On A Colt, The Foal Of A Donkey

What to do with another day in Munchen? Outside the NW part of town is a huge botanical
garden a few tram stops past the former royalty's summer house. I wanted to go in the morning
to enjoy the weather and have enough time to spend there. In the blah city of Munchen there
is a jewel in the botanical garden. The place is brimming with flowers packed into the ground
and leafy greenness bursting all over. There were beds filled with tulips in every color
possible. Some appeared to be on fire with orange while others were the palest pink. A whole
portion of the garden was devoted to pine trees and another to rhododendrons. I came across a
stream where I sat for a while to enjoy the bubbling noise. There was a section of water or
swamp plants which was quite neat. They had them in small concrete pools raised about 3 feet
off the ground. Small faucets would drip or run water into the pools as necessary for the
kind of water movement for the plants growing there. Best of all were the 10 greenhouses
filled with cacti, tropical plants and plants from the Jurassic period (the ferns were
enormous!!). It was a delightful mix of greens, textures and colors. On my way out I
realized after a few minutes walking that the shirt I had with me was no longer on my bag.
After retracing my steps back about 200m I found it lying on the dusty ground where it had
slipped off the top of my bag. Glad I found it. No more losing things!!

Even in a beautiful place like the botanical gardens, one does grow tired. I took the tram
back into town and headed toward the Jewish Museum. Since I'm in Germany I felt that I should
spend some time on WWII information. After locating the museum I parked myself outside at a
small kids play area and ate my lunch in the sun. The museum focuses more on contemporary
Jewish life than what happened during the war years. They do have an area devoted to sharing
stories from local people who lived through the war. Alas these were all in German. The
piece with a floor map of the city and these 2ft. tall and rather heavy plastic stands was
cool. Placing the stand on the spot of the city where the story happened lit up a photo on
the wall from the story. These were in English so I got a taste of what some Jewish people
did 70 years ago in Munchen.

My last trip of the day was to the National Museum for some history. One part was filled with
carved wooden creations from the local area in SE Germany over the last 6-8 centuries. They
were nice and rather intricate, but didn't interest me overly. Just down the street was more
what I was looking for; a couple floors of artifacts in an interesting building. Part of the
building was an old church which had additions built on to connect it to other nearby
buildings. Just when you reached the end of one corridor and thought that was all the museum
had, a whole other room opened up with another portion of history and tons more artifacts to
observe. Rooms full of maps, suits of armor, paintings, sculpture, and furniture kept me
busy. By far though, my favorite piece in the museum was a carved, wooden donkey on wheels
with Jesus on top. I'm sure it had some holy use in a special religious parade, but you can't
beat walking around the corner and seeing a wooden Jesus on a donkey--with wheels! Even
better, the way some people here pronounce 'danke' (or German for "thank you") sounds like
donkey. I tried not to laugh too loud since I seemed to be the only one in the entire museum
except the guards.

Greenhouses

First priority today was to visit the botanical gardens in the NW part of town. The walk through the quiet neighborhood on a Sunday morning was delightful. Parents walked with their kids in strollers or on bikes. Everything had a relaxed, sleepy feel to it. What a treat the gardens were! Throughout most of southern Europe the flowers have been in short supply. It's not just the season or weather either. These countries simply don't plant flowers in public places whether from lack of funding, laziness or interest. Apparently all the flowers are in Germany. Spread out before me was a vast array of greens, whites, pinks, reds, oranges--all the rainbow was present as I wound my way through the park. One of the best parts was the greenhouse area filled with pod shaped rooms of plants from various climates and parts of the world. Cacti filled the hot and dry room with types of succulents I've never seen before. By far my favorite rooms were the tropical, humid ones. Vines, orchids, pitcher plants and palm trees filled the room from floor to ceiling. Everything was so lush and green. Vibrantly colored blooms dotted the scenery. Fabulous!

