Via Romea Germanica Day 84: Ferrara - Monestirolo

Avresti dovuto vederla.
S'incamminava
verso la fine
dei suoi giorni.
Passo spedito
sguardo sgualcito
e nemmeno un dubbio
ad aspettarla.

(You should've seen her!

Off she went, striding briskly

Toward the end of her days.

A crumpled look in her eyes

And not a doubt to await her.)

- Poesia errante, street poetry on a lamppost in Ferrara 

The youth hostel is on the northern side of the centre of Ferrara, and so, after the hostel breakfast of cappuccino and freshly baked croissants, I walked again through the city centre. I then crossed the bridge over the canal and followed a cycling track beside Via Bologna out of the city and into the suburbs: land of giant supermarkets, auto dealerships and big box stores. Yes, Italian cities have these too! 

Crossing the Canale di Burana

This, too, is the road to Rome!

At Chiesuol del Fosso I finally turned off Via Bologna... but the next section was not much better: a long, straight stretch of road with no sidewalk or cycling track, and only rarely a bit of soft shoulder, in front of the houses, where there were usually cars parked. Fortunately a low speed limit and a series of speed bumps kept the traffic moving slowly. I crossed over the motorway on a viaduct where one side of the road was cordoned off, awaiting repair, and a traffic light let cars through in alternating directions; luckily there was not much traffic when I walked through the narrow section of the road.

I finally turned off the tarmac onto a gravel road through the fields, then onto a narrow paved road atop an embankment. 

After a few kilometres the pavement veered off in another direction, while the Via Romea Germanica route continued straight ahead along the embankment, with an irrigation ditch on either side. Ominous clouds loomed in the distance, but seemed to be moving the other way. 

The grassy track took me onto a road, which I followed for a few kilometres to Marrara. Here I had high hopes of lunch at the Bar Centrale, but it was shut - proving Google Maps to be not entirely reliable - so I left the Via Romea route and headed up a gravel road towards Monestirolo, where I had booked a room at B&B Banda Bassotti. This stage officially ends at Traghetto, another ten kilometres down the line, but I had already walked almost twenty kilometres, and as thunderstorms were forecast for the afternoon, I had decided to shorten the stage, even if it meant walking two kilometres off-piste to find accommodations. I crossed the bridge over the Po Morto di Primario - at one time the main branch of the Po river, now only a minor watercourse - and proceeded up a winding gravel road toward Monestirolo. 

Fortunately it was a very pleasant two kilometres along a dirt road through the fields, then into the town on a minor paved road.

Crossing the Po Primario branch of the Po

I speed-walked into Monestirolo as it began to rain, and stopped at the ARCI bar/clubhouse for a glass of wine, a slice of pizza and an ice cream. 

I stayed here for some time, observing local characters coming in and out of the bar and writing up this account of the day while waiting for check-in time at my B&B. 

B&B La Banda dei Bassotti has everything a walker on the Via Romea Germanica could wish for in an accommodation: a private outdoor lounge area for each unit, a bedroom, a bathroom and a dining area with a kettle, a coffee machine and a microwave oven. Upstairs, and also run by Mara, the owner of the B&B, is a Crai supermarket where you can buy supplies for dinner and, if you wish, supplement the breakfast items provided (coffee, a selection of teas, pre-packaged croissants and biscuits). Now I understand why the apartment wasn't ready until three: Mara works in the supermarket until 12:30, cleans the apartments during her lunch break, and then reopens the supermarket at four..... A truly hard-working woman!

My big outing for the afternoon was around the other side of the building to the supermarket for dinner and breakfast supplies. I picked up some soup to heat in the microwave, fruit, a single portion packet of cornflakes and some oat milk. And asked for the supermarket's stamp on my pilgrim credential, seeing as I didn't get any others today!

Ferrara - Monestirolo 21 km