Venice
Day 3
13.07.2011
30 °C
We decided to spend our last day in Venice on Lido where we are staying. After a quick laundromat stop we hired some bicycles to explore the island. We rode some hairy roads with roadworks and trucks and buses but here on Lido you are just as respected on a bicycle as in a truck. We passed private beaches of onshore hotels and the paid beaches where you can hire your own umbrella and deckchairs neatly in line with the next umbrella. Also saw where the Venice film festival is held on Lido. Lido was once an exclusive island for the bery wealthy Venetians who wanted peace and quiet from the growing tourist trade in Venice. Consequently the villas here are outstanding examples of wealth and architecture although most now are divided into apartments or converted to small hotels or bnb's. There is a thriving main street but only a block or so away and you can find your haven in quiet streets where mansion-like houses sit along pretty canals with various sized boats. The boats cant be too big as they have to duck under the many road bridges crossing the canals. But you can tell they are not cheap. After our bike ride we headed to the beach - tje free beach - withany others sit upon the grey sands and bath in the slowly lulling waters of the Adriatic. A breeze was blowing today, relief from thw previous 2 days stillness. After a few swims we headed for cool showers and to pack pur bags ready for a very early morning tomorrow. We wandered down a few backstreets to a restaurant we had seen as a potential dinner venue and ate some authentic Italian meals (not pizza!). Now we have set the alarm for 4.30am. Its a 7.15 train we need to catch from Venice but we'd like to catch the 5.30 waterbus so it gets us there in plenty of time. 10 hours on a train to Brindisi. Its going to be a LLOOOONNG day.
What a long trip in the train! This type of travel can be so boreing after all your exciting site seeing.But you can work up some excitement by looking forward to Ithica. xx00
16.07.2011 by Brian Anstess