In Ferrara: the last supper

October 26, 2020

Today’s news

Our meal was a bit strange last night, at a restaurant our host had strongly recommended. The meal was great: a mixed salad and grilled vegetables, followed by pumpkin tortellini with sausage and capellacci with pumpkin and crispy guanciale. Rachael described her capellacci as the best pasta dish she remembers having.

The service was a different story though. Disorganized, confusing, poor actually. The staff were very energetic, almost hyper, but ineffectual. We had a reservation, but it took a long time for anyone to even acknowledge we were in the building. Once seated, we were ignored for about ten or fifteen minutes. Finally a waitress showed up, took our order, and brought our carafe of wine before disappearing without noticing there were no wine glasses at the table. And so on.

We’ve as a rule been tipping pretty generously, but this is the first place we left without leaving a tip (not unusual here anyway). Later I was to regret this, when we learned what the staff already must have known: today, the Italian government imposed new, much stricter nationwide constraints to try to slow the rapidly worsening Covid situation that is overwhelming much of Europe again. Starting tomorrow, gyms, pools and cinemas must shut down; and bars and restaurants must close at six PM, except for takeout. If we had known we were having our last sit down supper for awhile we might have savored it longer, taken some photos, and left a generous tip for the poor staff.

Too much to absorb and react to today, so we watch the SNL cold open and call it a night. Like Scarlett O’Hara, we’ll think about it tomorrow.

Today’s ride

Today’s ride was leisurely: a flat out and back ride following rivers and canals southeast of town. Weather was fine, with the fog lifting early enough that we enjoyed decent visibility most of the way and could appreciate the fast-changing autumn colors. Very pleasant, but at the end of the day overshadowed by the late-breaking news. We’ll let the photos speak for themselves.

Leaving Ferrara, we briefly follow another splinter off the Po: the Po di Volano. Or maybe it’s a contributing tributary; I’m not sure.

And along another splinter: Po Morto di Primaro.

It’s almost startling how abruptly the vegetation is changing color. We’re lucky to have a clearer day to appreciate it.

East of Ferrara. The small river we’ve been following is at the tree line.

The first five or six miles are a little busier than we expected, but the traffic lessens as we escape the city. Here, we finally split off into a smaller, single lane road. We’ll encounter almost no traffic for the rest of the ride until we return to the city.

For a brief stretch, I left the paved road to follow this gravel path that stayed closer to the river.

The gravel didn’t last long. I kept thinking I’d dead end and have to backtrack, but the path held up until I rejoined the pavement.

Nutria of the day. Are we tired of photos of giant rats yet?

Still following the Po Morto di Primaro.

So it looks like the Po Morto di Primaro must be a tributary, not a splinter. It keeps narrowing as we follow it.

I don’t know what we’re following now - just some nameless canal, as far as I can determine.

Nameless, but a lovely spot to sit on the bank and enjoy lunch.

Today’s prize sighting. This thing is huge - it must be eight inches across. Big enough to serve as a dinner plate, though that might not be the best idea.

Video sound track: Lo Stadio, by Tiziano Ferro

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Ride stats today: 38 miles, 200’; for the tour: 1850 miles, 78,200’

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Jen RahnWow! What an experience to be in that restaurant on their last night of normal* service for a while. Makes me wonder what kind of government support restaurant workers in different countries receive.

*Normal?! What's that??
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3 years ago

Suzanne GibsonSorry to see that the corona situation is getting more serious in Italy again - as everywhere else, for that matter. Germany is doing ok, but only relatively speaking. The number of new infections is rising rapidly.
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3 years ago