Daphne's Drivel

On Tuesday Sept 1st, another European bike tour begins - this time not with Frank, but with my friend Nancy. Some of you will remember that Nancy joined Frank and me for part of our 2024 bike tour, and she loved that experience so much that she's keen to go back again. Unfortunately Frank is taking care of some health issues and isn't ready for a bike tour yet, so this will be very different for me without him. It's just the gals this time! This was Frank and me on tour with Nancy in 2024  

  Since picking up our car on Tuesday, we've had a few very interesting days. We headed south, with only a few vague ideas of places we might visit, otherwise just following our noses. This morning we're back up close to the Venice area again (blue dot on map below) near Padua, getting ready for our journey home on Monday. The approximate route of our travels over the last five days. I'll mention the highlights: The city of Ravenna was hugely impresive. We spent Tuesday night there and roamed around the historical centre the next morning. We were blown away by one particular church - the Basilica di San Vitale, a byzantine church with the most amazing interior of marble, mosaic floors and mosaic art. Just incredible. Dates from about 550 AD. The Basilica di San Vitale, maybe not so impressive from the outide One of the many mosaics inside adorning the walls. The crowned lady depicted here was Theodora, Empress of the Eastern Roman Empire, and wife of Justinian I, ruler of B...

Sunday Sep 29th Although we'd visited Venice before nine years ago, we were so close here in Lido that we felt we just had to take that short trip across on the water bus to experience Piazza San Marco once more. And it was worth it. Yes it was busy, but it didn't feel oppressive. We lost ourselves in the maze of narrow streets in between the canals, like you're supposed to! Found a great hidden-away restaurant for lunch. Palazzo Ducale Getting lost in the maze of streets and canals is great fun Riding the water bus through the Grand Canal Basicilica di San Marco. I'll never tire of seeing this piece of architecture - so many intricate details to take in Monday Sept 30th This was the day we would leave Venice and head to the mainland and to the conclusion of this cycle tour. We had plenty of time while in Lido to figure out the appropriate ferry that would take us and our bikes over to Tronchetto where we could then carry on riding across the causeway which I'd det...

  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...