setting sun reflects off the domes and towers of the city, while cruise
ships and container ships head out to sea. Meanwhile over in the
campground cafe/bar the action is really picking up, as families, young
couples, and retirees from many countries eat pizza and drink while
swatting at mosquitos. We are eating french fries, trying to get in more
calories to asuage our hunger after the last few days of cycling.
The Po Valley is aa great area for cycle touring, as it is a bicycle
friendly area, relative flat, with lots to see.
On Thursday 4/19 we took a train from Assisi to Modena, a small city west
of Bologna. The train trip required four train changes but fortunately we
didn't have to haul the bikes up and down between platforms as there were
elevators which were large enough to fit bicycles - just barely. Once off
the train in Modena we got a little flibberdigitated trying to find our
way our of the station and into the town. As Tom wrote, we were
immediately impressed with the number of bicycles everyhere. It is great
to see the elderly men and women tooling down the road on their bicycles,
carrying groceries, flowers, small appliances....
We got a lot of smiles and "bravo's" as we rode through town, especially
from the older men. One man invited us for coffee in the main piazza, and
bought Erich a gelato. The campground was about five miles out of town.
We ended up eating in a trucker's restaurantnext to the campgound;
waiters came around with huge platters of pasta and kept loading up our
plates, and that was
just the first course!
Just south of Modena lies Marinella, where the Ferrari factory and
Ferrari Galleria are located. Marinella was on Erich's "hit list" for the
trip, so he was pretty excited. We cycled the 17 miles down to the
Galleria, but I'll let Erich describe the museum itself. Ouch! Those
Ferrari souvenirs are expensive, so we passed on the t-shirts.
After a cold and rainy night in the tent, we woke up in the middle of a
puddle. The sun was out, though, so we packed up and rode into Modena,
where there was a special Tribute to Enzo Ferrari being held. There were
Ferraris and Maserattis and Paganis in the town piazzas. We tried to see
the cathedral, which is supposed to be quite beautiful, but it was
closed. However we did see the Leaning Tower of Modena.
Modena - Bologna 63 km. It was after noon when we cycled out of Modena
toward Bologna. To avoid the "red roads" or main highways we cycled the
long
way around, and ended up riding past the Lamberghini factory, to Erich's
joy. The roads are flat as a margvherita pizza (Erich's favorite) in the
valley, and folks were
friendly as we stopped them to ask directions. The campground was about 5
km from town and a bit of a hairy ride on a main street at rush hour.
The next day, Sunday, we took a bus from the campground and walked around
Bologna, a lovely city. And, who'd have known there is a leaning tower of
Bologna, too? We climbed the 498 steps up to the top of the tower for a
terrific view of the city, laid out in a circle within the city walls.
There were many beautiful red stone buildings, and the main piazza was
also beautiful, surrounded by the cathedral, old government buildings,
shops, and cafes. Erich is big on sitting in streetside cafes and playing
cards, so we did just that.
We woke early Monday morning to a hard rain, and decided to take another
city day rather than riding through the downpour.
Bologna - Ferrara, 70 km. Again we took small side roads, although it
would have been much faster to ride the red roads.
Ferrara calls itself the Bicycle Capital of Italy, with many kilometers
of paved bicycle paths and bikes everywhere. It is also a lovely city,
built around a historic core of castle and cathedral. We visited one of
Lucrezia Borgia's homes, stumbled around town, and ate gelato. Erich had
a good pasticchio for lunch - puff pastry baked around a sort of macaroni
and cheese - welll, maybe you had to be there.
Ferrara - Lido de Pampona, 104 km.
We left Ferrara on bike path to the Po River, and followed the Po Destra
(Right side of the Po) Bike Path for about 30 km along the dike of the
river. The river itself was swollen from all the rain, with a lot of
debris. At Berra we cut southeast through farmland, mostly grass,
vineyards, and grains I think. Many people have small gardens with
artichokes, lettuce and onions, and fruit trees, making me hmesick for my
gaden. We wandered around a bit, aiming for the
Abbaye of Pamplona, which was a starred attraction on our maps as it was
an
important abbey in the 13th century. We passed on paying the entrance fee
at the abbey, but the guard let us peak through the doors at the frescos
and tile flooe mosaics. After a final 15 km into a brisk headwind we
arrived at the
beaches of the Comacchio Lagoon area. The lagoon was tranquil but the
Lido or beach, was not... The campground was one of those huge camping
villaggio place with hundreds of caravans, stores, swimming pools, yikes
is this camping? We dipped out feet into the Adriatic for the first time.
Cold!
Lido de Pamplona to Chioggia, 77 km. Since this area is a large river
delta, we ended up trying to navigate around the canals, rivers, and
wetlands, mostly in a headwind. While the farmlands and small towns were
pretty, it felt like we weren't getting anywhere. In fact, it got pretty
darn frustrating to see the mileage signs, 35 km to Chioggia, then ride
an hour and see the sign, Chioggia, 37 km. So we gave up on the back
roads and juat took the dreaded red road straight north. This was a big
holiday weekend, something like Italian Independence Day, so there were
gazillions of RVs and motorcycles on the road but perhaps less big
trucks. We finally reached the port town of Chioggia, which has many
campgrounds. It was "opening weekend"
at this campground, so many Italians were setting up their sites for the
season. They pay for a site for the summer, and then come every weekend
to hang out on the beach and sleep in their trailers. It was amazing to
see the sites developed;
people were hauling in truckloads of outdoor furniture, refridgerators,
mattresses, and canvas canopies, fixing outdoor sinks, and building
special wooden floors and stone patios. Quite entertaining to watch!
Chioggia - Fusina, just outside Venice. 76 km.
We had planned to take a ferry from Chioggia to the barrier
island, or Lido, and then on into Venice. But it turned out the ferry
would be about 70 euros - too much money. We decided to cycle, and ended
up doing another long day of detouring around through C'a Bianca, along a
canal, but then road construction further flummoxes us and we wind around
getting a bit lost, and after hours of riding it is still closer to
Chioggia than Venice. AArgh! Finally we flag down a road cyclist, ask
directions, and he offers to guide us to Fusina. Whew...he leads off at a
brisk pace and takes us on a route we never would have found, around
another canal, through the small fishing port of, at one point onto a
main highway marked with a no bicycles sign, all at a brisk clip tha
leaves me gasping to keep up. Finally we arrive in the town of Fusina and
then at the busy campground.
So, here we are at a campground looking across Venice Lagoon. The jets
descending above me are headed for Marco Polo International Airport. The
traghetto, or small ferry, is headed into Venice. And who knows the
destination of the huge container vessels just offshore. We are headed
into Venice tomorrow, ane then north around the top end of the Adriatic.
More from down the road!!!
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