Well, this is frustrating for us. The past several days it has been becoming arduous loading photos from our card reader to the ipad. We have explored the possibility that there is a setting wrong on the camera, that the card is too full, but all is fine - and today the process stopped completely. 

Barry’s effort of loading photos of Bobbio, where we stayed last night, and today’s ride just won’t work. The SD card is truly dysfunctional. We will load these photos once we get home.  Time for a new SD card - wish we had done this earlier. Isn’t hindsight a wonderful thing?

The part that makes us crazy is that Bobbio is a spectacular place and we would like to share our photos of it on our journal. Bobbio was just a name of a town on the map for us - but when we arrived, we knew that we had to stay here. Well preserved historical buildings of importance to the area, a bustling community with interesting small local businesses, charm and character plus. 

Bobbio is beautifully situated on the left bank of the River Trebbia. Its history dates back to the Neolithic age and the Abbey founded by the Irish monk Columbonus in 614 remains a must see. As well, the old bridge, also known as “Hunchbacked” due to its irregular shape, dates back to Roman times. The old bridge is 280 metres long with 11 spans, all of different heights and is a pedestrian bridge today. Legend has it that the bridge was built by the Devil in one night after he made a pact with St Columbon who promised him the soul of the first passerby...and the Irish Saint sent a dog!

And, as luck will have it, we awoke in Bobbio to market day. Enough said as Barry continues to be frustrated that he can’t share any photos - but they will be coming once we get home. 

The ride today however was not our favourite as it was characterized by rough pavement and constant bumps - it seems like the signs were constant every few km warning us of bumps for the next 2 or 3 km. Barry did his best to warn Mary Ellen of every bump as she is still pretty sore from the fall in the shower a few weeks ago. The ride took a toll on both of us as the traffic was also pretty heavy. Being a Sunday, motorcycles and cars were out in full force and the motorcycles were crazy fast, passing loudly regardless of oncoming traffic. We got really tired of the traffic as we had little room and the drivers were pretty aggressive. 

Before Piacenza, we found quieter roads to enter the city.

We had the good fortune of meeting a fellow tandem couple in the city - Felix and Vanessa from Munich. We had fun talking to them and they mentioned that they were staying at an Agriturismo, about 15 km out of the city along the Po River. We went our separate ways and considered joining them. Well, the decision was clearly fated to be made for us as we encountered them later on the trail and so we followed them to the Agriturismo and luckily there was room for us. We enjoyed dinner together and talked for hours. Suddenly we realized that it was 11:30 - where did the time go?  We agreed to meet for breakfast and then head off. Felix and Vanessa are doing our trip in reverse (kind of). They will be heading south to Le Spezia, followed by a ferry to  Corsica and Sardinia - and then to Barcelona. We wish them well.

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