After such a lovely morning I wasn't much in the mood for museums so I wandered through the town taking a long route toward the NE and winding down through to Romberg and the river. Packed into one sentence makes it seem short and sweet. In reality I probably walked a good 3 or 4km. I couldn't come up with much else to do so I sat by the river for a while and read I and II Peter (being Sunday and all). My guidebook suggested a restaurant a ways down from the river and I thought I'd give it a try. Near the hostel most places are Indian, Asian or doner kebab (looks to be gyro like food) restaurants. It was quite a bit further than it looked on the map, but it was well worth the trip. The neighborhood was nice to view and the food was excellent. I sampled the schnitzel (thin breaded pork), fried potatoes and side salad with a yummy mustard viniagrette dressing. Naturally I had the apfelwein to go with it since I wouldn't be able to enjoy it outside of Frankfurt. All in all, a relatively relaxed day.

I Get The Impression That...

The much anticipated Musee D'Orsay was on the docket today. I love impressionist paintings
and this was my chance to see them since the Louvre refused to have any on their walls. The
museum is housed in an old train station which has been restored quite nicely. The
unfortunate part was that a large portion of the museum was being renovated (I think
everything in Europe is being renovated right now) and I may have missed some of their
displays as they tried to cram an entire floor's worth of artwork into the main foyer. What I
was able to see was quite spectacular however. Works by Degas, Monet, Manet, Cezanne,
Cassatt, Van Gogh, Renoir, etc. Putting them together in one area helped you see the variety
of styles from very fuzzy impressions to stippled effects to pastel drawings and even
sculpture by the same artists. I was most content despite the hordes of people swarming
through the museum like bees darting back and forth.

Upstairs was a mixture of more paintings, sculpture and decorative arts (tables/chairs,
fabric, glass, etc.). After such a wonderful selection downstairs, they had to put the less
exciting pieces somewhere right? The paintings were 95% blah with a few exciting pieces here
and there. The decorative art pieces were very original. Some displays had bedroom or dining
room settings with intricate wood work or creative metal fixtures. There were more than a few
times where you'd look at a setting and think "What in the world would that have been used for
in this room? Oh wait...it's art--meant to look pretty and not necessarily be functional."
Finally I had walked through all the rooms and seen everything they had on display. I'd grown
quite hungry and decided to grab a sandwich at a cafe I saw on the way to the museum. I
chowed down on a huge tuna baguette that must have contained 1.5 cans of tuna on it. The only
down side was the lack of dressing on the sandwich like say mayo or mustard.

I opted to pass through the quaint shops Manuel had directed me to the other day where we ate
the strawberries. I found Rue Moufftard relatively easily, but decided I should continue on
to the Jardin des Plantes before it closed for the day. The trip there was also a nice walk
past a mosque and some wonderful architecture. I was preparing to see lots of plants--at
least more than I had found in Paris parks up to this point. Yet again I was disappointed by
French horticulture. Is it really too much to ask to add a few spots of color here and there? Even if you go all green, how about some leafy texture or shrubbery? There certainly was more colorful flowers in this park, but the overall design and shaping of the garden was once again wide paths with the classic white gravel dust and always flat spots of grass with the occasional grouping of blooming flowers. If you ever visit Paris, do yourself a favor and
don't waste your time at the gardens unless you prefer minimalist/reserved scenery.

Being so close to the train station where I first arrived, I thought I would stop in and see
if my bag had made its way to the lost luggage office. After some very typically French
confusing directions and maps, I managed to find the office which had closed some 20 minutes
earlier at 5pm. Worth a shot at checking.

Yesterday I had planned to visit the Eiffel Tower, but when my camera battery died I figured
there was no point in going if you couldn't take pictures. Today, armed with a fully charged
battery, I navigated the metro to the Trocadero stop. This leaves you off at a large building
you must walk around to even see the tower. When you come around the end and finally see it
perched in the distance, the sight is quite lovely. Nothings so clearly trademarks and says
"Paris" like the Eiffel Tower. From the NW corner of the building the tower was framed by the
green park grass around it and a slight haze of pollution--just enough to give a softened look
to the hard metal forming the tower. It truly does grow in majesty the closer you get and the
taller it becomes. By the time you walk up to it you feel like a dwarfed ant as you pass
underneath the monstrously large metal legs. I'm not one for city skylines where you can't
quite make out what you're actually looking at and thus didn't spend the E12 to take the ride
up to the 2nd floor. Photographs and staring at it from the park was satisfying enough for
me. Besides, I had already seen the skyline for free from the Sacre Cour cathedral.

