Monday, May 30, 2011

Ferrara to Legnago

We rode out of Ferrara on Sunday with a determination to return and really spend some time seeing all the sights, going to the museums (14), and seeing one of the medieval festival events. There was going to be a footrace and a donkey race in the afternoon in medieval costume in the historic race park. We're pushing on in order to get to the lakes before the crowds. On the way out of Ferrara we did cruise by some of the other palazzos. The facade on this one had quite unusual diamond shaped stones.


As we searched for the right road out of town, we asked a jogger on the bike path and she said the bike path went exactly where we were headed. We had 30 kilometers of bike path along a canal before we crossed the Po river.


One thing we noticed in Ferrara was the lean in some of the bell towers. The whole area is built on the old floodplain of the Po and here is one of those leaning towers.





Near the end of the day we passed through Villa D'Adige which claims to be the home of polenta; made there for the first time in 1554. We ended the day in Legnago where Antonio Salieri was born; he was a teacher of Schubert, Beethoven, and Lizst. The town was bombarded during WW II and has a very modern center, but this old tower and part of the church containing a special Madonna survived.


Today we ride on to Lago Garda hoping that the weather holds for some nice camping.

2 comments:

Diana said...

The cake challenge has been accepted. I found a recipe for "pampepato" and love the history behind it. Hey, you are heading right into the area of my ancestral roots - my maternal grandparents hailed from the area around Lake Maggiore/Lake Como. I attribute my passion for food and wine to them!

Dave and Belinda said...

Diana, we will raise a glass in tribute to your grandparents. Salute! And good luck with the cake, we only wish we could be there to taste it with you.