August 8, 2019
We reach the Po and get to Polesella
Making up for the idleness of the last couple of daya
We were staying in Sottomarina which is the beach suburb to the side of Chioggia. Ken took a trip down to the beach to see the fun going on there and view the camping grounds on the waters edge. When we went out in the evening there were hundreds of people coming back from the beach lugging all the paraphernalia needed for a day at the beach. After our ride yesterday we thought we really must have a seafood meal and chose a likely looking Bistro. I ordered tagaloni and really hit the jackpot, it had a tomatoe based sauce and was jam packed with shrimps, calamari , muscles and alsorts of other delights including a whole small lobster. Ken wasn’t quite as lucky and his salad seemed to contain mainly calamari and beans but I was very kind and gave him some of my shrimps and half my lobster.
Breakfast wasn’t until 7.30 so we didn’t get going as early as we would have liked. Off we went over the canal and back into Chioggia with a huge stream of other cyclists. The reason was soon obvious there was a massive market in the pedestrian area, it was hard to push our bikes through the throng. It was a clothes market though which was a bit disappointing as we would have liked to stock up with fruit and cheese.
Finding our way was a bit of a problem but we got on the route we needed. We knew that there was a long section that was unpaved. In front of us was a massive tractor towing a trailer on which were three other tractors. The route was appalling loose gravel and huge puddles filled with slimy mud. It reminded me of the TV program Outback Truckers. We persevered for a while but clearly this would end in tears so back we went and Ken worked out a way around it - considerably longer but certainly more user friendly. We were delighted to come to a bar for a coffee. There was a dear litttle dog there very like Bernie and at this stage Ken read the message on his camera. No memory card. He must have neglected to put it in after we unloaded the photos last night. That meant of course there were no photos from earlier in the day. I am pleased that most of the photos we have taken (and it includes our Egyptian ones too are on my ipad)
Off we went and shortly before Bottrighe we hit the Po. We stopped at bar for a cold drink and a panini- it seemed that this was the place where all the local men congregate to put the world to rights. It was beginning to get very hot and we still had about 35km to go. The way on was very straightforward though we just had to follow the small road on the banks of the Po. As with all long flat rides they tend to get rather boring and it was getting hotter and hotter. The farming which had been small scale in the morning was now large scale with bean, maize, a few vineyards and the odd orchard. Below on the plain were some small towns proudly showing there clock towers. We were extremely pleased when we got to Polesella - Ken had a beer and I had a Fanta (usually a bad sign) and we found our way to this wonderful hotel. It is modern comfortable and very cool, we have been lucky since we arrived in Italy and have had air conditioning every night - we are sure appreciating it. The ‘water police’ are making me drink lots of water but we came through the ride well and have now recovered
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Today's ride: 78 km (48 miles)
Total: 708 km (440 miles)
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