Monday, June 16, 2008

Time to bail out - literally







Well - this is not what we signed up for! It rained all night - thank goodness for the ear plugs. After breakfast and trudging our way through the puddles to the shower block in the chilly morning air we decided to move on south - it MUST be brighter there.

We decamped and got soggy but we were warm in our fleeces and socks - is this really June in Italy?? As we drove south the mountains looked spookily beautiful in the heavy mist that almost reached the ground - see the pic. Then joy of joys - as we left the mountains behind the skies became brighter and brighter and the temperature rose and rose and by the time we reached our camp close to Venice the sun was shining and the temperature was 20c - this is more like it. The journey itself was not as expected though - we decided to stick to the A roads to see the real towns but they were very drab and commercialised and the traffic was stop, start all the way. And you need to keep your wits about you around here - the drivers duck and dive and push out into the road from junctions - basically they are mad, bad drivers.

Our camp site - Velablu, is on the spit on land to the east of Venice for those who like to trace our journey on the map. We were halfway between Lido de Jesolo and Punta Sabbione where the Vaporetta (water bus) leaves for Venice. Our campsite was on the beach and we had a 50 mtr walk from the caravan to access it - sheer bliss. By that evening we were walking along the beach, paddling in the sea at sunset. Now this IS what we came for. We had lunch first though at the restaurant on the campsite. Steve had penne and meat sauce and I had the best buffalo mozzerella, tomato and basil salad I have ever eaten - Pat you would have adored it! Then we went for a cycle ride to explore the area. There is a lovely wide cycle lane along the flat promontary and we rode along towards Lido de Jesolo. There seems to be lots to see and do around here. Later we sat out in the warm evening air and ate our dinner and drank glasses of wine to celebrate our new climate.

By bedtime we were surprised again though - an almighty storm - thunder, lightening and rain - is it following us? Oh well - get on with it I suppose.

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