Hanging out in "Little Venice"

 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 thoroughfare through the historical centre.
Every afternoon and evening it becomes a large outdoor cafe where much socialising takes place

One of the many bridges across the canals


One of the old, traditional flat-bottomed fishing vessels




Fishing is a big part of life in Chioggia.


And of course we did have to do some sampling of the local seafood

To be like the locals, you have to drink campari  (or aperol) spritzes
on the Corso in the afternoon! They come with free snacks

We did visit the nearby Adriatic Sea yesterday, more as a symbolic gesture than anything else. The beach area here is not terribly appealing. It's more about the beautiful town away from this ugly tourist strip.


Tomorrow we will leave Chioggia, reluctantly, and we do have a plan for that. We're actually on the EuroVelo 8 cycle route here, and to continue north on it involves taking two short ferry rides tomorrow. We should end up on the long, skinny island of Lido, just across from Venice itself. I even sourced out a campground there, in which we have reserved a spot, so we'll see how that turns out. We're always very dubious about these seaside campgrounds in really touristy areas like this - it could be ugly!!

The route we have planned for tomorrow with Komoot.
It's part of EV 8. Can't wait to see how it looks in reality 😊


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