We woke up, stretched and noted we were in good shape with no aches and pains. We had a large breakfast from the buffet overlooking the hotel outside swimming pool. The windows and the blue of the pool made it look like a hot sunny day. In reality it was cold and wet. At first we told ourselves it was just mist and it would clear up. Then we accepted it was “spotting”. Then maybe it was drizzling. Finally we recognised reality that it was properly raining. AGAIN. We discretely packed away a bit of extra food from the buffet for a picnic and got dressed with multiple layers topped with waterproof tops and trousers. We set off mostly off road. Initially along a muddy track but this led to the Po flood bank. This is high above the fields and has a firm gravel surface with (relatively) few puddles. We could make reasonably fast progress past poplars groves (grown commercially) and risotto rice “paddy fields”. We planned to dip into a few tiny villages to see if there was anywhere for lunch and struck lucky in the first village as many such outlets turn out to be closed. “Menu of the day” fixed price for 15 Euros! We just had a bowl of pasta each, warmed up and dried out. We crossed the Po on a combined rail road bridge with fast lorry traffic travelling in narrow traffic lanes. We opted for walking our bikes across on a pedestrian track littered with bits of plastic car debris (eg wing mirrors). Brief picnic stop at one end and then last ride along the flood bank into a tiny agricultural village which had our guest house for the night. Joy! Garage for our bikes. Hot radiators to dry our washing and damp clothing. We walked down the road to a trattoria pizzeria full of local workers and offering a fixed price menu for just 11 Euros. We went for the cheaper option of a (huge) pizza. We also tried the local DOP wine which is a fizzy red Barbera. Total cost for four people if 44 Euros 😳