20/11/24
We’d booked our accommodation for Venice while we were in Verona, anticipating that it would be a little harder to find somewhere suitable last minute. This had the good, and bad, effect of predetermining our mileage for a couple of days.
There was a bike shop near the flat in Vicenza. Tightening up the cassette to 40Nm with an 8 inch wrench was hard, so we thought we’d try to borrow a torque wrench. We were successful in borrowing the tool from the nice chap at ‘111 Bicycle Store’, but taking the tool to the bike it immediately clicked, indicating the required torque. Unfortunately not what we were hoping for.
As we set forth out of Vicenza we were to see some of the Palladian villas of the Veneto. Including the famous La Rotunda, which we saw a sign and cycled up the hill for, only to find it was closed and we couldn’t get very close. As we continued along the road at the bottom of the hill, we then found we had a fantastic view.
The cycle path was excellent for this stretch. It was a straight path well away from the main road and well signposted. As a result it was also well used, plenty of locals walking and cycling along it. We had to cross a river, and while the bridge was closed to cars, cyclists could still cross. From Longare, which was 5km after Longara, we had a wonderful cycle track along the river bank for miles and miles.
The path was a mix of smooth tarmac and fine stones. It took us on a tour of the river Bacchiglione, which had some serious meanders and made for an interesting backdrop to the cloudy weather. No, it wasn’t sunny. There were some curious numbered signs that counted down in the direction we were travelling. They weren’t separated by a particularly notable distance, and finished rather oddly at 0. There being nothing around but a donkey.
After around 50 kilometres we arrived in Padova. We were confused briefly early on in the day as we knew it only as Padua. We were still along the marvellous river as it was artificially pushed into a straight line by the city. As we approached the city a running woman was keen to help, by informing us that a bridge ahead was closed. She was racking her brain for the correct words while out of breath. We took her words under advisement, confident we would work it out ourselves later.
Padova, and us, were now bathed in the strong, bright sunlight we were accustomed to. The route took us off the river and directly into the city centre, to see its beautiful cathedral and enticing streets. Another city that we could have visited for a whole day no doubt.
Alas, it was half past one and we had another 40km to go. Keeping a good lookout for the possibility of a closed bridge, which we never saw, we had our heads down for the next few hours. It was a densely populated area, full of canals and villas. We weren’t sure if they were Palladian but there were a lot of named villas with brown signs. Many were sadly in disrepair. It was easy to make good progress as it was so flat, and while we started on the quieter side of a canal, once on the busier side, the kilometres whooshed by.
Mestre is one part of the mainland that is still considered to be Venezia. Only a fifth of the population live in the historic and well known island part of the city. There were two very good reasons to stay on the mainland. First, it was a lot cheaper. Second and far more importantly, you can’t take a bicycle, or any vehicle at all, into the historic city centre.
Gabrio was waiting by the side of the road, and showed us the garage he was kindly, and exceptionally, letting us use. The only caveat being that it was painfully difficult to shut the garage door which was why it was usually not given to guests. Tricky, as Gabrio put it, was an understatement.
The apartment was vast and palatial. The kind of space we wanted in Verona. It was very comfortable, with a useful kitchen. Gabrio collected the “tourist tax” from us fairly swiftly. It was meant to be 16€ but we only had 14€ in change and he was apparently content with that.
We’d made entirely too much pizza the night before so we had chips with the leftovers. Biscuits are main fare in Italy, and we ate them with some melted chocolate for dessert. Then we went to bed. It was getting a little late and we wanted to get an early start for our trip to Venezia the next day.
Surly They Won't Make It 