by Maureen | Feb 4, 2010 | Introspection, Journal, Quips
Sun in my eyes yesterday and the day before! Temperatures in the 40s demanded that I mount two wheels and head off along the canal for a ride. Divine. I haven’t been a cyclist for about 30 years so it surprises me how much I’ve taken to this biking. During and after my ride is when I feel my absolute best. I’m hooked on that sensation: I get hot and sweaty; I breathe hard; I feel both energized and relaxed at the same time. It’s when I feel most prayerful, grateful for having a healthy body ABLE to make such rides!
As often as I’m riding – (I guess I’m pretty gung-ho if I’m still riding in temperatures in the 30s!) – it should not be surprising that the faces on the bike trail are now familiar to me, and I’ve become a part of that community. How unexpected! Now, after 7 months on the canal path, the other cyclists and I exchange our acknowledgements: a nod, a hand raised from the handlebar grip, a “ciao” or “salve” (more formal) as we whiz past each other. Sometimes I’ll tuck in behind another rider and use his speed as incentive to work harder. Other times, a rider and I will sprint together and have an out-of-breath conversation as we ride, then wish each other well when we arrive at our separate routes.
Along the way I see the very hard core bike jocks on their streamlined bikes, wearing their lycra race gear. These guys are serious! Then there are the “intermediate” cyclists, still out just for the ride but not quite such jocks. I encounter the men with bikes-as-transportation getting from point A to point B, and the fishermen carrying nets and rods.
MAYBE I can count one other woman in 200 or 300 riders! Where are the women riders? Are women at home? At work? Is it considered unfeminine for a woman to be sweating and racing, pushing hard in that way? What statement is made by the absence of women on the bike trail? The city’s main outdoor gear store has a large bike section but offers next to nothing for the female cyclist. A male cyclist friend explains, “there aren’t any”.
That must be why they crane their necks as I ride by. Here in Italy, I’m an anomaly in the wheeled community, but it’s nice to be acknowledged with a rolling “ciao”.
by Maureen | Feb 1, 2010 | Bologna, Discoveries, Featured Articles, Incredible Locations, Journal, Photos
Saturday evening, after walking around Bologna for over 6 hours, I went back to my hotel room to chill out. Unfortunately, a wedding party was gathering in the main lobby just down the hall from my room. The hotel, I Portici, is very sleek and modern, with not a soft surface in the place, so every voice, every door slam, every shrill laugh bounced and echoed right into my room. As the wedding guests built in numbers, so did the noise. And then I heard bag pipes. That was the last straw. There was no way I’d be able to sleep that night. When I went out to the lobby to request a room change, I saw a sea of all things plaid: A Scottish wedding in Bologna, Italy. The men were in kilts. The women wore plaid of every sort. That was fine with me, but I just wanted to be sure to sleep that night!
I changed rooms, and I did sleep. In fact, I woke up at a quarter-to-ten! (I must have needed it.) I called my girlfriend to arrange our meeting time and she mentioned snow. Huh? Snow? I looked out the window to 4 inches of freshly fallen snow! I hadn’t come prepared for snow, with proper boots and all. For just a flash I thought of “laying low and not doing much” around town, and thought of the snow as a damper on the day. But I was there to explore; I wasn’t going to sit in my room.
Out I went. I protected my camera from the big flakes floating down all day and shot nonetheless. I found that the “snow sky” created its own monotone scheme that I relished. I loved knowing that I was capturing images contrary to the stereotypical “sunny summer days of Italy”. I was seeing the country in a way that most tourists never know. And with the snow, there were fewer people out, and the city took on a different mood.
