Daphne's Drivel

  That long skinny island you can see to the north of Chioggia is called Pellestrina and after our first short car-ferry ride from Chioggia yesterday, we got to ride the length of it. That was like going back in time as we rode along the water-side promenade past simple colourful houses, owned by fishermen whose boats were moored right in front of their homes. We saw only locals, many of them older men, sitting having their morning glass of white wine with their buddies.  Our riding slowed to a crawl as it was the kind of place you just didn't feel any need to hurry. Around 11 am we stopped for a coffee in a bar along the dock - it was a place where everbody knew everbody. Outside a fish truck was attracting a small gathering of locals. The next short ferry ride took us across to Lido, a much more modern place with quite a different vibe, but still quite laid-back. Riding along the edge of the Venice Lagoon in Pellestrina As we approached the north end of Lido to where our cam...

 Chioggia Sep 26th The pronunciation of this town's name took a while to get right, but after hearing it several times by the locals, now I've got it - Chioggia is pronounced like Key- oh - ja. A borrowed photo of Chioggia. The top of the photo is south and we approached from that direction when we rode in and crossed the bridge to the left of centre This is where we are This really cool fishing town sits at the southern tip of the Venice Lagoon, seemingly almost suspended between the lagoon and the Adriatic sea, with its network of canals and bridges giving it the nickname of Little Venice. When we arrived here on Tuesday late afternoon after a 75 km rural ride, it was like entering a fairyland or stepping into a film set for some historical drama! It's hard to describe, and it happened quite suddenly. Anyway, it's such a great place with a laid-back vibe that we booked our little apartment for three nights to really have time to enjoy it. Corso del Popolo, the main th...

 Monday Sep 23rd Monday was our second day along the Po and the path became a little more interesting. Leading us to the city of Ferrara, just a little south of the Po, were a series of tree-lined pathways along small canals and rich farmland. Canal pathway  By lunchtime we had reached the city of Ferrara. This city has a blend of Medieval  and Renaissance architecture. It was the seat of the powerful Este family who governed here for three centuries, and today it is a UNESCO site. We enjoyed a pasta lunch in one of its attractive Piazzas. The wonderful thing about many of these cities is that it is a joy to cycle around the historical centres as they're completely pedestrianised. That was the case here. You just have to watch out for the crazy, speedy e-bikers! Cycling into the historic city of Ferrara Statue of Niccolo 111 d'Este, one of the Dukes of the ruling family Taking a break by the Castello Estense di Ferrara, complete with moat He looks like a happy cycle-touri...

 We might not have the Romans with us anymore, but we're still riding and slowly making our way towards the Venice Lagoon. This route we have planned will take us along the Po River and eventually northwards towards the outer islands along the famous Lagoon, a distance of a couple of hundred kilometers or so. Our planned route from Ostiglia towards the Venice Lagoon We left Ostiglia and the terminus of the Via Claudia on Sunday morning and started making our way along the River Po. This is a huge, wide, slow-moving river that at first was very impressive. We saw next to no boat traffic on it - a couple of pleasure boats and one river cruise boat moored along the bank on Sunday. However, after a few miles, the path, dare I say it, became a bit boring. The cycleway was on top of the flood- control levy, and on the river side, we were often separated from the river by a wide swath of tree plantations (looked like tall skinny poplars), presumably to stabilise the soil in the flood plai...

 It was about 5pm on Saturday Sep 21st when we reached the town of Ostiglia, the terminus of the Padana branch of the Via Claudia Augusta, and got our first glimpse of the River Po, the all-important transport link to the Adriatic Sea, as well as to points up river. Ostiglia marks the end point of the VCA for us. Here it joins the River Po. Hostilia was it's Roman name An interpretive sign, similar to others we had seen along the route, marked the end point, plus a replica of the stone mile markers the Romans had placed along the route. That was it.  The interpretive sign at the end of the cycling route Replica Roman mile marker at the end And the town proved to be a very  rundown and unappealing. Earlier we had checked out Booking.com for a place to stay and found nothing available, so we assumed everything was full. On Google Maps I had found a 2-star hotel with a phone number and I phoned ahead and talked to a man who didn't speak english but understood enough to be ab...