We left our bed and breakfast in search of the River Po farewelled by Puck the bed and breakfast owners dog . We peddled off down country lanes avoiding the busy road and made a mistake that we should have learnt from the day before. The bridge we needed to use to get across the next river was on a flyover we couldnt get onto it. Back we went probably a 6km detour .After peddling along the main road we were able to turn off onto country lanes towards Ariano which was very pleasant. There are 2 Arianos one on the left bank of the river and one on the right bank, so we had a coffee in a small bar before crossing over to find the Destro Po route F20 on the right bank in the other Ariano.We’d made it onto the Po route. Success!

It started off with a bit of shade from the trees but soon that disappeared and we were on the dyke in full sun. Still a great view of all the countryside every village seemed to have a huge church bearing down over the village, I’m unsure how on earth they financed them all. Fields were being farmed for corn, barley, hay and plenty of tree plantations , but lots of ruined farmhouses and even the ruins of a whole village.The hay making was interesting right up to the doorsteps of houses and appartments not one bit wasted.The problem with cycling on a dyke is there are no coffee spots, you have to come off the dyke at a village.We came off in search of a restaurant for lunch, nothing. Eventually at a small place called Ro we saw a restaurant by the river, lovely. The only problem was they were catering for a childrens party of 30 that was about to start, we quickly ordered something. What we didn’t realise in our lack of Italian language, was that this was a tapas restaurant and you’re meant to order 3 dishes each. So we were still peckish after our 1 tiny dish. I had made porridge for breakfast as we had a microwave at the bed and breakfast but I hadn’t tucked into any of the chocolate croissants, cakes, cocopops and other treats that seem part of an Italian breakfast.The childrens party was now well underway so we gave up and left , we’d had plenty of bottled water and a rest in the shade.

It was a hot, humid afternoon and then when we reached the turn off to Ferrara the signpost said 10kms. Ferrara was 10kms away from the river Po!!At this point i regretted not buying the Po cycling guide by Erstebauer Verlag in Vienna it had seemed a long way to carry it though.Finally we reached Ferrara a wide street city with tall buildings, only a 78km ride. !!We reached our hotel Santo Stefano, it looked very drab…oh dear I thought but before we opened the door it was opened for us. Our bikes were led into a courtyard and whilst we were unpacking the receptionist brought us a huge bottle of cold water and glasses. Such a relief to be in air conditioning but after a quick shower we did drag ourselves out into Ferrara.

So glad we did it was an amazing city,incredible buildings and squares, but also full of entertainment for Saturday afternoon/night. Our hotel had recommended a restaurant but they like many other Italian restaurants didn’t open till 730pm, eventually we found a cafe to get some dinner earlyish.We popped into a pharmacy to buy some electrolytes for cycling in the heat and spent ages chatting to the pharmacist. Apparently in Ferrara every one has to pay in their rates water pumping charges to prevent flooding as the whole town is built on reclaimed swampland.The previous flood indicators showed they were doing a good job,last big flood water levels 3m high in town was 1952.Ferrara is one of the most bicycle friendly cities in Europe and has won many awards for this and everyone was on bicycles.

Sunday we headed off early again to try and avoid the heat.You can connect with the Po from Ferraro by cycling along the tree lined canal Burano to Bodena which we did. Fortunately the tourist bureau had still been open in Ferrara so we had got a cycling map of the local area but she hadn’t got a map of the whole of the Po river.

Our first wildlife of the day was a pheasant but no rabbits running in front of us today or frogs hopping out of the way. We have seen local cyclists but no other touring bikes.The locals are cycling or running in bikinis and are bare chested enjoying the sun and there am I trying to cover up. We had hoped to stop at Stellato which is the end of the Fe20, for coffee but there was a Fleamarket/antiques market/Mercantor on, and the dyke road, & village were packed .We cycled on after a few close shaves with cars trying to park for the Mercantor or reverse out.It was 40kms before we headed off the dyke and found a coffee stop at Fellonica. Toilet stops are an issue, as the dyke sides are so steep you can”t pop over the edge behind a bush you’d hurtle down the slope.The few benches today on the path are in the sun, no wooden roofs on them like yesterdays occasional shelters.Lunch there were restaurant signs pointing down to villages and we would divert into the village only to find chiuso,shut!!You then had to cycle back up onto the dyke, groan.

We had given up on lunch when we came off the dyke for a diversion and saw a restaurant open , over we peddled, very excited. It was fully booked, no room for us.No lunch we thought, we had almost reached Ostiglia when we spotted a Taverno open in Revere. A great late lunch with a very funny Italian the father helping out his daughter. Hubby had fresh pasta with duck pieces in sauce, very nice, all worth waiting for not forgetting the tiramasu dessert.We have yet to see the sights of Ostiglia the swimming pool was more inviting!