Like Riding a Bike

Day 94

I was up early again, these early mornings are killing my night life! That's ok though, I'd rather travel.

The plan was to go to Ferarra, a town close to Ravenna with 130,000 people and 160,000 bikes. Not only could I rent a bike here, but visit a fairy tale castle with a moat. I didn't realize that it would take me about 3 hours just to get there. It was a bit far for a day trip and I started out a bit annoyed with myself. It also took some time to find the tourist office as they had some really bad signage going on.

When I did find the tourist office the woman there explained the sites to me, most of them were attractive streets. I had lost interest in the not so attractive castle and really just wanted to rent a bike. She showed me five different places that I could rent one. I went to the first, gone, the second and third also gone. The fourth one was closed and the 6th one was a hotel. Very frustrated and foot sore I decided to just go back to the train station. It was here that I realized that I could actually rent a bike there.

In no time I was getting on a bike for the first time since I don't know when. It was a bit scary getting around in traffic, I sort of wished that I could have also rented a helmet. I had a few close calls. I also don't recommend riding down cobblestoned streets, its kinda uncomfortable.

After an exhilarating hour on the bike I returned it and just made the next train back to Florence via Bologna. I was happy to see that I was once again the only one in the tent. I spent my evening trying to decide what I should do the next day, or rather what city I should go to. In the end I made a list of a few different places and decided to go to whichever one left first. Eurail freedom is fabulous!