Surprised there was a full-length mirror in my room at the sanctuary. Prepping to leave for the day. I made the bed, though I know they’re going to strip it. You can tell the care with which everything is done here.

I look at this picture now and through the eyes of the priests all I can see are those darn knees.

I’m about 20 miles outside Milan and since it’s almost 5 p.m. I figure it’s best to start scouting out a place to stay. Once I get to Milan, it’s going to be a big city and an expensive zoo. Although I still have a lot of steam left in my engine, I might be running on fumes in two hours and generally the campgrounds are 30 kilometers from where I land.

I jump over to a restaurant where men have gathered outdoors. My note is not well accepted.

I move to the library where the clerk points me in the direction of the sanctuary.

You can’t miss it,’ said the librarian. She wore a somewhat dressy t-shirt from the Hard Rock Cafe.

I pedal to the end of the street, which dead ends at the sanctuary; it’s no small outfit.

A couple were standing in the arched entryway. The woman gives me a finger wag and an audible “tsk tsk.” I pull out the note about biking for Alzheimer’s and she changes her tune and points me to an open door across the garden.

That’s where I find Sister Sara Amelia. She’s in her late 80s, dressed in a white habit and robe, with those soft nun shoes.

She sends me along my way. I run into a pair of priests and the note gets another workout. Nobody has anything reasonably close to an English vocabulary, so it’s a lot of “follow me” waving.

Rev. Gabriel makes a couple unanswered phone calls, then finally leads me to a hall where I can stow my bike.

Sister Sara re-enters the picture and it looks like I’m her assignment. She shows me the bathroom, and then a small prayer room. She speaks Italian; I nod like a dope pretending to understand. She continues to lead me down the long hall and to the automated cafe machine. I think it’s sweet how she’s trying to make me so comfortable.

Sister Sara leaves and I start to unpack, but I’m quickly distracted by food. About 20 minutes later I head to the bathroom to clean up. Half finished, the door opens and sister Sara has tracked me down.

“Camera” is what it sounds like she is saying. A quick sprint and I’m by her side. We take an elevator up one floor and she opens Room 102. Looks like I have a more comfortable place for the night; bed, bathroom and Bible – what more do I need?

“Seven o’clock,” she says, as she points to her watch and mimes eating…then she’s off.

Right now it’s 6:45 p.m., so was she inviting me to dinner or breakfast?

It was dinner. They sat me at a table by myself. The priests ate in a room by themselves, and the nuns did likewise – all behind closed doors.

A skinny guy with cigarettes on his breath served me. I was right by the kitchen. It was very “Downton Abbey.”

The Sister keeping an eye on me has her hands full.  🙂

I came downstairs after cleaning up and the priest walked by saying something obviously negative. The nun took me in another room where my bike was. She fast-talking in Italian, kind of getting exasperated, then pulls down her eye….like a spy signal.

Oh my, God. It’s the knees again. I can’t find my trusty scarf, so I get my pants.

When I walk in for dinner, the priest hangs back to give me a look, seeing if I measure up.

Dinner was hot rice soup and a hard roll.

One priest, Rev. Gabriel from my earlier encounter, sat behind me. He was at a table alone, too.  I waited for Rev. Gabriel to eat first. I wasn’t going to look back, so I just listened for the clink of silverware or the murmur of a prayer – you’d think somebody would pray, right?

I said a prayer in my head. Soup was getting cold.

No conversation. It felt like I was eating in the principal’s office. He could watch me. I felt it a violation to snap a photo of my food at that moment.

After the soup, the main course was a cut up potato, a halved hard-boiled egg, and a bit of raw tuna.  Feels like a Friday menu that’s desperately close to running out of ideas – but I’m not complaining.

This is a truly unique experience, and it isn’t over yet.

After dinner, Sister Sara stumbles upon me in the courtyard. She points out things of note and I take pictures. Sister indicates she should take a photo of me in front of the Blessed Virgin statue. We work through a couple mishaps, some shots of unsuspecting feet and the push of a wrong button. Finally, sister gets it right. We review. She’s clipped off 18 shots of me; the last few look like I’m telling a kid, “OK, that’s enough. Give me the camera now.”

I take a short video and play it back for Sister, and she is beyond thrilled! It’s a true reaction and I know she’s never seen cellphone technology before.

Sister takes me for a tour of the chapel and shows me some unique paintings, including a wall mural of Pope John Paul. She seems to indicate he visited the sanctuary once. Here is a short video of my tour:

I’d better wrap up; lights out at 10 p.m.

Thundering in the distance; am I being warned about this post?

Found this on my way to work today. Just one of the decorative roundabouts in Italy. 

Headed to Milan. I liked the way the clerk at the front desk said, “That’s far.”. Like I’m not

going to make it.

Logged 15 miles so far this morning, taking a break with Nutella on toast in a vineyard in

 Italy. What am I doing? Oh yeah….following my dream. OK …..calm down.

MANTOVA, Italy – Logged almost 52 miles today from Parma to Mantova. Good roads and nice weather, but it felt like I was stopping every 15 minutes to ask for directions and then two minutes after that to seek clarification.

Finally landed around 7 p.m. in Mantova and sat down outside a church near a center square.  (see story on Father Giorgio and my animal neighbors HERE).

After getting settled in, Rev. Giorgio brought in Julia. Julia was 21 and well versed in English. “You are in Colle Aperto and you’re camping in our Sunday School room,” she said. Julia spent 10 months in New Zealand, and that’s where she honed her English skills. Studying to be a nutritionist, Julia soon introduced me to her friends Mattia and Marco, both 17 years young.

Both claimed to have poor English-speaking ability, but they did just fine. My checkout time is 7 a.m. as class gets under way at 8 a.m.

Headed northeast tomorrow to Castiglione as I make my way to Milan.

This is where I stayed last night in Mantova. Rev. Giorgio adopted me off the front steps of the church and gave m a safe haven for the evening.

Yes, my neighbors were goats, guinea pigs, a feisty white rabbit and….

The Reverend kept bee hives – 20 of them to be exact – in the shade in front of the church.

Rev. Giorgio

If you watched the video I posted earlier from the Giordano Ferrari Puppet Museum (click HERE if you didn’t see it), the pictures below are some of those I described as I toured the museum.

GALLERY:

Small grottos to the Virgin Mary pop up in very random places on my tour. This one is at an intersection as I head north to Carpendolo.

There is a weathered statue of Mary surrounded by a lit candle in a red jeweled plastic container.

Several rosaries and a faded picture of the Blessed Virgin that has fallen out of its frame.

A rusty metal cross is cemented in the top of the 9-foot structure. Behind it, to the left, is a small wooden setup with a crucifix and a candle.

Judy Steffes reports from the Giordano Ferrari Puppet and Marionette Museum in Parma, Italy.

VIEW MORE PHOTOS of the puppets HERE.

Wisconsin Trivia:
On a side note, remember Albert the Alley Cat from Channel 6? What was the name of the reporter/weather man he was paired with? Do you know?