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The aires and campsites close to Venice are, of course, rather expensive. We spent 4 days in Venice and accommodation didn’t cost us a single cent and being from Yorkshire, we rather liked that!
We were camped next to a canal in the little town of Oriago, about 5 miles outside the city. The spot was close to a shop, pizzeria, and laundrette and it took just 30 minutes to get into Venice by bus or train. It couldn’t have been better for us.
Everything you’ve seen of Venice on TV and in films doesn’t really do it justice. The place is simply stunning. There’s nowhere quite like it and everyone should go at least once. It’s a lot bigger than we were expecting. The miles of canals, bridges and alleyways are great for wandering, and the more you do so, the more you leave the crowds behind and discover the real Venice.
A historical regatta was taking place on our first day in the city. Teams of gondoliers of all ages competed in different races along the Grand Canal, and spectators lined the route to cheer on their teams. There were also processions of older boats decorated with large flags that draped in the water behind them with gondoliers wearing period costume. It was an amazing and colourful sight.
Travelling by boat in Venice is not as cheap as you might think. A ride in a gondola will set you back around £60 for half an hour (needless to say, we turned that one down!). A day pass for the vaporetti, the water busses which ship people along the bigger canals and around the islands, costs 16 euros. We spent a couple of days exploring the different routes and outer islands - the map of the network looks very similar to the London Underground map. Murano made for a peaceful break from the busier parts of the city. Largely residential, it’s a mini version of Venice that’s home to the city’s famous glass works.
We then spent a couple of days exploring the city on foot and walked many miles in total. Venice is known for being quite expensive so we set off each day complete with packed lunch and Thermos of coffee!!
Venice is bursting with amazing art and architecture. We’re not really big art buffs so we didn’t visit the galleries, but it was great to see the fantastic paintings in the churches by artists such as Titan and Caravaggio. The best piece we saw was The Crucifixion by Tintoretto in the church of San Cassiano. The best view of the city was from the tower of San Giorgio Maggiore; where the city and the islands stretch out below you in every direction.
Bologna is famed for its porticos, or covered pavements (over 38km of them in total), and for having the very first university. The city centre is certainly very grand; its central square framed by several impressive palaces. The best part however is the sixteenth century Neptune Fountain, which features four mermaids shooting water from their breasts!
The city also has its own leaning towers - the Due Torri. In the Middle Ages the city had hundreds of towers, but only these two remain. A rickety wooden staircase clings perilously to the inside of the taller tower – it’s certainly not something for the faint hearted – but the views across the city from the top are pretty amazing.
Bologna is also home to one of Italy’s major modern art museums – Mambo! We decided to visit on a Sunday afternoon but found that the security staff outnumbered the visitors 3 to 1. It wasn’t a pleasant experience being chased around the galleries by the staff, who were obviously bored and felt they had to keep a very close eye on everyone. We didn’t stay long!
We found Bologna rather claustrophobic with all its covered pavements and, after having such a great experience in Venice, we didn’t really warm to it. We’ll also remember Bologna for an officious ticket inspector who fined us because the dog didn’t have the right train ticket!
Modena, famed for balsamic vinegar and its famous sons Luciano Pavarotti and Enzo Ferrari, was like a breath of fresh air. A Celtic festival was in full swing when we arrived and half the town had turned out to watch a ‘Sealed Knott’ style battle between the Romans and Celts. When the battle was over, the music and drinking began and there were the usual stalls selling what we generously term ‘ethnic tat’.... or ‘hippy shit!’
After a quick detour to the beautiful town of Mantua, we headed to every food lover’s favourite city, Parma – famous for Parma ham and Parmesan. Obviously we had to go out and sample the gastronomic delights, and we certainly chose well. The restaurant’s excellent antipasti were prepared at a counter in the middle of the restaurant on several sparkling meat slicers. Traditionally, you follow this with a pasta or risotto dish, and then a meat dish. We were somewhat stuffed when we left!
A motorhome show was taking place in the city’s exhibition hall so we had to call in and check out a few new vans. There were hundreds on display but none seemed better than the one we have at the moment. Thankfully there weren’t too many ‘must have’ gadgets on sale so all we ended up buying was a new guide book and some toilet chemicals! The last of the big spenders!!
Aside from its magnificent 11th century Duomo and octagonal baptistry the thing that really struck us about Parma was the number of bicycles. And it’s quite amazing what people manage to transport on them; in some cases, 2 kids and the shopping and even the dog. Having seen this we decided Charlie might like a new mode of transport...
No, sadly not a Fiat 500 or a Vespa, although there were thousands of them buzzing about. No, we thought she needed this...
She seems quite happy in her new basket. She’s only fallen out once! Not sure we’ll be cycling through Leeds like this though!
We left Parma heading for the coast and a date with hundreds of back packers!
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