Bologna: Gastronomie and an opportunity to break 1000km!

Tonight we write this blog over an uncharacteristically, less than glamorous dinner of potato chips/crisps and a well traveled bottle of Puglian Primitivo from the summer kitchen of our friends outside of Bologna. As we haven't had the opportunity to get on our bikes for the past two days we have had to monitor our consumption a bit more carefully and ensure we don't go over the top! I threw in a 10km run this am in an attempt at replicating the effects of daily cycling but doubt it came anywhere close to the 100km of cycling of days past.

We opted to end our trip in Emilia Romagna, where we have old family friends who were long overdue a visit. My dad and I spoke today of the bizarre relationship we have with time . We have not been back for years and yet sitting at Venturoli's restaurant today it is as if we never left. I've been coming here for over 20 years and my parents longer than that. As someone who moves often, I am fascinated by my own experience of different places and times in the world, especially those where one returns often or has spent an extended period of time. One builds a certain familiarity and emotional connection with a place that doesn't in my experience change with time. Nostalgia runs freely and you realise that despite all the change that has occurred both within yourself and to the place itself, the core essence of what you felt or established when you first came remains.

We drove a delightful 685km yesterday from Bari to Bologna. Nothing but sun and clear road ahead of us and save for a quick shopping stop at the halfway point we made our way smoothly towards the North. My father is an excellent driver and has vast experience on both the Italian motorways and manuevering vehicles of varied sizes. Ironically, despite all his careful navigating, en route back to the car rental he managed to take out a piece of a wall out of our friend's driveway. Not to mention the damage on the car (which he refused to view), it turns out the wall he damaged is actually of historical significance and in over 300 years no one has significantly damaged it. The local mayor tried to get it removed as it was an obstacle to vehicles but our friend argued its historical significance due to the railway that originally ran this route to Bologna on the grounds that they were never hit by passing trains so why would it be an obstacle to a car. Seems it only takes a wayward Canadian in a foreign land to cause a bit of havoc. Thank god for Hertz supercover - zero deductible. My father even considered adding a few more dents to the vehicle for good measure but wisely opted to cut his losses.

We were in love with the food and people in Puglia, so much so that we were ready to forget the North altogether. Thankfully we did not. We enjoyed a fabulous meal last night of local delicacies. Bologna is not only the home of bolognese (of which you will see a photo below that resembles none of the so called bolognese you have eaten at home) but a real gastronomique capital in its own right. There is a different refinement to the food here without a loss in authenticity to the historic and cultural backdrop from which their cuisine emerged. We enjoyed lunch at a local favourite today where the specialty is frogs. Traditionally frogs were rampant in the area and caught locally but times have changed and now they are imported from the likes of Albania. Still served in the traditional manner they connect the past with the ever changing now and future and over each delicious bite you begin to understand the people and the place a bit better than before.

We are still 50km short of breaking 1000km for the trip. We are both proud and somewhat blasé about the kilometres ridden. People are sometimes shocked when we explain the journey we have undertaken and normally express how they couldn't do it. Perhaps a lesson for life that I have discovered through this trip more prominently than others is that we are much more capable of achieving great or somewhat challenging things than we ever imagined. Sure planning and preparation is essential but at the end of the day motivation, determination, and more than ever tenacity is what allows us to move forward.

Tomorrow we will undertake a small day ride in the region and Saturday morning we will begin the real Northern journey home with a 30km ride to the Bologna train station, a night in Milan, and then the epic transition back to London. With a few kilometres on the agenda traveling across Paris and London we will break the barrier by Sunday night! For the moment, enjoying the last few days of vacation before we return to the real world and the weeks behind us become distant memories.