Today is the 12th stage of the Giro d’Italia. The course runs from Parma to Genoa., and passed through our town a few minutes ago.

Emilia Romagna love cycling. We bike everywhere. In the town center, in the mountains, in the hills, at the beach, on the plains. Bikes are found everywhere. It doesn’t matter how old or young we are, we are on bikes!

I frequently say that we are “home bodies”.  Joe and I can spend days at home, with just the two of us for human contact, and not be “bored”.  But that is not really telling the entire story.  In the US, we each had a car, and we could (and would) come and go as we pleased.  I’d head out to shop for my Amazon business, shop for groceries, drive 20 miles to have lunch with friends, and Joe would do the same.  In Italy we are more of a single unit.  We rent a car when we want to do something that requires one.  Yes, we go out independently.  Hair salons, massages, yoga, a run to the store, or for me, an “aperitivo with the girls”, etc.  But by and large, we are a single unit.  We enjoy each other’s company.  We have lived alone, without a car, in a town where everything is within walking distance.  Together for four years.  If any one has been training for a quarantine, it’s us!  Thus, our loses might seem trivial to some people.  And yet, we feel them deeply.