The Final Frontier...

Bologna to Milan…

Bologna was nice. It was what you’d expect from an Italian college town while everyones on spring break. It was empty. But of course the food was delicious! The region I walked through known as Reggio Emilia claims to produce some of the best dishes in Italy and I tend to agree. Normally I would eat for 5 euros a night but in the towns of Bologna, Modena, Reggio, Parma and Milan I decided I’d definitely have the local dishes.

The hostel in Bologna, the Academia, recommended a restaurant just nearby, down a quiet little side street; I almost missed it because there was not much of a sign. I’m not sure if this has already been mentioned but in Italy restaurants don’t really start opening for dinner till about 8.30 p.m.. Sometimes you can do what i’ve tried doing a lot of times and just show up around an hour before. If the restaurant is privately owned and the staff is just shooting the breeze, they’ll usually make an exception and serve you early. just blaming it on the fact that you don’t know any better.

This restaurant was very cute, with baby blue walls and paintings by local artists up on the walls with somewhat discreet price stickers near them. At first i was all alone, i didn’t arrive quite as early as an hour before. I just asked the waiter to give me recommendations on whatever was regional and in season. I found out later that if you go to a small restaurant like this, that’s pretty much the expected fare.

In Bologna, that consisted of this magnificent fright puffy bread, that you could stuff with whatever you wanted, but i put this sort of dissolved pepper sauce that was read and pesto looking into it, also a bolognese local dish, and then was served four pieces of grilled meat, chicken, pork, lamb and beef. so good.

I next day’s walk was grueling, but fortunately it was extremely flat. This is the part of the walking through italy that can be brutal. Along the main drag of this pilgrimage, in Spain, there are places to stay all along the route, at about 12 to 15k intervals apart from each other. So while i have that to look forward to, the places where I decided to start my pilgrimage from don’t cater to that so i have to walk 20 plus k just to get to the next major place that has a hotel, or hostel that is cheap. If i wasn’t alone then perhaps I would be much braver and maybe try to stay with strangers or try out the Couch Surfing gig. most of the route in this are is beautiful farmland, with some cows and a lot of what looks like its going to be kiwi and of course wine.

The next stop was Modena. To get to the hotel, I had to walk across the town as well to its northern outskirts. Here i stayed at a familiar location, it was a Best Western. Its strange to walk up to an american hotel in Italy, you expect there to be like some kind of reality distortion as you walk through the automatic doors and you are going to end up in some small business hub in the united states along route 66 where you have middle aged men in suites and ties talking about this month’s sales figures and what town’s they are traveling to next. Best Western’s to me exemplify that traveling sales man culture. But of course this is Italy and so you walk in and you get a very different experience.

I was so used to being ripped off and negotiating the price wherever i stayed that i immediately started to bargain and ask if there was something more economic. The desk clerk’s response was quite snarky, “I could give you 10 euros if you like.” The service industry/retail monster in me came out and immediately put the guy in his place, “I’m your customer and i don’t care if I am asking the stupidest question you respond kindly and with a yes or a no.” I was surprised when he apologized and his demeanor changed completely. I think he was worried I’d tell his manager, but this totally won me a discount as well! Don’t put up with it guys! If there’s anything I learned at Apple its that retail employees should be treated better, but also customers need to be treated with respect. Golden Rule kind of stuff.

This was probably the best lower priced hotel I’ve stated at. they had a huge american sized shower, and a spacious bathroom. The room didn’t smell funny and the windows were huge and looked over at the highway and the Apennines beyond. I realized that this was a motoring hotel, there was a highway shop downstairs and loads of bikers and truckers parked there.

It was kind of cool, and familiar since we took so many road trips when i was a kid.

Modena was a one night gig but i wanted something of the local fare so i went down to the hotel restaurant and the waiter there assured me that I would get just that right in the hotel and for a really reasonable price. So i bought in and was quite delighted by what i was served. An exquisite steak that was supposed to be from a local farm, marinated in Modena’s specialty of Balsamic Vinegar. And then, because i enjoyed the meal so much, the chef asked me if he could treat me to a special and local desert. Of course i agreed to and what i got was so yummy, its called Panacotte, a creamy, mix between a flan, cheese cake and ice-cream, i don’t now just delicious! I think food is an important part of experiencing culture, and it really opens people up to you. The staff at the hotel restaurant seemed to be enjoying my reaction to the food immensely.