Not wanting to walk far for dinner and trying not to buy any more metro tickets, I went a few
blocks away from the Eiffel Tower figuring there must be tons of places to eat nearby.
Surprisingly there were very few. Along the street I was taking toward the next metro stop I
would use to get back to the hostel, I found a decent looking place with a good menu outside.
I went with the meal plan where I could pick an appetizer, main dish and desert. I selected
Muscadet white wine, pate, rotisserie chicken, zucchini au gratin and a slice of peach tarte
for dessert. The only flaw in my plan was that I think the pate was also chicken. Nothing
like adding extra protein to your diet. All was very tasty and most filling. I looked
forward to the .5 hour long metro ride to settle my food a bit.

Versailles

Woke up not feeling too great so I took it slow getting ready. I ended up being 30 minutes late to meet up with Manuel, but better that than not showing up at all. I had no way to
contact him, so he would have just been standing there for a long time wondering what was
going on. We boarded the train to Versailles and arrived 20 minutes later. About 500m
walking down the road and around the corner brought the splendid palace into view. My cousin
Val had been here on a trip to Paris through school, but she didn't tell me how huge the place
is or how gilded! The glamor soon faded as we saw the very long line we had to wait in to
get tickets. We then lamented each separately thinking of getting tickets ahead of time and
not doing it. Fortunately we only had to wait about 15-20 minutes. Not bad considering there
were about 100 people in front of us. After getting the tickets we had to wait in the
entrance line to go through a bag screening (which I'm not sure anyone was even monitoring)
that took about 20 minutes again.

Once inside we decided to head out to the Queen's Hamlet to make sure we didn't miss it by
spending too much time in the Chateaux. Unknowingly this took us into the garden which we
could have easily entered without passing through security. By going the way we did we
procured a map and had a shot at knowing where we were going. We wandered through the vast gardens which almost looked imaginary or movie like at the far end (3.5km away). French gardens really means a wide pathway with white powdery gravel and some trees or shrubs along the sides. There is rarely grass and when there is, it's forbidden to walk on it. Apparently France is much more dry and desert like than I realized. We had taken a slightly shorter route toward the Queen's area only to discover that a large gate and a moat blocked our way. Making our way back around the wall and off to the far corner of the estate brought us to the first of three places the Queen had built solely for her. I didn't enjoy the first very much. It was very late 17th/early 18th century fashion which was a bit too fru fru and pastel colored for me. Many of the rooms had lemon colored furniture or pastel green walls with lots of pastel pink stone making up the building. It was nice to see some furniture though.

The second place was much more relaxed and almost like a summer cottage. The rooms were
smaller and cozy with a natural color palate. By far the grander part of this whole area is
the garden outside the houses. This was much more like a real garden. Grass abounded, paths
were small, flowers were in bloom, trees grew naturally and not into trimmed shapes. The
first garden by the Chateaux felt very formal and harsh. The Queen's garden was much more relaxed and homey. We found our way back to the far end and suddenly a whole tiny village came into view. What was this? Not on the map. We checked it out and it turned out to be the third part of the Queen's area--a farm, servants' houses, stable. The Queen really had her own place to rule just like she asked. While it was all quite lovely, when this was being built most of France was starving and destitute. Hard to reconcile.

