Zelo to Adria

Today we started in Zelo at 8:30 so we could be in Ferrara around 1 pm. Peter and I already knew that we would just go out for lunch rather than picnic since everything closes down in Ferrara from 1-3 or 3:30 or even 4 pm, when we were leaving. The ride was about 55 km or 33 miles again. At the end of the day we took a bus to Adria with a trailer to take the bikes because it would have taken too long to ride and by then it was very hot.

At the beginning of the ride we had cool, breezy weather. We were on reasonably nice roads but with a fair amount of traffic but they soon turned into main roads and we had to deal with some big trucks and some fast cars and no shoulders, just deep ditches in the side of the road. We also rode through one town that was having it's market! Kind of like trying to ride your bike through the farmers' market while everyone is shopping. It was an interesting experience. We also rode through several construction areas at tight quarters.

We had a morning coffee stop as usual and Peter took the opportunity to buy some soap since the barge doesn't supply it and replenish our supply of sunscreen. Most of the Germans and Danes don't like strong Italian coffee and have been trying variations of cafe latte, cafe americano, etc., not always successfully. I just stick with macchiato and I have no problems. Peter had succo d'arancia.

Then we were off again. We stopped to see a tower built by the Este family to block the Po River so that they could levy a toll on ships. Helmut said that in the spring the water had been high enough to reach the tower but there was no water when we were there. Then we continued on. The paths were very serpentine and we had to cross a lot of roads. We had some sharp turns and some really narrow spots that took real bike handling skills so it isn't surprising that Peter had some problems. He bumped his arm quite badly when we were threading our way through some construction and then scraped his hand when he collided with a wall as we went down a steep and narrow tunnel in Ferrara. He yelled really loudly even though he wasn't really hurt and scared everyone. But he got back on his bike and rode on to the castello.

We found a nice place for lunch and they gave him a bag of ice for his arm and more ice when that melted. He took it easy but was able to see the cathedral and ride back to the railway station with everyone else to get the bus. It was our third trip to Ferrara so we didn't have to run around the city.

We have had wonderful food on the barge and last night it was pasta as a first course, I had rotini and everyone else had lasagna and then we had pork with a porcini sauce and salad. Dessert was fresh fruit. Then most people sat around and talked. It is nice to get to know people from all over.