Heading to the Po

After leaving Verona i decided to head by bus to Villafranca di Verona.  This proved a very wise decision as the bus went the same way as I would have walked - along quite a busy road with no verge, and only footpaths in the villages.  The way is now flat - not even undulating.

Castello di Scaligero, Villafranca di Verona.

A small piazza in Villafranca di Verona, with Duomo dei SS Pietro e Paolo in the background.

The heavy keys that Saint Paul carries atop the Duomo.

Looking back at Villafranca do Verona and its castle, Castello di Scaligero.

The walk to Vigasio was mostly pleasant, though walking on the roads had me deciding to check out the maps to see how much road walking there would be in the next few days.  Mostly this day was through orchards and crops such as corn.  At one stage I went past a farm where the were rows upon row of plastic "glasshouses", all growing tomatoes.

Looking over some of the crops, corn in the front and covered fruit trees under the black shade cloth.

Having studied the maps I decided  to brave the roads, which were minimal, and walk to Isola della Scala and from there catch the train to Ostiglia.  The ten or so kilometres I walked were mainly through rice fields, with occasional corn fields.

You learn something every day!  My hotel at Vigasio was called the Montemezzi and all the art works on its walls were music related.  When I asked why i was informed that a famous composer, Italo Montemezzi, was born in Vigasio.  Looking him up I discovered he was born in 1875 and died in 1952.

 The road, and the limited or overgrown verge.  You can see above there is not a lot of room to get off the road before falling in the ditch, and below it is tricky to know where the potholes are to avoid twisting an ankle.

After walking along the road the path changed to this which made for peasant walking, except for the clowds of mosquito's due to .......

 ..,........the rice fields.

I took the opportunity while at Ostiglia to go to Mantova, the capital of the province.  This is a city of old buildings, churches and castles, and well manicured gardens.

The castle in Mantova.  It is huge, and no way could I take the whole thing.

A particularly interesting building, with a close up of one of the window frames.

Colourful buildings.  Look closely at the wire basket on the tower.  This is actually  very old and was where miscreants were displayed to the public back in the 16 hundreds!

At Rigoletto's house in Mantova there is a statue of the joker in the garden.

 Just some of the views of the churches.

The day I had off in Mantova it rained.  A good day not to be walking.