I left the campsite at 9am, and it took me 3 hours to find my way out of Milan. The signposts are great if you only want to go to Pavia (south) or Monza (north east), but anywhere else and you’re on your own. Another thing – I can’t remember ever having seen a prostitute touting for business by the side of the road before (sure, I’ve been to Amsterdam, but that’s different). Coming out of Milan I saw 9. I’m not trying to say what a sheltered life i’ve led, just making an observation. I’m not impressed with Milan at all, dirty, smelly, badly signposted, badly maintained, confusing, unfriendly people. I’d be surprised if I ever find a reason to go back.

Anyway, the rest of the day was good. I stopped for lunch in Tavazzano. There I met a fantastic old guy. My Italian isnàt really conversational – I can order stuff in shops – and his English was poor. But we found a way to communicate. I said Ferrari eccelento, I said McLaren (he didn’t like that), he said in Italia, “bella donna” (beautiful women), well I could hardly dissagree with that!

Got to Cremona and stopped there. The problem is not my legs – they can go for ever now – it was my bum. Far too sore!