Ponte della Maddalana
22nd June 2008

Meandering along great roads towards the end of a very hot day, we found this remarkable bridge. We just had to stop and check it out. It turns out to be medieval and is dedicated to a saint. It seems that back in 1670 the General Council of the Republic of Lecca prohibited the passage of millstones 'ceppi' in order to preserve the structure.

Suffering in the heat. As I said, this was towards the end of a very long day and Ben had no idea that this photo had been taken until he saw it a few days later.

Looking back as we carried on our way, you can see the bridge is very different on the far side. It was radically altered in the early 1900's so that a new road could be built. It is difficult to imagine anybody being allowed to undertake such work in this day and age. What's worse was that it stopped us from riding across the bridge as it now has steps on the far side!

A few miles on and still in Italy, we sought refuge from the heat in the ski resort of Abetone. Here is the view from a bedroom balcony. The bar for the night was down by the green canopy and the bikes just out of shot in the bottom right corner. So no walking for that night.