This morning, back at home in Milano, my NOT-Snow-boots have dried out and the snow and salt line creeps up two inches from the floor. Those poor boots will need some attention, but I enjoyed the shooting out in the snow and wasn’t going to let improper footwear stop me!
by Maureen | Jan 15, 2010 | Canals, Discoveries, Featured Articles, Journal, Photo of the Day, Photos, Quips
January 7, at 40 degrees on a gray day, I bundled up and hopped on my bike for a ride along the canal. Down a ways, with a construction site on the opposite shore, I spotted a calico looking quite content, “meatloafing” on a pallet of concrete blocks. The guy smoking on the balcony beyond must have thought it odd for a cyclist to stop and shoot such an image. As I was remounting my bike, a tortoise-shell that I hadn’t noticed jumped up from another pile of building materials.
by Maureen | Jan 11, 2010 | Canals, Discoveries, Featured Articles, Incredible Locations, Journal, People, Photo of the Day, Photos
“I was born in 1945 during the war years and I grew up with family members all around me talking about politics and The War. They didn’t always agree. I think that being surrounded by these discussions as a child is why I love history so much today.”
Today Angelo became my second personal tour guide in two weeks, giving me yet another “3-hour-tour”. I just rode my bike all around the countryside southwest of Milano with my “History Buff on Wheels”.
Angelo pointed out the “Fontanile di Vernate” one of the places where the spring forms a pond.
Oh yes. So lovely decked out in my winter riding gear…
When the sun came in the window this morning for the first time in ages, it woke me up and promised me a 45 degree day and my treasured, usual bike ride. I got the day, but not my usual ride. After pedaling along the Naviglio Pavese for about 20 minutes, I caught up with another rider and remarked how nice it was to be out. We talked for a minute or two as we rode, then I zipped ahead feeling full of energy and wanting to go faster. But he caught up with me. It was Angelo. We rode on, talking all the way. Feeling spontaneous and trusting, I agreed to his suggestion that we ride on further than I normally would have gone.
(I usually keep my rides to an hour and a half or two hours, and haven’t done much exploration alone on the more remote bike paths.)
Sure! Encounter some man on the bike trail and follow him all over the countryside! But of course!
We ended up riding on the narrow roads that wind between rice fields and other farm land. The whole time Angelo was relaying the history of Milan, Italy, Europe, WWII, Mussolini and Hitler… Berlusconi, Bush and Obama. He talked about the hardships during the wartime and how people were sustained by the rice of southwest Milano. (He doesn’t speak a word of English, by the way.)
Angelo’s father’s birthplace is in the distance, where the church steeple is.
He pointed out where both his mother and father were born, and where they are both buried (Zibido San Giacomo). Angelo took me to old, fortified “cascine” – country farmsteads with castle-like main buildings and outbuildings – most refurbished and still in use as modern-day farms carrying on. He pointed out places where Leonardo da Vinci had been, worked, designed and created. Leonardo’s hand and mind are all over this local land.
The entrance to Cascina Femegro.
Within the inner courtyard of Cascina Femegro is this beautiful arched doorway. Straight across from it, 100 yards, are cattle in their stalls. A little girl was riding on her tricycle.
I saw a shrine in Zibido to Padre Pio (who had the “stigmata” markings matching Christ’s); the sarcophagus of San Giacomo, c. II-IX cent. – St. James – in the central courtyard of the town by the same name; and an old cascina, “Ca’ Grande”, Palazzina Pusteria Busca Pozzi.
Shrine in Zibido to Padre Pio
The church at Zibido San Giacomo.
Sarcophagus of San Giacomo.
This is the memorial to those from the town of Zibido San Giacomo that have died in the wars.
An old cascina, “Ca’ Grande”, Palazzina Pusteria Busca Pozzi.
(While riding through Zibido, Angelo’s daughter passed us in her car, going home. He rode to the house a half block away and told her about “this American woman”.)
Angelo explained the “marchite” – marshes – the rich, fertile land perennially wet from “i fontanili”, the underground aquifers and springs of the area. During the winter the ground’s surface may freeze but the ground itself is kept warm by the rising water. The farmed land has been formed into wide, humped rows, allowing the water to flow between the rows; the row peaks begin to grow grass earlier in the Spring than other locales. The milk from cows raised on this grass is said to be superlative.
Le Marchite – The Marsh Farmlands
An old “cascino” back alongside the Naviglio Pavese, at the turnoff to Zibido; I think Angelo said it was “San Lorenzo”. Leonardo spent time here. In the inner courtyard, there are bas-relief busts of various people jutting from the walls.
We figured this one must be Leonardo.
Of course there’s a cat in the courtyard!
