I go to bed early, but I also wake up early, it’s 5.30. It’s useless when I’m traveling if I wake up I can’t sleep anymore, so I figured it’s better to get up and shave. At 6:30 I go downstairs and with amazement I see that the weather, understood as meteorological, does everything to confirm what my friends know: when Cristina and I are out and about and evidently even when I’m alone, the sun, so much that only at night does it make a few drops. The cars are barely wet, but that doesn’t stop me from taking a stroll around Peschiera, even though I already know it very well. 7:30 abundant and excellent breakfast at the Green Park hotel, it must be said that they know how to do it.
Photo 2: The ramparts of Peschiera del Garda Photo 3: The port of Peschiera del Garda
Even though it’s a German breakfast, the breakfast has a lot of variety. Being a little late compared to breakfasts in non-holiday places, I cannot leave before 9:30 or rather almost 9:45 and in fact I will carry this delay with me throughout the day. I take the beautiful Peschiera Mantova cycle path which always runs along the Mincio. The river flows placidly, today it is practically an emerald mirror that reflects the long row of tall poplars that border the other bank. The flow of water is affected by continuous bridles for irrigation. After a few kilometres, at the first of these barriers, you pass on the other side of the river where the track has just been paved and the bike runs at will.
Photo 4: Gray heron on the bank of the Mincio Photo 5: Swans on the river Mincio Photo 6: Borghetto in Valeggio sul Mincio Photo 7: Borghetto in Valeggio sul Mincio
Reeds, rushes and many birds, in particular a myriad of swans which, in pairs or with the whole family, occupy practically every corner of the river. Once this species was a rarity in the park, today I don’t want to be exaggerated, it’s almost a weed, but its presence is always a feast for the eyes. Arrival in Borghetto, a very beautiful but also very touristic place. I take a few photos and above all one of a place where Cristina and I had dinner once, right on the river bank. From Borghetto, a long way to Mantua, in the midst of a fairly intense traffic of bicycles despite being Monday, I imagine what it must have been like yesterday when it was Sunday.
Photo 8: The cycle path enters Mantua passing through Lake Superior Photo 9: Mantua. Piazza Sordello, Palazzo Bonacolsi from the 13th century Photo 10: Mantua. Captain’s Palace XIII century
The entrance to Mantua is always spectacular, skirting Lake Superior and then entering the city centre, paying close attention because almost all the streets are in stone. Shooting with the GoPro will certainly suffer despite the excellent stabilization of the camera. After a few customary photos, in the square of the Doge’s Palace I choose a secluded tavern for lunch. Message from Anna: “Were you on the cycle path near Borghetto?” “Of course it was me, but if I’m in full cycling effort with Pearl Jam and Nirvana playing in my ears, I’ll never get to see you!” After about an hour I resume my journey towards Mirandola which I have set myself as a transit point, not for particular points of interest, but only because it is halfway before starting the Apennines.
Sometimes, despite having two navigators on, it’s very difficult to understand where to turn and which road to take, I finally manage to get out of Mantua. The route includes a dirt road which, however, at a certain point, is blocked by a construction site. A worker blocks me and shows me a detour, which to all intents and purposes would be the right route I should have taken. It is nothing more than a path where my bicycle touches the shrubs on the sides with the bags. It practically flows on the shore of the Lower Lake, on the opposite side of Mantua. I go out on a trail, but out of the woods, still on a dirt road.
Photo 11: The sun is very hot and the wheat has been cut
In the middle of the countryside the heat is felt. Even though I put sunscreen on my shoulders and head, I feel my skin burning. I take off my sleeveless shirt and put my short-sleeved shirt back on, still damp from last night’s wash, a dampness that gives me incredible relief from the heat. Work in the fields continues with the cutting of wheat and hay. The fields are scattered with rolls of hay at regular distances from each other…
I find a small playground with a fountain, fill the dry bottle. With a small climb I reach a dirt embankment full of holes, but with surprise, looking to the right beyond the trees, there is the river Po. Finally it has taken on a dazzling shape, there is water, so much so that even a few boats pass by . A few kilometers of dirt road and then, through a cart track that shows evident signs of past rains, struggling a lot not to get muddy, I reach the road that crosses the long bridge over the river, thus entering Emilia Romagna.
Photo 12: On the bank of the largest river in Italy, the Po River.
Secondary roads like almost all up to here, almost non-existent traffic, it would be a nice ride if it weren’t for the heat. I feel I have to stop, but you never go through the villages. When I’m exhausted, I see a bell tower. Where there is a bell tower there is a bar: “turn left”. Thank you!!! The bar is there, mega double toast, medium coke, bottle of water. I stop for an hour, I really needed it. I resume the last twenty kilometres, even the most absurd, but evidently the navigator knew that I absolutely had to go through that place. Plain, plain, plain!! Her nose warns that the smell she smells is not the scent of orange blossom, but the consequence of countless pig farms. Instead of following the road he tells me “straight on”. Unlike the other times I don’t contest, it will be tiredness. Dirt road that gradually becomes sheep track, with mud to be avoided, and then becomes a track to be found in the middle of the hay to dry. Hares, pheasants, grebes, hawks, gray herons, sacred ibises, 5 kilometers of suffering. Then a sign: “Fossa”. And yes, not Fossalunga, Fossa Cesia or Fossà, just Fossa, the town that bears the name of my love and I immediately phoned her to have a good laugh.
Photo 13: Mirandola
I arrive in Mirandola, which I imagined as a country village, but has 24,000 inhabitants!! I visit the center for dinner and I must say that it is a fantastic place, where the 110% discounts for building renovation financed by the Italian State have certainly been well used. Tomorrow Sasso Marconi, I think passing through Bologna, but I’m not sure yet, we’ll see. Today meanwhile 102 km.
The movie of fourth stage
@Mukul_Anand @DENIT33 @ErmesT @DeniGu @davidhyno @TravellerG @renata1 @PattyBlack @Stephanie_OWL
Mantova effettivamente è una città piena di turisti perchè lo merita ed è anche, a mio avviso, una città a dimensione umana. Nel centro, molto grande la zona a traffico vietato o limitato alle auto, rendendola fruibile al massimo. Grazie di seguirmi e buona domenica amica mia! 
Wahnsinn