More (mis)adventures with Seavob: -a burst rear tire and on to Revere
Slept well in our quiet, comfortable Italian villa. We had the place to ourselves and simply locked the door when we were ready to leave and rode off to find coffee. We were happy with our early start, but the family were up at dawn working in the fields. We are surprised to usually be the only cycle tourists wherever we go since leaving the sub Tyrol region. September seems like such an ideal time to travel here. Kids are back at school, accommodation is readily available, crowds are smaller and the weather is more moderate. However, this region is unusually humid and hot at this time - which has made the insect population thrive. Mosquitoes and unseen bugs are making a meal of us. As well, we encountered a strange phenomenon as we observed what looked like a series of mini typhoons of flying insects across the fields. This was interesting to see until we had to ride through them. Barry, riding on the front, used his buff as a mask and when we got off the bike for a break, he was covered in bugs from his hair to his feet. It was market day in San Benedetto sur Po and as always we enjoyed strolling through and buying some food. The church and monastery are well worth a visit. Much restoration work is being done and with EU support they are celebrating the 900th anniversary of Matilde. We're not sure of the significance of Matilde as the Tourist office was closed for lunch and the locals only wanted to talk about the new commemorative statue of Matilde (without arms) on a horse. The consensus is that it is a man, not a woman. We don't think that's right, but we got the message that they weren't impressed with the modernism of the statue. About 6 km out of town we heard an ominous hissing sound and discovered that our rear tire had blown open along the rim. Oh dear, a new tube isn't going to solve this one. The next town with a hope of help was 10 km away. Should one of us hitchhike? And then, Damien drove up and offered to drive Barry to a town. He tried calling his friend who works on bikes but he was sleeping, so on to plan B. They were able to buy a mt. bike tire at a hardware store and this will do until we can get to a bike shop for a more suitable tire. After the delays of fixing the tire we shortened our day and stopped in Revere. A woman came up to Mary Ellen and offered her help to find us accommodation. We had no idea what she was talking about (nor did some of the locals she enlisted for translation). Nonetheless her tenacity paid off as she rode with us to a B&B tucked away by the castle. We would never have found it. Luckily they had a room and we gratefully checked in, had a shower and were once again heartened by the kindness of strangers.
Bar Aurora in Borgoforte is the place where locals came to our rescue last night with information about accommodation, and this morning with coffee. Bars are in every village and their use feels to us like a community centre, yet their purpose is commercial . Early in the morning the men gather for coffee, the newspaper and a visit; then, through the day people drop in for an espresso and light food, and in the evening it seems to be a place for young people to gather. Sundays are the time for a game of cards and watching the weekly football game together.
"Hey lady where are you going?" This was the sound I heard as we were riding out of Borgoforte and the man on the right (does gardening for the community) had left his work truck parked in the road, still running, and simply wanted to know who we were and if he could help with directions. One of those moments that makes you laugh and enjoy the unexpected moments that being a stranger in a country can bring you.
Lunch from a butcher at the market in San Benedetto sur Po. Shisk kebab with veggies and different kinds of meat: chicken, pork and sausage with grilled polenta. Now this is fast food that we like!
These local guys really tried to help us with our flat, but their power pump with foam didn't work either. A new tire is the only solution to getting back on the road.
Aquaducts are common in the Italian countryside, from Roman times. A great resource for irrigation - but could these be contributing to our mosquito blues?
She persisted and wouldn't give up. Initially we though we couldn't stay here as the language barrier made it confusing. It turns out that the room hadn't been cleaned. Basically she stayed until the problem was sorted.
Another crazy moment in our day that made us laugh. I don't know why she came up to me as I waited for Barry who was shopping for supplies. She made the correct assumption that we needed a place to stay and despite no language comprehension, she found us a place to stay and was very proud to have been successful and seemed very pleased to receive our business card showing our Crazy Guy blog address. Her determination to make us welcome in her community is so typical of the Italian people we have encountered.
