After some days of gluttony, AW and JM thought it high time to drag their haunches (and paunches) onto their bicycles and hit the hills of Bologna for some exploration. The itinerary was vague, with the only essential stop being for coffees and pastries from our ever-faithful team at Caffe Mamolo. While the zippy trail down is joyful, we know that a hike uphill marks some point of our day ahead. With our adventure ahead, our only questions were Where? and When?

Heading west along the bike paths that guide cyclists safely around the city’s ringroad, we negotiated a gaggle of students working en plein air on some mini masterpieces and the respectful, though erratic drivers and cyclists sharing our tarmac.

As we arced southwards back toward the hills (and looming climb) we passed the world’s oldest functioning dam. Sadly, we failed to capitalise on the opportunity to capture and share the vision splendid, so you’ll have to be content with the information alone. No doubt it will make for fascinating chit-chat and trivia-sharing some day.

We continued through the parklands, along the Fiume River, before the inevitable climb appeared. And what a climb it was.

At the peak, a rugged track took us through some pretty countryside, with thousands of blossoming cyclamens peppering the ground cover. Before too long we re-connected with the bitumen that took us to the rather dramatic Santuario Madonna di San Luca. From here starts the 666-arch (yes, that’s right – 666!) arcade that leads from Meloncello in the city. This is the longest of Bologna’s arches, and quite possibly the longest in the world, although I can’t be sure…when one visits a city one is always inundated with facts about that location’s possession of the longest, the largest, the oldest, the smelliest. Anyway, it is spectacular, regardless.

The remainder of the ride looped us back to our home, with only minimal climbing – a day well spent. Now, back to the cheese and sausage.