On our way back to the main garden we stopped at one of the cafes for lunch and ice cream.
Realizing we needed to move along to see more things, we moved through the other side of the
main garden and back to the Chateaux. Originally we chose this day to visit because they turn
the fountains on for Sunday. After the first few up by the main entrance, the rest were dry
as a bone or had still water. Around 4pm an announcement indicated that some of the
fountains were about to be turned on. It was most refreshing to see and feel them in action. Moving water naturally makes it cooler and that was nice on such a sunny day. At last we made it to the Chateaux and picked up our complimentary audio guides. In typical French fashion there was only one number to listen to for the first floor, though it was filled with paintings. We had to get to the second floor with all the official kingly apartments before any new numbers showed up. [Famous Hall of Mirrors] When we reached the end of this tour we had another very French moment. The organization of the tour routes was never listed and both routes end in the same place without warning. We naturally kept following the hall around the corner when we realized that the numbers had changed and the information was going backwards as the numbers were counting down. No great loss. We trudged ahead and made it all the way to the princesses' apartments and the Dauphin's (I think he was the 2nd in command and next in line for the throne??) apartments. This is when we noticed we were running out of time to make it to the Neptune Fountain show at 5:20pm.

At a quick pace we saw the beginning from the walkway and arrived in just enough time to catch
the last few minutes. It really wasn't a show so much as music playing while the large
fountain was running. The water pressure never varied and there were no lights. It was nice
to see the water flowing though after so many fountains were not working. Having seen all we
could see, we stopped at a cafe on the way to the train station to avoid the large crowd
heading that direction. This worked out well as the train back was not quite as full. We
were going past the area where Manuel lives and it was getting close to dinner time for me.
Manuel thought it would be a good idea to sample some sushi at a great place near his
apartment. The food was actually really good. A nice change from bread and sandwiches. I
sampled some salmon, tuna, and some kind of white fish sushi along with 4 grilled kebabs (2
chicken, 1 steak and 1 ground up meats shaped into balls). It was all delicious which made it
worth the 45 minute metro ride back to the hostel.

An American In Paris

This morning I realized that I was missing a plastic bag of things. It finally dawned on me that I had left it on the upper rack in the train yesterday. My beloved blue scarf is gone along with a tin of cookies, some maps from the last few trips to Aix-en-Provence and Avignon, and another scarf I had just bought the day before. I am quite angry about this. [Still angry on the 21st as I write this.]

Today I met up with my friend Manuel who lives here in Paris. We met in Archaia Corinthos, Greece which seems like ages ago. I'm glad I have this blog or I wouldn't remember much of what I have seen and done. I wasn't sure how much time Manuel had to spend with me and thought we might just plan out an itinerary over coffee. He kindly served as my tour guide for the day as we walked around Central Paris. Our walk started on the E end crossing the River Seine and following it until we were at Notre Dame Cathedral. This globally recognized church was filled with people walking through the outer circuit of the interior (the area roped off for tourists to pass through). It was quite noisy despite the Silence signs as everyone talked in their own language to their people about what they were seeing. Amidst camera flashes and the clank of coins being dropped into the medallion machines (yes, you can purchase your own Notre Dame coin from vending machines throughout the church), the atmosphere--if there ever is one--was nonexistent. The Gothic style did nothing for me. The stained glass was not pretty. The walls/ceiling were composed of stone block which made the entire place look like the metro of Paris--i.e. tacky and dingy. Compared to Sacre Cour in Montmarte, Notre Dame is a hollow building for the commercialism of religious goods. I was not positively swayed or moved.