These next few cities there’s really not much to talk about, see, staying one night in a place is kind of hard because all you can really do is experience a little. next stop was a place called, Reggio nel’Emiglia. This is i guess the epicenter of the Emiglia Reggio. The walk here was especially hard because it was mostly along a narrow shoulder next to a relatively busy highway the whole time. I’d encountered this a few times but I’m pretty sure this was the longest stretch of this i had. I thought it was cool because there were definitely a lot of places to stop in between through this area. So i did, i stopped a lot in fact, to have a water here and there or just to take a break from the heaviness of my back pack. I know i’ve packed to much stuff but I really don’t know what to do with all of it and I’m thinking that i am just going to have to deal with it.

Something really great happened along the way. I was walking and getting tired and my ipod is like heaven, since I’m alone. The song, if you want to sing out, sing out, by cat stevens came on, (the death by chocolate version) and i totally got emotional. I always do with this song because it was featured in the film, Harold and Maude, and this film was introduced to me by my friend Char. In fact we sort of shared a very similar friendship to the two in the movie, sans the interesting plot twist of course, and this film was one of her favorites. Now i usually think of Char when i hear this song, either version of it, and my eyes usually well, but for some reason i felt her really close to me and just began to sing out loud and ball like a baby while doing it. It was really great to feel that way, it was a kind of bitter sweet, joy. I think my love for Char really just came out and it would be nice if she were still around, because i think she’d tell me i was nuts for doing this trip, and she’d worry like a worry bird the whole time i was out here, but she’d be super supportive and very proud of me. That was so comforting. Well without realizing it i came upon a part of the road that some workers were at, and they all saw tears streaming down my face and asked me in Italian, (I’d imagine because of the sympathetic gestures) if i was okay. I smiled at them and gave them the thumbs up and then realized what they were working on. A huge sidewalk for pedestrians so that people wouldn’t have to deal with what i dealt with the whole time. I was so happy and felt like i was hopping lightly across the street to the sidewalk.

I waved at and thanked the workers, and they seemed particularly pleased. Along the way on this sidewalk, i discovered that someone had walked on it when the cement was still fresh and with converse all stars or some other trainers, and it totally reminded me of that footsteps poem as cheesy as it was. It was a reminder to me that all these coincidences where really challenging my ideas of the universe, its workings, reality. All these things. I walked on with a second wind.

Arriving in Reggio was really interesting and I knew that the hostel I was going to stay at was once an old monastery. It seemed like i had to walk almost as long to get to it as i did to get to the outer part of the city. It was also cool here because the city was very medieval with a wall around the center that was still intact. I think many of these places were also once etruscan. I also think that you can definitely sense an ancientness about the place and the people, even though many of them are probably not even descendent from the ancient inhabitants but there’s just something really old about everything and everyone.

I had a bunkmate, which i was extremely surprised about who was a fashion designer from Milan, but because of the economy he had to come to Reggio to make his living. He was going to be staying in the hostel for a whole month.

Since i got there early i was able to explore the city and really check out the local vibe, but alas, i didn’t really have food here beyond some inexpensive pasta to carb load for the next day.

From Reggio to Parma was a little bit prettier but still along this highway. When i got into Parma i found out that Hotel Verdi was only another kilometer from my entry point. What i do every night before going to the next town is check hostel world and other hostel websites. Sometimes, actually a lot of times, the website price doesn’t match the price when you get to the hostel or hotel, now in Italy you can pretty much negotiate down, and sometimes you even come out winning, but sometimes they don’t budge and say you had to have booked online. The only problem with that is, most times you cannot book online except like 3 days in advance, but i don’t know if i’ll make it to a certain place usually until about the day before.

Hotel Verdi was the same situation, I was really happy though because the manager totally gave me the online price, but she was not very happy about it.

Parma was really cool. I stayed there two days because everyone convinced me not to walk to Piacenza. I would speak to a lot of people, Italians in smaller towns and cities are definitely curious about the stranger. When people found out I was walking and where i was going next i got the same reply about 4 times, go directly to Milan.

