"Little" Venice

Tuesday, 26th May.

The clouds had lifted on Sunday morning and we woke early to clear blue sky and sunshine.  Things changed quite quickly and by the time we got going it was overcast and bitterly cold.  On leaving Berceto, we found that the town's main street was blocked by market stalls so stopped, had a look around and chatted with a couple of friendly locals  before moving on down the mountain, enjoying the spectacular scenery, and the sunshine which had reappeared, along the way.
For the past couple of days we have travelled through mostly flat, mostly green, mostly farming country, stopping at the charming town of San Benedetto Po where we spent Sunday night, continuing on yesterday (Monday 25th) to Chioggia, on the east coast of Italy....I'm guessing we're about 20 kms south of Venice as the crow flies but as we don't have wings we will have to drive 100 or so kms tomorrow to reach our stopover place from where we will take a ferry ride into Venice.
Meanwhile, we are having a mini break in Chioggia, dubbed "Little Venice" and after a bike ride to the long, concrete pier yesterday, watching people fishing off the rocks and boats coming in to port surrounded by seagulls, we then rode into the town and the reasons for that nickname became immediately obvious, with its canals and bridges, it's many cafes and its people.  We are very happy to be here, liking it very much and will shortly head off for more exploring.

It' s still Tuesday and we're back from today's adventures and about to cook dinner.
After thunder and rain last night, the sky was overcast this morning and threatening us with more of the same but we're on holidays and didn't relish the idea of being cooped up in a motorhome all day so grabbed rainjackets and bikes and rode off into the town.  A €5 ride on Capitano Marco's former fishing boat was irresistable....up the canals and out into open water to see the luxury boats across the harbour....well worth the €5 paid!  A stroll down the main street looking for somewhere for Shirley to have her 'real Italian' spaghetti brought us to an alley boasting a good looking ristorante where we all ate and thoroughly enjoyed lunch and the friendly, cheerful service at a reasonable price.  And....the sun had decided to shine for us for a couple of hours!