Further down the river we walked into the Louvre and grabbed some information on times and prices. There are three buildings of fun waiting for me to discover! We took a stroll through the Jardin des Tuileries next to the Louvre which is really more of a sandy, deserty like park with trees in it. Not overly pretty and very bright from the white dirt/rocks on the pathways. We walked past the Obelisque and crossed the river again and passed the Assemblee Nationale building (their legislative/political building). We wandered through the St. Germain area looking for a another church which we eventually found. It's very similar in architecture to Notre Dame with high arches and stained glass windows, but very quiet as no tourists really come here. We walked back W to the Hotel des Invalides which is now a military building. I wasn't too interested in seeing the military history museum through the revolution up to Napoleon so we took a bus to the Jardin du Luxumbourg where we strolled around though a park that at least had grass in it. Most of our walking had been relatively quiet for the international metropolis of Paris. Most Parisians seemed to be on vacation (similar to spring break) or in the parks as we noted in Jardin du Luxumbourg. The place was packed! we stopped for some coffee and then wandered through the Quartier Latin where there are some lovely traditional French shops and markets. A guy was playing a crankable music box cart with paper cut out music while singing. Cheese, fruit, fish and vegetable stores tempted us with their delicious looking foods. Manuel picked out a tub of strawberries that are presently in season and we feasted on them. My Mom would have been jealous for how fresh and sweet they were.
[Paris skyline at night from Sacre Cour--apparently I didn't understand the slow exposure time. Still a cool photo though.]
We hopped on the metro and went to meet up with one of Manuel's good friends as they were growing up and his wife. We had drinks and appetizers at Le Rhumerie. I had a tasty fruit juice drink of pineapple, orange, banana and coconut juices. We snacked on some fried fish balls, something similar to bruschetta and what I think was a blood sausage with spices. All quite yummy. From here we parted ways with Manuel's friends and found a traditional Bretangne restaurant (region of France) where we had egg, ham and tomato crepes with apple cider wine. I was incredibly stuffed by this point. No dessert for me or I would have exploded! We headed up to Montmarte by metro to see if we could find a jazz club, but everything seemed pretty quiet up there. I was wiped out from all the walking and eating, so we headed home for the night. We planned to meet up tomorrow to head to Versailles.

Royalty, Racing and Cacti

There's not a ton of sights to see directly in Nice. Thanks to inexpensive public transit, it's easy to see a wide variety of places. When in France, why not go to Monaco? If nothing else, a sighting of the casino is worth the E1 trip there. The bus ride was easy going though full with the train strike in effect. I arrived at the casino stop to lovely manicured lawns and a pleasant park. A short stroll down the hillside and bang! There's the casino in all its splendor. Fountains surrounded by tightly packed tulips in full bloom line the hillside along the path down to the main casino and gardens in-between of exotic flowers fill the open space. High end shops along the street remind you that you are in a lavish place in case you missed the darkly tinted car windows on the Rolls Royce or the Porsche you just passed. Everywhere you go in Monaco the streets and buildings feel light, clean and full of history. Even the underground walking tunnels are sleek stone and brightly lit.

I longed for a map of the province. My Lonely Planet guidebook is rather ungainly when you are trying to walk, see the sights and blend in a bit to not be the obvious tourist. I planned to head N from the casino and then to the W where there was a lovely Jardin Exotique. I made my way uphill where street signs were scarce and nothing matched with my book when I consulted it. After about a half hour of wandering, I finally located a street in my book. Somehow I had wandered out of Monaco and into Beausoleil--noticeably marked by the change in scenery and the more modest housing. I headed back downhill and followed a main road W until I happened upon the train station. A map of the local bus routes was out front which helped me navigate to the garden. Basically I followed the bus route until I saw signs for the garden. Check out their website: http://www.jardin-exotique.mc/

The views and the plants were well worth the trip. Inside are terraces filled with cacti and succulents--in the corner of France! The garden was started by Albert I in 1902 and later Prince Grace Kelly encouraged it's care. During building a cave was discovered at the bottom of the garden which Prince Albert insisted be opened to the public. In 1955, a Prehistoric Anthropology Museum was added which included some of the human and animal finds from the cave. The garden was delightfully peaceful and an excellent way to unwind after spending an hour wandering aimlessly and hiking uphill to the garden. Word to the wise...take the bus there. The cave was a nice aside at a sultry and humid 18.65C. I've seen many before, but none in France and none with a tour given in French.

Having spotted stairs heading toward the palace area on the way to the garden, I was one step ahead for my descent. I actually did one better by taking the elevator down a couple levels to the road I wanted to be on. Surprisingly I ended up in the middle of a park on the hillside. I walked back past the elevator and was in a parking garage. Fortuitously though below the parking floor listings was a stack of city maps! If only I had known to come here 3 hours ago! Navigating to the palace as a cake walk now. I easily made my way down 12 stories in the elevator to the road and another 3 sets of lengthy stairs to the palace.

