Parma country: Prosciutto and Parmesan

In regards to last night's accommodation, I forgot to mention that surrounding the castle were chestnut trees, probably hundreds of years old and scattered about the trunks of each tree were loads of chestnuts begging to be collected and roasted but sadly left to rot. Such a travesty!

Todays ride was something different: our senses were assailed with the combined pungent aromas of pig shit and parmesan as we sailed downhill from last night's hilltop stay. Through rolling hills the sweet pong clung tenaciously to our nostrils. I don't know how the others took it but it was making me hungry. Mick and I rolled into the lunch stop together where our new guide for this week, 'Bepe', had arranged a table of delicacies - fat local olives, region parmigiana, fresh, red tomatoes, salads and hand made rolls. This was a welcome relief as the weather had begun to close in. We got a touch of rain and some really strong crosswinds at one stage, threatening to blow us across the road. Fortunately we are on the roads less travelled and there were very few cars in the hills. On the other hand, road surfaces are pretty poor with deep holes and uneven pavement and it's hard to imagine they will ever be properly repaired. I shall have to think twice before complaining about the state of our roads back home!

With all the hard riding done for the day all we had to do was roll downhill about 40km to Reggio Emilia, the capital city of the region and our home for the night  at the Hotel Postale, a beautiful of hotel where guests have been staying for over 500 years. The lack of traffic in the hills was more than redressed and we needed to be on our best defensive behaviour. Italian drivers are by and large pretty tolerant but some are up there with our worst Aussie rednecks.

One of the many piazzas in Reggio Emilia

The sweet smell of ham was drawing me ever inwards but I resisted...and had gelato instead

Our hotel, the Hotel Postale is in the middle. You can see our washing hanging from the top floor windows.

Tomorrows stage looks to be a little less taxing in terms of gradients, bit still over 2500m of climbing in 120km. Destination Castelnuovo in the Apennines. Just one more day after that and we will be in Pisa enjoying another rest day.