How does a cyclist get an upper body workout?....

Besides fitting stubborn tires or attempting to get up to 100psi with a mini-pump when he flats?.... carrying a bike bag 1.5km from the train station to his next vacation apartment (after lugging it around all day). That sucked! Then, carrying 15 liters of water, 630g of Nutella (only in Italy do they sell-out of smaller jars of Nutella, but at least I didn't get the full kilo jar!) and a bunch of other crap back from what I thought was the closest grocery store. I didn't look that far on the map!
Anyway, my skinny arms and shoulders are sore. Several people look at my skinny ass and then the giant bike bag and they can't believe I manage the thing. What I lack in arm strength, I have in leg strength, and when I "drop them" on the stairs they understand! But seriously, I don't know how I do it. I just look at it like a long climb; you just climb to the next sign, then the next, and eventually you get there. Same with the bike bag... but I'm convinced that carrying the bike is more of a workout than riding it. Ironically, it's not the bike that is heavy, it's all the other stuff I've amassed, which isn't much, yet!

I'll tell you right now, this is going to be a bit of a disjointed post. I really didn't do anything exciting today except ride buses, trains, subways, etc. Aside from everything running late, and getting to Parma nearly three hours later than planned (don't plan if you come to Italy, just go with it, you'll save yourself a lot of stress), I had a pretty cool day. As chance would have it, a man in Verbania was traveling to Parma (and beyond) to start a new job outside the city at a meat packing plant. He was waiting endlessly with me for the right bus to get us to the station and it happened that he spoke English. Turns out he's from Sri Lanka, and very long story short, he's here after separating from his Italian wife, who he met in Sri Lanka. From what I understand, he's got a degree in garment merchandising (they make a lot of garments in Sri Lanka, ever notice?) and studied English as well. Seeing as how we both spoke the same language, both were traveling the same path, we spent a lot of time talking. It was pretty cool. He had a very interesting story, very nice guy and seeing how he lugged my bloated carry-on bag all the way to Parma, I was more than happy to volunteer to pay part of the leg of his journey from Milano to Parma. The $15ish was well worth the camaraderie and the enormous help.
We spoke of many things; his experience trying to find a job in Italy, his desire to work in England or the US, he told me all about Shri Lanka, I told him about the US, our politics and issues, Italian food, etc. It was a long journey made short. I was very glad to have his company. Most interesting was what he told me of racism issues in Italy. The difference of perception being from Shri Lanka and having darker skin changes a lot for him. He said that even being educated and an English speaker who is learning Italian, it is hard to find work here aside from odd jobs. He said friends of his from America basically get their asses kissed by the Italian government and get way better visa opportunities. It sounded very unfortunate, but he wasn't complaining about it at all, and he's working his ass off to make it happen to stay in Europe. He's willing to take the risk, putting himself through a lot of hardship and sacrifice to make a different life for himself. I was very impressed.
Speaking of this, when I arrived in Parma and mentioned my travel companion for the day to the lovely young woman who managed the apartment, she was very surprised and half-jokingly said she hoped I checked my pockets. While I am sure there are all types of people who take advantage of tourists, it's really unfortunate that the racism is so blatant that she would assume that he's a criminal just because he's foreign and dark-skinned, even just as a joke. I don't know, it exists everywhere, and it's not like I'm one to just trust anyone like an idiot, but after spending the better part of seven hours with this guy, I was really impressed with him and I hope that one day I can have his tenacity to take on new challenges in life's adventure as bravely as he.
So, I'm in Parma, right? Back to that. I haven't seen anything really except for a few streets, the inside of a Conad grocery store, and a plate of Risotto ai Funghi Porchini. But, what I have noticed is that I'm located just over the river (I haven't figured out which one it is yet but there's no water in it) from the central part of this small city. I'm right near the University, I'm on the same quaint street as Auturo Toscanini's birth house, I must be also near the African/ Middle Eastern neighborhood and it's beautiful. I'm loving the youthful vibe of the place, the diversity. It's much improved over the stuffy German/ Swiss tourist population in Verbania. I can't wait to explore this place. But, here are a few quick observations:

The food is going to be great! I stumbled upon a little Osteria that specializes in Risotto. They must have had a dozen types on the menu and all fresh pasta. There are lots of restaurants to try in this great food city, but I'd go back there for more!
Italians are much better about attempting to save the earth. This is how their trash system works: There are four trash cans downstairs. One for garbage, one for plastic and metal, one for organic waste, one for paper, and one for glass is just outside down the street. It's the law that they do this here, but also in most other places I've been in Italy. Really, let's get on with it America! Our ""just throw it all away, recycle if it's convenient" system is disgustingly irresponsible.

I feel like I'm in Holland. The city is pretty flat, and there are bikes everywhere. Kids riding bikes, girls sitting on their boyfriends' back-mounted bag racks, dogs in bike baskets. And at night too. And through the park, it seems like people are so active. Being such a famous food city, they must subscribe to the adage, ride/ run more so you can eat more! Just tonight, the roads department was out creating more bike lanes!

Only in Europe will you get keys to a brand new apartment with modern locks and they'll look like this:

Another observation about Italy is that people are very old school. In many ways, I think this is great. Family-time, culture, preservation of the antiquity, food culture, etc are still very much intact. But in other ways, it's strange. Dare I say America is much more progressive. I've noticed this over the years here. Gender roles are still very "antique" shall we say. I mentioned to the girl who managed the apartment that I was really happy to see a gas range, rather than the annoying electric one in the past apartments. She said, "You're gonna cook?!" And I don't think she meant it like, "You're in Parma, gastronomic heaven, and you're gonna make your own food?!", she meant "You're a man, you know how to cook?!" Chefs can be men, but the home cook must be a woman? Yes, I know how to cook, it's not that radical!
And finally, yes I know, I have a great ability to write a lot about nothing. Anyone who knows me, knows I talk too much, but I'll leave you tonight with this: I don't know yet, but from what I can tell so far, Parma might take over from Firenze as my favorite Italian city. It seems a lot less touristy, the people seem very nice, the scenery and architecture is gorgeous, apartment is awesome, the shower could double as a pressure washer, and of course the food...I'm having a good feeling about this place! Tomorrow I explore!