they said right in the village. So with a "Bon Voyage" I pedaled away. So kind.
Down the road a piece I see a sign for "alimentacion" or something like that which I know to be a small grocery. Yes. I know. I already went to the grocery store. But I got tortillas for bread (because you can't buy fresh bread in the grocery stores...you have to go to the bakers), and I had some for lunch and it was not edible. Yuck. Too thick. Too dry. Awful. And I pitched it. So I needed bread. So I stopped although I could see it was closed. It was almost 4 pm and I thought they might re-open then. And she did. For me:). And she spoke only Italian, but she communicated. I got some bread and juice boxes and crackers. Then she came outside to see the bike and asked me where I was from. Then she went back inside and returned with 2 tangerines for me. Crazy, huh? In less than 20 minutes all this generosity. That's what I love about traveling too. I see the best of people. And the world is chock full of kind, caring, sharing people! Too bad that doesn't make the nightly news.
This is the view I have tonight.
But it really is one of the poorer spots to spend the night. Too close to a busy road. Lots of cars and car lights. It will quiet down as the evening progresses but...
Livin' the life,
BagLady
Facebook: Kathryn Mossbrook Zimmerman
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