First day of autumn! Strange to say, we’re beginning our Autumn by the Sea by leaving the sea for the next six weeks.
We began the day by walking back up to our hotel to retrieve our bikes. I didn’t mention yesterday that we had to relocate to a more central apartment yesterday (also belonging to the hotel) because there wasn’t room for us for both nights in the hotel itself. afterwards we coasted back down and found the only open coffee shop (it’s early Sunday AM, and almost everything is closed still) for a fast breakfast before biking over to the train station to catch our 9 o’clock departures for Treviso. Our coffee server, an upbeat young man, is a delight - he beams when quickly he brings over Rachael’s second cup, announcing ‘Super cappuccino, super fast!’
We’re taking a train to Treviso to keep on schedule. It was a last minute decision to stay in Trieste for two nights (which explains our hotel situation), and we wanted to make up the lost day so we don’t delay getting to the mountains any longer. It’s getting late enough to the season already.
Taking the train with bikes is of course easy, because this is ItLy and not the good old U S of A. We had any number of options for which train to catch and where to go on them. We chose Treviso because biking north from this direction looked like the most attractive route for reaching Vitrorio Veneto, the day’s destination.
As we bike through Unity Square on our way to the train station a large organized ride comes to order and rolls to the sea.
I haven’t reported at all so far on costs, so here’s something to go on. The men’s room in the train station is attended. The charge is one euro, and I even got a printed receipt! While inside minding my own business, there was a power failure. Without power, I couldn’t flush or wash my hands. I considered asking for my euro back but thought the better of it.
We arrive in Treviso at 11, after stopping at about seven places on the way: Gorizia, Udine, Pordenone, Conigliano, and points between. We stop in at the station’s bar when we arrive for a sandwich, and are on our way.
It’s a short ride, so we’re in no real hurry. The first twenty some miles are quite lazy. I think we climb a total of about 200’, weaving our way through small farm roads and villages in the general direction of Conigliano. For much of the way we are guided by the newly designated bike route from Venice to Munich - I think it’s only a few years old. We enjoy the lazy pace, the easy cycling, and above all the cooler weather. It feels nothing at all like the conditions we rode in just a few days ago.
Biking through Treviso on our way north to the Dolomites
We’re improvising a bit here, following an irrigation channel that looked like an appealing route. Rachael is checking her map and voicing some scepticism though.
Around Conigliano, everything changes. Suddenly we find ourselves climbing small rollers, and not far off we see ridges appearing through the distant haze. I hadn’t really looked at the topography for today’s route, but it ends right at the southern edge of the pre-Alps. Vittorio Veneto is only about ten miles below BElluno as the crow flies, if there weren’t a two thousand foot ridge in between.
In Conigliano, Uva Sulla Gradinata (grapes on the steps) is an annual cultural event held near the autumnal equinox.
We’ve been enjoying a pancake ride along irrigation canals all afternoon, until we reach the hills near Vittorio Veneto. Suddenly we’re not in Kansas any more.
Our hotel is at the south end of town, but the restaurant that was recommended to us is at the north end, about a mile and a half away. It’s a long ribbon of a town, wedged into a narrow gap in the first ridge of the mountains. As we walk, it’s apparent there is some sort of festivity occurring, because the trunks of the horse chestnuts lining the streets are wrapped in Italian flags. When we reach Serravalle (the northern half of Vittorio Veneto, which is a merger of two smaller towns), we’re started by the level of traffic. Serravalle is quite colorful, with an impressive gate at its south end (and at the north, as we would later find). I’m frustrated though in trying to take a decent photo of it because the traffic is absolutely nonstop.
I’m not up on my military campaigns, and I had no idea how important Vittorio Veneto is. Once it was pointed out to me, I recall now seeing streets named after it throughout Europe. The Battle of Vittorio Veneto occurred in October 1918, and was the final defeat of the Axis forces. Preceding this final battle was the Caporetto, the huge defeat that resulted in nearly a third of a million Italian casualties.
The Battle of Vittorio Veneto marked the end of the First World War on the Italian front. Within a few weeks the war would end, and the Austria-Hungarian Empire would collapse. In fact, the town was renamed shortly afterwards to commemorate the Italian victory here.
This year is the hundredth anniversary. A fairly important event to remember. I should go back and reread For Whom the Bell Tolls.
Well, no. We didn’t bike all the way to Italy just to have icky sushi.
The main road through Vittorio Veneto is adorned with Italy’s colors. Next month is the hundredth anniversary of the Battle of Vittorio Veneto, the decicive victory that ended the First World War on the Italian front.
Vittorio Treviso was formed by joining two smaller towns. The southern one is lined with elegant mansions, mostly hidden behind tall fences and hedges.
Serravalle hospital, in San Lorenzo Church. In the year preceding the decisive battle, the hospital was operated by only a nun because all of the men and medical personnel had retreated across the Piave after their previous year’s defeat.
The Giraffe Trattoria, in Serravalle. Delightful place. We were lucky to get in. The couple in the right window sat next to us, and are from Calgary on an extended motor cycle tour.
