Just when you think it cannot get better, it does. Our next stop was a
little hill town in Marche called Mergo. Ann and Steve had told us about the
camper stop there, so we worked it into our route. It was well signposted
and in a very pretty spot too, just on the edge of the sleepy little hill
town. We had a great view out across the valley from the parking area. The
best bit though was free electricity, yes free, and a very usable 6A supply.
Just hook up and enjoy, all courtesy of the community of Mergo. We had 3
great days there. Noddy got a good clean, we seem to collect dead bugs on
the front as if they are going out of fashion! Sue did all the hand washing,
and we soaked up the hot, hot, sunshine. Mergo was small and has a very
sweet old part, not to mention the great views all around. Brilliant.
We eventually dragged ourselves away from Mergo on the Thursday, it was hard
but we knew we had to move on. Our route took us to the coast near Rimini
and then back inland to another sleepy hill town, Torriana, in
Emilia-Romagna. We were going to head into San Marino but the camper sosta
we were going to use was not available all day on Fridays so we had to find
alternative accommodation. We don't know whether it was pollution or just
atmospheric conditions but visibility was very poor and the sky a very dirty
murky blue / grey. It was still sunny though. You could see San Marino from
Torriana, in the haze, just.
A very nice German couple we had met at Mergo gave us a tip of a good spot
to stay for a night up at Comacchio, at the nature reserve there. So that is
where we headed to on Friday morning. Comacchio is positioned on the
northern edge of a huge wetlands area running inland from the coast just
north of Ravenna. The main industry there is eel fishing, and all along most
of the canals and along the edge of the lagoon are eel fishermen's huts with
their nets strung out in front of them suspended from a pulley system that
lowers and raises them in and out of the water. It is quite a sight to see
the endless lines of the huts and nets along the banks. After some hunting
around trying to find the nature reserve where the German couple had
suggested we could stay, we eventually, with a bit of a diversion, found it.
The direct route from Comacchio that our maps indicated didn't exist anymore
as the bridge it used, over one of the canals, had collapsed quite a while
ago, helpful!
Anyway, we got to the almost deserted nature reserve, parked, and went for a
walk to see the birds. It is apparently one of the most important areas in
Europe for migratory birds. Obviously we were not really there at the right
time of year, but we still saw some interesting birds, including quite a
large number of Flamingos. We were walking along enjoying the birds,
noticing that our legs were being brushed by a lot of grass. Looking down,
there was no high grass. There were however hundreds of mosquitoes, all in
the short grass, that is what was 'brushing' our legs! Bugger. We made a
hasty retreat back to Noddy. It was a shame, but what can you do? We didn't
fancy getting eaten alive. Instead we had a nice relaxing afternoon reading,
even though it was quite warm in Noddy, windows open, fly screens closed!
Ever slowly inching towards Venice we stayed Saturday night in Noventa
Vicentina, about 20 miles SW of Padova. We parked in the designated car park
with a camper service area, had a nice stroll around the town, not much
going on. On returning to the car park we noticed signs and banners that
indicated a running event might be happening on the Sunday. It did, and they
started setting up the barriers etc. in the car park at about 05h00 Sunday
morning, nice wake up call. We hastily packed up and made an exit while we
had the chance before the car park was sealed off for the day! Never mind,
it gave us a nice quiet early morning drive through the countryside towards
Venice.
We arrived at Punta Sabbiono on the end of the headland just east of Venice
by about 09h00. We stayed 3 days there in a sosta, 16 euro a night, but only
600m from the Water Bus stop to Venice. A 72-hour travel card cost us 30
euro each but that was for unlimited travel on the ACTV waterbus network
around the city, and we made a lot of use of it over the 3 days.
I wont say too much about Venice, you all know about it, don't you? We had a
great time, lovely sunny days, just wandering aimlessly around. We didn't go
into any churches or museums. Nothing is free and we have seen enough
already on this trip. When we were too tired to walk we just hopped on a
waterbus and watched the world pass by, very cool. We had a very nice lunch
on the island of Burano on Tuesday, a very pretty place, the houses are all
painted different colours, a bit like a huge Tobermory. Gondola ride? No
chance. They cost 80 euro for 40 minutes! That goes up to 100 euro at night!
After 3 days of walking we moved a little back along the headland to
Cavallino and a camp site for a couple of days, to rest our weary legs! We
had also previously arranged to meet Peter and Yvonne there, the Dutch
couple we had seen a couple of time on Sicily. We had lunch with them
yesterday and sat out in the sunshine. The weather has been great for the
last 2 weeks. Today, it is cloudy, but bright and dry.
We will probably leave here tomorrow. There again we might not. It is a very
nice campsite, and it is only 12 euro a night, bargain.
Ciao
M&S
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