“Many people had taken chairs out of their houses and were sitting outside enjoying probably one of the nicest evenings weather-wise they’d had in weeks (Italy had just experienced the rainiest May on record).
The temperature couldn’t have been better, the sun was doing its best to dry the moisture out of the cloud, and as always in this country there was plenty of time to have a good chat.
But as I cycled by, for the first time in my visit to Italy I had people engaging me the way I have come to always expect in France. Instead of “bon soir”, though, it was “buona sera” or just “sera”, and even sometimes “ciao”. It was a magic moment, and my pedalling slowed to a point where those along the way must have started to wonder how I was actually managing to stay upright on two wheels.”