Day 29 - 12th September

Mantua to Ferrara, 65 miles

Your other reporter is back from business travels. Gerard & Edith are now in Ferrara. As they left Mantua at the first village outside the city they were hailed by a local (the Italians continue to be very friendly) and when he heard the route they were planning to take along the main road he pointed them to a minor road. Ths went along the top of the 15m high levee (flood bank) along the length of the Po River (the major river down the centre of Lombardy from the Alps to the Adriatic) all the way to Ferrara. It gave them a spectacular view all the way across the flat plains. The weather was scorching. They left Mantua at 8.30, had to stop from 12.30 to 2.00 because of the heat and arrived at their final destination at 4.00. So riding for six hours in serious heat. The forecast is for cooling rain tomorrow.

Ferrara is a lovely city. However, it gets seriously flooded on a regular basis. There is a chart in the centre of town showing the height and dates of floods. Because of climate change they are getting more frequent. Also like in Mantua and Cremona at least half the population go around on bicycles – something we should emulate in Britain!!

Both are tired because of the heat. Edith still has a niggling rib injury from their fall in the Alps and is on painkillers. I told her to go and see a doctor if it gets worse.