There’s a park really close to Hotel Verdi, which is very beautiful, its like the Central Park of the city and unlike Rome and some of the Cities near it, the Park here was absolutely safe to go into. It was bustling with people playing sports, riding bicycle and hanging out at the cafe that was in the middle. I thought the vibe in Parma was different from the rest of Italy and this turned out to be true.

One thing that was peculiar; anyone who spoke english, spoke with a cockney accent. Its was kind of like genetics, trying to trace everyone’s lineage back to eve. Well here as far as learning English was concerned, Eve was definitely from East London. People in Parma are a bit no nonsense and really nice.

Of course, being in Parma I had to go and try the local cuisine and so i asked my “cockney” signora at the hotel, “Where’s the best place to get Prosciutto di Parma.” She totally rolled her eyes which made me realize that this must be the number one question she gets. Then she whipped out a map and a marker and began drawing a line from the Hotel to a restaurant close to the center of town. That’s where you go, its a lovely little restaurant and tell them the people at Hotel Verdi recommended you go there and you might get a free something.

I totally did, got some free house wine, which here is Prosecco. I ordered that same fried, puffy bread, a beautifully made steak that looked like the heart of the cow at first, and of course, yummy, fresh, Parma Ham, which melted in your mouth as soon as you ate it.

The Prosecco just kept coming at no charge so i found myself quite tipsy. Its funny, one thing I always wondered when I’d eat out with friends and stuff, when i saw someone sitting at a table alone, was, why are they alone. I always thought of eating at a restaurant as a very social thing and if i had to eat alone, i would go through a drive-thru or just eat at home. Now i was that guy, and I had a story and people were looking at me wondering why i was alone.

I stumbled back to the hotel, slept really well and the next day was spent organizing for Milan and doing laundry and stuff. At the laundromat i met some guys who had walked part of the camino a few years ago in spain, they were pretty excited and were telling me their stories. Its funny, i expected there to be a lot less knowledge in Italy about the pilgrimage then there actually has been.

The next day I took a bus to just north of Piacenza and walked into the great city of Milan. That was pretty awesome. Someone I’ve known on flickr for years, Christian, had suggested a hotel that was really close to the train station and so I went there and it was actually quite cheap and cozy. I did have to negotiate the price again but it I got excited that this would be the last time I had to do so. Now, the hotel only had room for me for a few days, and i wanted to stay for a whole week. There was a huge trade show for furniture in town that week, and I was told that this was bigger than fashion week.

Christian came to the hotel after work and we hit it off immediately. He took me to dinner at a place called the black cat which was very delicious. The owners were mountain people so they spoke a completely different version of Italian and stared at us very indifferently. Until I spilled the wine on the uneven table, then the hostess/waitress started glaring at me every time i looked at her, she met my gaze with a fiery sort of disdain. Christian and I were amused to no end by this.

People in Milan like to stare a lot. I went to a restaurant that was practically next to my hotel, which was fabulous and cheap, they served food, sandwiches and even pastries. and of course really good coffee. I was having a sandwich and this kid who was sitting a few tables down doing his homework was periodically just staring at me. Whenever i would look back, he’d quickly resume reading his book or writing, and i quickly realized that it may be the hat i was wearing. Its this really cute number with tassels from Barney’s New York that my friends Nancy and Alan bought while we were there for Nancy’s birthday. It couldn’t have been my dark complexion, because he was dark too, infect he looked indian to me.

I found out later on that he was the son of the owner or his brother, i couldn’t really figure out which it was because the owner was a bit difficult to understand. One other day when i went in to have a coffee, the owner, Buhdi, came up to me. We’d already become really friendly at this point because i’d been into his cafe a few times already at this point. He said, “The boy, my boy, he want say something to you.” I’d found out that Buhdi was from Sri Lanka and his wife was from Ecuador. He also had a smaller child, I still wasn’t one hundred percent sure that the boy staring at me was his son, but anyhow the kids looked a alike and they were just gorgeous.

“Okay, sure.”

He summoned the kid from below and he just stood there staring at me. “My wife, she teach the boys spanish and italian but they not know english yet.”