Situated on a peninsula overlooking the Mediterranean and up a steep rampway winding back and forth is the Monaco Palace. The royal family of Albert II currently resides there who shares the space with about 250 some skilled caretakers divided into groups such as masonry, groundskeeping and cooking. Apparently a palace requires significant support. I circled the old walled fortress which has been modified repeatedly since its inception. What is visible today has not changed much since the 17th century. I paused at the Oceanographic Museum and Aquarium which catalogued a great deal of marine history from the 1800s during Albert I's reign. He was eager to learn about ocean life and commissioned trips by Dr. __ (I can't remember his name nor can I find it online) on the Princess Alice II to study, preserve and explore the seas. Later on he founded the present museum. I must say it's quite strange to see a squid or a fish preserved in a jar of chemicals from 1859. The displays of the tools and equipment they used was very informative. Much of their gear was designed by the exploration team to fit the exact needs they had. Weather indicators, harpoons, preservation processes, nets and the like were all finely tuned to the study. The Aquarium downstairs was equally impressive. Colorful and more bland species of fish floated and sped effortlessly through tanks of water. The only lighting on this level was blue lights which gave the feeling you were in a submarine.

A short walk down the road from the museum takes you right to the palace. I was eager to check out the tour to learn more about the royalty of Monaco. Turns out they give you an audio guide as part of the tour price (not usually the case) and you can see 14 rooms in the palace. My personal favorite was the last one where it says you are in the grand hall and the tour is over but the room is about 6'x6'. Now that's what I call "grand." There was a screen up, so it could have been larger. No, the best room was probably the Throne Room. I saw the actual throne for coronations and there are great portraits of the royal family many generations back. The best was the stunning one of Prince Ranier III with wife Grace Kelly and their two daughters Stephanie and Caroline and son Albert II. I was even greeted by the current Prince Albert II on the audio guide. Next door and included in the palace tour was the Napoleon Museum. Bits of random memorabilia from Napoleon's life. Like the cradle he gave to his adopted daughter or the booties and gown he wore as a kid. The best piece was a letter written by Louis XII in his own hand conceding the land of Monaco as its own principality.

After a busy day wandering the land of Monaco, a good rest at the hostel was in order. Dinner was two enormous slices of turkey with some kind of wine reduction brown sauce (tasted great), a side salad and rice with sun-dried tomatoes and herbs. Filling and a wide range of flavors.

Repent--Doing a 180

After doing some research into the next hostel I planned to book, I discovered I had to make a reservation 1 week in advance. Oops. I could still travel there and if they had rooms the day I showed up, I could stay. To travel 2.5 hours to Genova and another 2.5 hours to Cinque Terre and discover I had no where to stay did not sound very appealing. In true Lenten fashion I "repented" and did a 180 heading east instead of west. My new destination would be Bologna; a city known for great food having created lasagna, bolognese sauce/ragu, mortadella (i.e. bologna luncheon meat) and tortelloni.

I still had a ticket to the Giardino di Boboli including the Medici Silver and Porcelain Museums. After an early start (about 7:00am) with packing, breakfast and putting my luggage in storage at the hostel, I meandered to the park. That morning I noticed on the ticket that I had bought it on Tuesday and it was supposed to be good for 3 days. Fortunately the workers at the entrance didn't bother reading the ticket. The gardens were quite large and well groomed. No flowers or colors around, but the texture in the various greens, bushes, trees and paths provided nice scenery. One of the more strange features were very large, oval marble rocks. Two were laying flat on the ground like large, round seats and one was standing oblong titled "Secret of the Sky." I'm not sure what the artist meant to convey, but the stone was smooth, soft to the touch and nearly pure white. It looked like a large mint with a dimple/round indent on the one side. On the way out I breezed through the Silver Museum which had very little silver in it. It was more a collection of the Medici treasures and jewels.

I'm glad I walked through as this gave me a brief look at how sumptuous the Medici life was without paying another E10 to see the lavish apartments upstairs in the Palzzo Pitti. Necklaces, pins, crowns, bibles, paintings, fountains in each room and large highbacked, leather covered wooden chairs gave the impressions you were in the presence of a very rich family.

