Tuscany –  

Our path to Venice took us over a mountain range, the highest for us so far in Italy. We road on a narrow country road which we shared with many roadies out for their weekend ride and motor bikes who roared around the bendy road.  This area is very scenic, mountains covered with autumnal trees, a hue of green, yellow, orange and red. When we reached Cavellina we thought we were at the top, but the bar owner informed us there was another 3 kilometres to go and there was no where to stay up there, he invited us to camp behind the bar which we did because it was too late to contemplate cycling down the other side before dark.  The next morning we could hear hunting dogs and shots being fired, wild boar is what they were after.  There are many walking tracks marked along the way and we saw people setting off as we reached the pass the next morning. The ride down was just as pretty as the ride up yesterday, the sun was shining, very little traffic and great views. The descent took us to Forli and we had the usual problem of finding somewhere to stay when we were offered to camp behind a church by some parishioners who were at the church to attend a meeting, they invited us for supper and opened an area with a shower and toilet for us with the proviso that we get gone before the children arrived for school the next morning.

The next day we arrived at Davenna, a city of cobblestoned street, old churches and famous for the Byzantine mosaics found here.  Once the capital of a divided Italy it is now a university town on the edge of the touristy beach area.  No campsites open but many hotels so we booked into one and spent the afternoon exploring the place.  Lots of very nice shops, particularly clothes and shoes, just as well there is no room in the panniers or we could be tempted to purchase something.

The road out of Davenna had a bike path for about 25 kilometres which was great, we were following the coast and were now on the Adriatic sea having completely crossed the country again. In the summer this area would be very busy but the holiday resorts and campsites are all closed until next year.  We stopped at a beach to walk on the sand but we could not see out to sea as it was too foggy. We are getting used to the fog, it is not cold just damp.  The trees drip from the condensation, they are losing their leaves and the ground is covered with them. The road came to an abrupt end and we had to catch a ferry across a canal to meet up with the road again.

We turned off the main road to go to Comacchio, another cobblestoned village with canals and fishing boats.  Eels are the main industry in Comacchio and in restaurants are the speciality. We booked into a bed and breakfast and wandered the streets and canals, crossed bridges and observed the locals. There is a well known bridge here which crosses three canals.

Continuing on the main road we reached Chioggia to catch a ferry into Venice. Chioggia is a port town with canals and paved streets.  When we bought out tickets the man told us we needed three tickets for the bikes as we had to catch three different ferries.  We should have asked a few questions. The first ferry took us along the sea for about forty minutes to Pellistrina, then we all had to get off, thinking the next ferry would be at the same port we were informed we would have to ride 8 kilometres to the next port to catch the next. We rode along quiet seaside towns to reach the next port, Alberino, only to see the ferry leaving before we could get there.  The timetable said we had a 2 hour wait for the next ferry and were resigned to a long wait when in a short while another ferry arrived and we hopped on.  This leg was a 5 minute punt across a small expanse of water dividing Alberino and Lido .  The next port was 12 kilometres away.  We gave up hurrying and enjoyed the ride along a very pretty coastline with villages and canals. A group of about twenty cyclists on a tour passed and waved to us, obviously the tour operators thought this was a pretty spot too. We arrived at the next port, would you believe, just is time to see a ferry departing.  A local told us the ferries come about every hour so we went to a bar for tea and sandwiches and just as we sat down we saw a ferry approaching.  We quickly downed our tea and hurried to the ferry. The ride into Venice was something to remember, boats on the water, large cruise ships at berth, the streets along the water edge, old buildings and churches.