“That’s fine, you can be our translator.”

“Yes, of course!” Then he said something in italian to the boy and he looked up from his father to me and spoke to me directly in italian. Buhdi translated.
“He say, he believe that you and him same soul. you are same should, he come first you come next, you believe this?”

I kind of just looked back at Buhdi puzzled, to which he responded, “My wife she teach the boys everything religious all the religions, buddha, mohammed, abraham, jesu christ, all religious.”

“I understand but how does he know we are the same soul?”

Buhdi asked him, “He say, he just see, like if looking in the mirror.”

“Well, that’s pretty cool” I said, “I’m honoured to share the same soul with you.”

The kid seemed to smile, and then i thought well let me make joke, “Tell him that I would like to hear how I am doing from time to time with school and stuff.” They didn’t get it.

Anyhow that was a really strange and cool experience, and after that the kid didn’t stare at me anymore, now he smiled when he saw me. It was cool that he had this sense of spirituality at such a young age. I wondered if this is the kind of kid that they look for when they find the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama. While my rational logical mind wants to think that he’s just making it up, there’s definitely another part of me that wonders what in fact is going on. I mean with the way energy works and stuff, and I’m not going to get into a long theory here about what i think the soul may be scientifically, but there is so much we don’t yet understand and I believe that science is the key to explaining these mystical concepts and bridging the gap between science and spiritual/religious beliefs.

Milan has a lot to see, I definitely recommend seeing the Duomo, the main cathedral as well as going to the Galeria Vitorio Emanuelle and rotating 3 times into the mosaic Bull’s crotch. Its supposed to give you good fortune.

Christian and his friends invited me out to a gay club and that was a lot of fun! It was not only packed with people, but there was this elaborate sort of stage production occurring which featured this sort of monarchy of the club and their court. The music was really great too, of course they were playing a lot of hits but it just made you want to dance even more. We got into a sort of VIP section which was upstairs and were able to watch the fun below. There’s a club back home called LIV which has a similar vibe, except this was about 3 or 4 times larger. The club was located in an old storage facility, in like a warehouse district. It was really great.

Christian was a bit surprised that despite the fact that my only wardrobe was my funny tassel hat, i call it dante’s cap, and my pilgrim walking outfit, i was garnering a lot of attention and it helped also that i was going around with my SLR camera taking pictures of all the excitement. Plus i think when it comes to dancing and music, i can’t really help myself, after one or two drinks the inhibitions are gone and i just become a total kid again, wanting only to really have fun and play.
The next day, April 15th, I remember that it was tax day back home, one of the most magical days ever. We had decided we’d go to Venice, so we woke up early, drove to the metro, went to the train station and took a train to Venice. The train ride was quite pleasant and when we got to Venice it was every bit as magical as I thought it would be.

The whole city is a marvel. We only had a few precious hours to spend there but i can totally see myself coming back here and spending a lot more time some day. Basically you can’t go wrong, wherever you point your camera there’s a beautiful scene. Christian wanted to just get lost for about an hour or two so we did, and we got to see some of the back streets and hidden canals that the tourists rarely see. Also it wasn’t as insanely packed as it would be in May or the summer, and while it was a bit chilly the weather was sunny and pleasant. Actually that was a joke because the forecast had predicted rain and it was quite the opposite.

Favourite thing in Venice was this young man who was tending a shop. I called him Venus as a boy, after the Bjork song, i think his ancient beauty complimented the beauty of the city completely.

As we left we were both a little quiet, mostly i think from being exhausted, but also i think from just not wanting to say goodbye to Venice. Christian and I shot a ton of photographs and exchanged some interesting methodology and we definitely observed the other as he shot the same scenes.

I spent another few days in Milan, in the suburbs at Christians place. It was super pleasant. One of the days i took him to the four seasons to have a martini. My friend Nancy had recommended it and she was right. Christian was delighted and so grateful. I really am glad that I met him. The next day I was off to Visit my friend Tim and his wife Sara in Copenhagen, Denmark. An adventure getting there would await me, but my last night in Milan was just pleasant and Cozy and hence my travels through Italy would end on the most appreciated note of friendship.