Our route today was: South along the Naviglio Pavese to Binasco. West to Vernate and Calvignasco. North up through Rosate, back east to Noviglio, Mairano and Zibido San Giacomo. Angelo rode almost all the way back to Milano with me, to within 10 minutes of my apartment. He wanted to show me the maritime locks along the canal that Leonardo had designed.
Our route – in yellow – through the farmland. My usual route is down the canal to Binasco and straight back. I’m going to feel this unusually long ride tomorrow!
He suggested I make a ride sometime to the Morimondo Abbey founded in 1136, and to the town of Vigevano to see a show of Leonardo’s work.
(I’m on stun. I could not craft these experiences if I tried!)
by Maureen | Oct 22, 2009 | Discoveries, Graffiti & Street Art, Graphics, Journal, Photo of the Day, Photos
This sign stopped me. I grew up hearing the name “Rossignol” in connection with skiis. Here was a cool old bike shop and it had cool old-style bikes inside, plus some swanky, new ones. But no skiis.
I hope they never paint that sign.
by Maureen | Oct 11, 2009 | Canals, Discoveries, Featured Articles, Food!, Journal, Photo of the Day, Photos
Wow. An absolutely gorgeous day in Milano. Is this what Fall is like in Italy?! Sunny after some 2:00 a.m., drenching downpours recently. Fresh air, yet nicely warm. No humidity to be bothered with. It was a day that screamed for a bike ride along the canal.
Fish are always present in the Naviglio Pavese Canal, and I’ve been told they’re fussy about biting. I see them when glancing over as I ride along. Sometime in the last week or so they’ve lowered the water level down to just a couple of feet. Perhaps this has affected the fish, and perhaps it’s just their biology (spawning time?) but now they are clustered in clouds! AND I saw three of four that were brilliant gold or gold and black. Koi let loose? Whatever the reason, I had to stop and simply watch them.
I still don’t know what kind of fish they are. One day I stopped to chat with an elder fisherman and I should have had pen and paper with me to write down what he told me. “Trota” was one fish that was easy to remember. Trout! But I see a few others with different markings and body shapes, which keep up my curiosity.
by Maureen | Sep 17, 2009 | Canals, Discoveries, Journal, Quips
Just had an hour and a half bike ride. A BIG snake crossed my path. Little frogs jumped out of the mud puddles in front of me as I approached. Something rustled in the grass next to me. No muskrats tonight, but the cats all perked up their ears and looked at me when I squeaked at them. It smelled like a cooling Fall evening in Eastern Washington, with the absolutely delicious scent of poplar pitch, and the not-so-delicious scent of fruit rotting on the ground. Old men fished along the bank of the canal. The usual group of skirt-and-dress-clad elder women were clustered closely and on their slow stroll.
As two “serious” bikers – Ciclisti Milanesi – with their tight calves, tight back ends and snug, sky-blue lycra passed me, I picked up the pace, pulled in behind them and enjoyed the scenery. As we approached an intersection, I jested to them, in Italian, that I should take a picture! They slowed to my side, I repeated what I had said, then whizzed on in front of them. They took the paved bike lane; I opted for the rugged, rutted, puddled route, and thus, encountered the leaping frogs.
by Maureen | Sep 10, 2009 | Canals, Discoveries, Featured Articles, Food!, Journal, Photos
I HAVE made “Muskrat Cacciatore” before, but that was long ago and far away. It was pretty darned good, (yes, it DID taste “just like chicken”) but I think this big guy might be a bit tough. He’s got to be TWICE the size of my head, the granddaddy of them all.
There’s a group of seven muskrats that I see every evening that I go for a ride along the canal. They have a favored spot with some brush for cover if they want it, but they seem fairly used to the bike and foot traffic going by, and nonchalantly continue to forage for roots at the tree bases in “their spot”. They don’t seem to be bothered by anyone (hunted or trapped). There are “no hunting” signs posted along the bikeway.
Imagine, 15 minutes by bike south of Milan – a major, international, cosmopolitan city – and there are “no hunting” signs and muskrats having the time of their lives!
