Mantua (with pictures)

Our third day went from Parma to Mantua (for all but the first and last day, the mileage was 35-45 miles).  We took a bus to the world heritage village of Sabbioneta.  This was a planned community, built in the 16th century.  It was more or less abandoned in the 20th century, so it has no war damage.  It's now being restored. We biked through the town and then visited the Teatro all'antica, the first purpose-built indoor theatre.  The scenery is a reconstruction, but the rest is original.

After leaving Sabbioneta we found the Po River, and biked along it for the rest of the day, making for a very flat day.  This was our sunniest day. At one point we crossed this "pontoon" bridge, where the pontoons are boats.

We had to navigate traffic in Mantua, but survived the Italian drivers.  We took a guided tour of the town.  The guide was a sub, so not our greatest experience.  She could make interesting things boring (and when I looked up Mantua for this post, I found we missed some of the most interesting sites.)  Mantua is also a world heritage site. The picture below is of the Rotunda of San Lorenzo, the oldest church in the town, probably built on a Roman ruin.  It dates from the 11th century.

Dinner was on our own.  We chose a simple pasta restaurant (what else) with typically delicious food.