Day 352 – EU – Italy [Codogno to Cremona]

22/03/21

38km

  From Codogno (Italy) to Cremona (Italy)

Europe

Beautiful sunny run along the canal, learning about the Nutrias and arriving in a city with a strong musical history

By the Milan Canal, between Codogno and Cremona

Yet another flat run! I remember when I crossed Italy last year, I was struck by how flat the plains of the River Po were. Day 107 to 117, which correspond to my restart after the 1st lockdown, were all absolutely flat, with less than 50m uphill variation per run. It seems that since Milan I am running on the same terrain. I know it will be different once I cross the Apennines over to the West coast of Italy towards Napoli. But so far it’s flat as a pancake.

Baby nutrias basking in the sun

I cut cross country as I did not want to run by the side of the main road. I elected to run by the canal (the Milan Canal as it is called). A great choice! There was absolutely no one there. All I could hear were the birds singing and every now and then, a little creature running away from me in the grass patch between the path and the canal: Nutrias! I took long breaks to try and get too close to them, it was worth it. If you go gently, they let you approach. They keep you in the wind direction, to pick your scent, and as long as you don’t do any brutal movement, they allow to stay close, even with the young ones out, I was surprised.

Nutrias are South American native and were introduced in Italy about 100 years ago for their fur. Since fur became unpopular, the population has been released in the wild and that’s why I see so much of them these days. I remember seeing a lot of them, sadly, by the side of the road between Ravenna and Comacchio. But here, I see less road kills and a lot more activities by the canals and water streams in general.

Church of St Luke at the entry of Cremona

I arrived today in Cremona, a city famous for its “luthiers” including Antonius Stradivarius creator of the world famous violins. Though Antonio died in 1737, apparently over 500 of his original violins still survive today. I ran across the city before reaching my accommodation, a very beautiful city in typical Italian style. Loads of cobblestones and brightly painted houses that is!

Check my daily run GPS data on or

Here is the map of today’s run: