Warmer temperatures today so we got an earlier start. Beautifully maintained cemetery in the village of San Giorgio al Tagliamento.

Great day! 45 miles. Shrimp and asparagus risotto for dinner.

A rustic but good bike path to start with.

A gravel path: long and horrible. Very bumpy with dangerously deep sections. We tried to ride on the outside edges or even in the grass.

Portogruaro.

The waterwheel was spinning.

Another leaning tower.

Dinner with friends. 22 riding miles today.

We met outside the hotel to get our bikes and give our luggage to the person who would transport it to the next hotel.

There were 3 ladies from Finland traveling the same route: Jaana1, Jaana2, and Anne.

We rode through Mestre, across the bridge to Venice,

to the ferry terminal.

Goodbye Venice.

Next stop: the island of Lido where we boarded a private boat to Punta Sabbioni.

A very nice path along the water for many miles.

A long section of art panels depicting stories from the Bible.

Long day of riding, 48 miles. The leaning tower of Caorle.

Spaghetti con vongole (clams) – delicious!

Caorle is a very busy beach town with many resorts.

Rain, lots of rain.

In the afternoon, Barbara was ready to venture out. I was not. A lazy day of reading and napping.

On Saturday, we took the bus to Venice then the vaporetto (water taxi) to the island of Burano known for its lace and colorful buildings. We had a delicious snack before exploring: cichetti (on the outside, chopped cod w mayo, pepper on top) and piadine mignon (tiny sandwich w ham, mascarpone, and bell pepper).

Next stop, the island of Murano, known for its glass.

Getting back to our hotel took over 3 hours. Many vaporetti came to our dock but were so crowded that only a few people could get on. Once back in Venice, there were two bus connections to get back to our hotel. Long day.

It took about an hour on the bus to get to Venice. From the station, we crossed the first of many bridges.

The big boat is a taxi along the Grand Canal. We have a 3-day pass for all buses and water taxis (vaporetti).

Venice is 124 islands in a lagoon. Each island is a community with its own cistern and church.

Public hospital. The water ambulances pull up to the left of the building.

Time for lunch. A personal-size pizza (yikes) and a glass of prosecco!

A gondola ride.

Rialto Bridge.

View from Rialto Bridge.

Up early Tuesday morning for an 8:00 flight to Dallas then Philadelphia where I had a narrow window to get to the final flight. I made it, everyone boarded (big airplane, 30 rows of 9 seats across just in economy), ready for takeoff except for one “small” maintenance issue. Once fixed, the power had to be totally shut down then restarted which meant everyone had to get off the plane and take ALL their belongings. We left 2 hours late for the 7.5-hour overnight flight to Venice.

Thanks to BarbaraB’s travel tips, I easily bought a bus ticket to Mestre, the area of Venice where our hotel was. Unfortunately, I didn’t check for the best stop and got off a couple of miles farther away. I decided to walk after essentially sitting for the previous 24 hours. Pulling a suitcase and wearing a backpack made this “easy” walk more tiring than it should have been. But again, I made it. First pictures: public art in the roundabouts:

Our room at Hotel Voco was ready early, a nap and shower was refreshing. BarbaraB arrived around 5:30 (she flew in from London). Soon it was time for

Our adventure has begun.