September 30, 2010
Venice: We have made it !!!!
Well we have made it, at one stage today I thought we would be pipped at the post, but no and here we are in our comfortable little cabin in Camping Village Alba D'Oro next to Venice Airport with the jets to lull us to sleep as they take off and land. The only problem being that we have done 2935km and I did want to do 3000 so we will have to do some cycling from here.
The day had a lovely gentle start as we ambled our way along cycle ways on the Litoraie del Cavallino to Punta Sabbioni to catch the ferry to Venice. All along there were very upmarket camping grounds and of course many hotels. The season is coming to an end and things are closing down. Deck chairs and unbrellas are being steam cleaned and stored away and everything is being scrubbed. A lot of places close at the end of September, our hotel of last night was due to close in two weeks I can well imagine the mass of activity when everything reopens on the first of April. I asked Marco what they did in the off season. He said they had lots of painting and work to do in the hotel. When I asked him if he went for a holiday he looked at me in horror and said he never had a holiday, his wife does not like to travel. Obviously life at the Hotel Trocadore in Jesolo Lido is completely fulfilling.
At Punra Sabbioni thank goodness there was an information who told me we needed to catch a boat to San Nicolo on Lido San Marco, but we would have to ask the captain if he had room for two bikes and until he said yes we could not buy tickets. When we got to San Nicolo we had to change to a no 17 ferry to Tronchetto Harbour. Although I didn't realise it at the time the key word was ferry. For some reason I felt stressed - I don't know why as there was really nothing to be stressed about. Along came our boat and they welcomed the bikes aboard and we set off on a glorious sunny day into Venice Lagoon along with hundreds of other busy boats. The port at San Nicolo was very busy with people and boats everywhere there were signs to everywhere except 17 Tronchetto so we decided we would catch a boat to the Airport so we waited. At last the boat arrived they looked at the bikes in horror, no bikes were allowed and I could well see why - the boat was a tiny cigar shaped vessel. When we were just beginning to feel we would be forever with our bikes at San Nicolo a kind man said you need to catch a FERRY, 17 to Tronchetto, It turned out the ferry terminal was at a different place nearly 1km down the road. With a sense of relief we lined up with the huge trucks and cars and a massive ferry arrived. What an amazing half hour trip. We sailed right around one side of Venice, we could see down the Grand Canal, we could see St Marks Square and it looked as if myriads of ants were scuttling along the streets and eating and drinking at bars. We had a coffee on the boat.
Tronchetto Harbour is where all the cruise ships come in, it is near the Railway Station at the ene of the 4km bridge that lonks Venice to the mainland. To get to Mestre and our camp we had to ride over the bridge. We met some helpful English cycle tourists going the other way, we told them how to catch the ferry and they helpfully told us that there was a good cycleway on the left hand side of the bridge. With gratitude we set off but we were not so grateful at the other end. The road had split in two and huge volumes of traffic were hurtling towards Venice. It looked as if someone else had had the same problem we saw signs that bikes had been pushed behind the safety barrier in the long grass, blackberry snd swamp. Of course we could do that. We should know by now what happens the faint track gets fainter and fainter, the blackberries get more viscious and the mosquitoes emerge from the swamp the track ends - this time at a ditch full of putrid water impossible to cross with two heavily laden bikes. What to do now. Ken had a brilliant idea we could unload the bikes lift them over the barrier, reload them and then either ride against the traffic (certain death) or ride back into Venice. I vetoed the idea - mine was that re retrace our steps get back to Venice and catch a train. Turning the bikes around was not simple but we made it and a compromise was reached. We struggled back to the bridge rode to Venice then crossed to the right hand side and rode back across towards Mestre. Yes there was a cycle track on that side of the bridge for nearly all the way.
Camping Village alba D'oro was a haven it has excellent washing machines and driers
Today's ride: 45 km (28 miles)
Total: 2,935 km (1,823 miles)
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