Getting lost is part of the journey, right?

I went on my second bike ride around the area. This time I decided to ride into the city of Bologna (about 10 km away). As any good traveler does, I google-mapped my trip and it gave me two suggested routes: along the main highway and along a country road that follows a winding river. Which one did I choose? Why the country road, of course. I'm not in Italy to just follow highways, I want to see the country! I wrote down the directions, at least I thought I did, and set off with all the necessary accouterments for spending the day in Bologna...everything except water, but I'll get to that in a bit.

The ride was going great. The road was just shaded enough to be cool, but the trees were scattered enough for me to see the beautiful scenery. I was listening to a great podcast about organic food and my mind was at ease. Then, I turned right. I was following the directions that I had and the road seemed to match up, Via di Paleotto. This is great! I can successfully navigate my way through the Italian countryside on a bike. However, you know what they say about counting your chickens before they hatch. The road was an uphill battle, literally. I road for about 25 minutes on what felt like a 45 degree incline. The road was getting less and less like a road and more and more like a path, then a driveway, then a Do Not Enter sign. Are you kidding me?! I biked up this mountain for a Do Not Enter sign? No thank you. And what did I want once I made it to the summit? A nice drink of water. I searched in my bag for my trusty water bottle, but to no avail. I left it at home. Great.

Well, trying to stay positive, I thoroughly enjoyed the speed and rush I got going back down the mountain. As I came back to the junction where I turned right, I did some exploring. Evidently, there are two Via di Paleotto's. I made sure I took the right one this time and continued on my journey, without the massive incline and frustrating dead ends.

In Bologna, I visited the archaeological museum (which was amazing!) and tried a gelato place I've been meaning to check out. Good stracciatella gelato was just what I needed after a exhausting bike ride. All in a day's work!