*Acknowledgements to B. Kliban and his wonderfully bizarre humor.
His book title came immediately to mind.
by Maureen | Sep 6, 2009 | Canals, Featured Articles, Journal
When I take the subway home, I hop on the M2 Green Line with “Abbiategrasso” as its final destination, roughly due west of Milano. (The subway train goes south from the center of town, then cuts west.) All this time, last summer included, I’ve seen the name but never seen the town. Wanting both a good ride and something a little different today, I decided to ride the mostly-bike route along the Naviglio Grande instead of my usual, smaller Naviglio Pavese.
What a ride! It was a lovely late-summer morning when I started out, cool enough that I was glad I’d be riding hard. (I’ve never felt it that cool in Milano! I’ve only been here in the summer.) From Milano to Abbiategrasso is 24.6 k (15.2 miles) and the length of it travels past city and country, old buildings and new, rice paddies and industry.
THIS was where people were on their Sunday morning! Bikers were either decked-out-serious or casual peddlers. There were walkers and runners. And the morning sun made it all so pleasant. I was in “that space” and soared. Zoom, Zoom.
When out on my bike, I set my own pace depending on my mood, but once in a while, one of those “serious” bikers will pass me (always men) and I’ll take the bait. Someone to set the speed and make me push myself! I notch it up, pull in behind them and move it. Doing so tickles me and I get a good workout.
Today, two men passed me, and I took my cue. I followed them tight for several miles, even having to put on my brakes so I didn’t crowd them too closely. Then, the very unfortunate. The forward biker hit a metal cover in the path and went down. His partner got out around him, and I, being all too close at that moment, JUST managed to get out past the two of them and avoid being part of the pile. I pulled over and stopped to see how the guy was. He had quite dramatically shaved the skin off the side of his knee. Ugh. After a few moments, seeing that I couldn’t help in any way, I left with the speed-demon in me tamed for the day. (Once home, I added some first aid items to my bike bag.)
I pushed on, and enjoyed the canal-side view. Only once in a while did I stop for a photo or two. I wanted the “brass ring” of Abbiategrasso, so didn’t tarry. After I arrived in town, I had a short, little conversation with another biker where the canal split southward into Naviglio Bereguardo. I wasn’t prepared for that ride today, so I turned to go home. No, I didn’t actually explore the towns along the way. I’ll save that for another time. But I had a gorgeous time, talked to the ponies, saw the Swiss Alps in the distance, poked my head into a few old gates, plucked some ready-to-harvest rice and saw a part of Milano I hadn’t seen before.
I like this place.
The town of Gaggiano had an immaculate cycling path and the church of Sant’ Invenzio.
I’m just a sucker for old buildings, and when I saw that this one marked my imminent birthday, I just had to stop.
And these gates are right nearby…
As I started to get back in toward Milano, of course things got a little tighter, and newer. This was an area near Corsico that seemed very pleasant.
I just HAD to pluck some rice since it encircles Milano. (Risotto anyone?)
When I stopped, my red and chartreuse feet with the yellow circle amused me.
At the end of the good day riding, I cooked the shrimp and veggies from yesterday’s Saturday Market. It was perfect.
by Maureen | Aug 11, 2009 | Canals, Journal, Quips
Ahhh. Just back from an hour and a half ride down the canal. I push it as hard as a can, fast and steady. It makes me feel so full of life! I’m grateful to have my two wheels to hop on and get my blood pumping. Ahhh.
And having the canal just a block away is a real treasure. In a short time, I’m out of the city, riding along the corn fields and rice paddies. The rice has gone to seed now. And I thought that surely the farmer planted the outer row of corn for the cyclists. An ear or two each wouldn’t put a dent in his crop. Hesitant to get my mouth set on a fresh ear of corn, I stopped to check it out. Sure enough. Feed corn for cattle. Darn.
The scents along the canal are sure “full and rich”. Sometimes a dead fish or rank cattle farms. Sometimes basil and tomato from the local pea-patch gardens. I catch whiffs of cottonwood and the slow-moving fresh water. Depending on the time of day, my stomach wakes up at the smell of lunch or dinner being prepared. My bike ride is quite sensual.