After picking up my luggage and waiting a good 20 mins. for the bus to arrive, I made it to the train station. I didn't see Bologna listed on the departures and I'm glad I checked with the information desk. I would never have figured out which lines to take to get to Bologna with my regional (slow/local line and cheap) ticket. With a quick 5 minute change of trains in Prato (just NW of Firenze I think), I was headed direct to Bologna in 1.5 hours. So began the trial of arriving at the hostel.

From the train station there are two options of getting to the hostel: bus 68 goes direct to the hostel, but only runs every 2 hours, or bus 25 runs every 10-15 minutes, but stops 1km from the hostel. Since I arrived at 3pm and wouldn't make bus 68 until 5pm, I planned on waiting near/at the bus stop until 5pm. I should have stuck to my plan. Instead I opted for bus 25 to get there closer to my suggested arrival time of 4pm at the hostel. The guy at the bus info station told me to turn right and walk about 500m. The bus stop is in near a crossing of an interstate and some random business which on a Saturday were all closed. Down the road is a bit of small town civilization and a hotel. I didn't see how I could "turn right and go 500m" so I asked a few people on the street if they knew of the street the hostel was on and they all looked incredibly confused. It's common for hostels to be on tiny side streets no one has ever heard of. I stopped at the hotel and the lady directed me to the road I needed. The only problem was that it was about 30-40ft long and had no numbers near 12 which is what the hostel is at. The next closest thing along the road (about 100m) is a huge sports complex. I asked a few people and an older man on a bike said the name of the hostel like he knew it well, whistled and pointed off to the left behind me. I headed that way and ended up at the interstate (probably another 500m). Suddenly the older man on the bike appeared from behind me and started asking me in Italian what seemed to be something like "What are you doing here? Didn't you see the road back there?" After a few minutes of telling him I didn't see a road and no sign only the sports complex--in my best broken Italian of which I maybe know about 30 words--he seemed to offer to ride along and show me the road that was plainly in view (to him). We ended up just down the sidewalk from the sports complex and he directed me onto a path with metal poles to prevent cars driving on it which became a road with cars. Suddenly there were brown signs for the hostel. Apparently if you come to the bus stop from the other direction there are signs all over the place. Mind you I'm still dragging all my luggage with me and now still have about 1km to walk.

I wandered down the road quite a ways following the signs when a car behind me slowed down. The man inside rolled down the window and asked where I was headed. After I indicated I spoke no Italian he said something about "you want to pass." I thought perhaps he said I had passed it. He had a clipboard so then I thought he worked at the hostel and knew where I was headed and was offering to drive me the rest of the way. Then he started to drive away. Huh?? I checked the buzzers at the house in case I had passed it. Definitely not it. By then he had driven back and in better English said the hostel was another 500m and would I like a ride (must have been broken English for "you want to passenger?"). I accepted and we drove to the sign for the hostel which he indicated was camping and not a hostel. We figured out his name was Tom and he was reading meters in the area and had just been at the hostel and campground.

He had traveled alone for 10 years when he was 25-35 so he understood the troubles of finding places on your own. After a few streets away we had cleared up that I was not heading to San Sistro hostel like he thought, but actually to the campground which online claimed they had bungalows and rooms to rent. We headed back with a few turn arounds, since one of the streets had become a one way, and stopped at the campground. He offered to wait in case it wasn't the right place. Turns out it was! I thanked Tom and he drove off back to work. That's what I call grace. Undeserved gift, but very much needed. I think this suffices for my Lenten Journey.

Turns out the place is quite nice. It's all very strange though. It is a campground. There are sites for RV's and tents as well as 4 rows of these pink/red brick buildings that look like military housing. They're pretty nice inside. It's like a tile floored cabin with two beds in the "living room/kitchen" and two behind a sliding wood door. Tonight I plan out my discovery of Bologna and hopefully find a way to locate a church with a Palm Sunday service.