Day 6: Padua-Venice (36 km, 70 m ↑)

Yesterday was planned as a half cycling and half sightseeing day. The distance from Padua to Venice was so short that it took me only two hours. I had also left quite early, so I reached Mestre (one of the parts of Venice that is on the mainland, not in the lagoon) already around 11 o’clock. My Airbnb was not ready by then, so I stopped at a café, enjoyed a cappuccino (yes, ordered before 11) and opened my laptop.

Since I wanted to spend the afternoon sightseeing and could not carry my luggage around all the time, I had asked my host whether I could check in early or leave my luggage there. And surprisingly, I got a message at twelve already that the flat was ready to move in. So I took a quick shower and then boarded the bus across the bridge to the centro storico, the historical centre of Venice.

The weather forecast was, unfortunately, not too good. And sure enough it started raining shortly after I began my stroll through the alleys of the old town, alongside thousands and thousands of other tourists.

After visiting Piazza San Marco and some of the main attractions, I was a bit indecisive how to spend the rest of the day. The restaurants seemed very expensive. But eventually, I found a pretty spot right at the Canal Grande, and despite the “Norwegian” price of the beer, I told myself that you don’t often get to enjoy a drink with such a great view and sat down.

Sitting there and watching all the boats passing by, I started wondering if I shouldn’t get on one of the boats as well. And after some googling, I decided to buy a ticket for one of the vaporetti, the waterbusses that connect the different islands. The ticket was valid for 75 minutes. So I could take one vaporetto through the whole Canal Grande and then another one along the other side of town back to the bus station. And that trip was well worth the 10 Euros ticket price.

Today I had a workday and then explored Mestre a bit after work. After another workday tomorrow, I will continue towards Lignano Sabbiadoro at the Adriatic coast on Friday. I’m hoping for sunny weather so that I might put on my swimming shorts.