Tag Archives: Veneto

Day 56 – Vicenza to Fusina

91km of 3828km so far…

I was thinking whether I should take the day off or not, since my last break was 6 days ago in Genova. I decided to continue so I can spend several days in Venice which of course has many more things to see. In fact the day before I only cycled for half a day, so I had a little bit of time to recover and also the slight tail wind helped with an easy and fast ride.
So the plan was to get to Venice and stay in the hostel which is located in a very good location at the Guidecca island. For the first time in my trip, I thought it may be a good idea to phone in advanced a reserve a bed. Unfortunately that hostel and the other three were all booked out. That ruined my morning a little bit, but luckily the weather was nice, so I thought I should go to a camp site. After asking in the tourist office, I found one which is just opposite of Venice and has access via a 20 minutes boat trip, which sounded ideal.

On the way to Padova

On the way to Padova

After my little morning adventure, I started cycling east with a first stop in Padova. I spend a couple of hours there for lunch and ice cream and a little wonder around the old city. The city has several sightseeing that can probable keep you busy for a couple of days. In fast forward, I saw the three main plazas, with the several churches big old buildings. I happened to be there on a graduation day and it seems to be a tradition that the graduate will do crazy things all around the city. Some were wondering around in weird outfits, others would read out things and people would laugh.

Graduate 1

Graduate 1

Graduate 2

Graduate 2

Square at Padova

One of the biggest plazas of Padova

This church looked imported with many tourists and a pricy ticket

This church looked imported with many tourists and a pricy ticket

I left Padova at around 2pm, as I wanted to be close to Venice early enough, in case there were other problems. The road to Venice from the side roads and not the motorway is rather nice. It runs parallel with a canal, through the town of Dolo and Mira, which they kind of good samples of what you are about to see in Venice

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The canal by Mira

The canal by Mira

Godola

Approaching the camp site

The last 5 kilometers were a slight disappointment though. Venice is extremely beautiful place and it is there for hundreds of years, so I don’t understand why at the exact opposite side of it there is a heavy industrial area. The camp site it self is nice and it has a great view of Venice. But from one side of it, there are all the big chimneys, there are frequent planes landing to the nearby airport and every now and then you a massive ferry or tanker will sail just 50 meters from my tent. It’s not a big problem, Because you don’t see any of these within Venice, but it’s just the bad first image you get from the city.

The not so romantic view of Venice

The not so romantic view of Venice

After I pitched my tent, I went back to the near by town to buy a few things so I can once again cook my dinner. As I was cooking, a girl approached me and invited me to join her and her boyfriend for dinner. Sam and Justin are from Australia and they are on a big road trip from England to all around Europe, with a small caravan that they bought from eBay for just £100. After Europe, they are going to Egypt and then Malaysia to get married and finally return to Australia for good.

Day 55 – Montagnana to Vicenza

51km of 3737km so far…

That's warm bread with bacon! A specialty of Montagnana.
That’s warm bread with bacon! A specialty of Montagnana.

I woke up and went back to the old city within the walls for a last wonder around, breakfast and to buy a map. By the time I did all these, the weather turned from a perfect clear sky into a dark overcast, an obvious sign for heavy rain. I didn’t mind at all since I was prepared for it and it was during early cycling hours. On the other hand it made the morning a lot more interesting, as the cloud formations, the thunders and the distant rain made the scenery a lot more spectacular. When the first heavy drops started falling, I found some shelter in a big plant store. Ten minutes later it was hailing and within the next ten minutes it stopped and the sky cleared again. The rain also cleared the morning mist and with the increased visibility I think I could almost see the beginning of the Alps.

Clouds gathering above the walls
Clouds gathering above the walls
Distant rain approaching
Rain approaching
And why not?
And why not?

Today’s destination was Vicenza, which was not far at all. I got there at around 2pm and after a short cycle around the old city I checked in to the hostel, had a shower and went out again. The city has a typical nice old part, with cobble streets, nice plazas and several churches. The hostel this time is a lot better, the €20 euros include breakfast and the owner is very friendly and reasonable enough to let the guests use the internet freely.

No mouth, no ice cream
No mouth, no ice cream
One of the towers in Vicenza
One of the towers in Vicenza
Within one of the churches
Within one of the churches
At the main plaza
At the main plaza

The river crossing the town
The river crossing the town

Next to the town's garden

Next to the town's garden