If you would like to see details about our journey, check out our itinerary and our bike route.
Despite our late night, we were up early and on the road by a little after 9:00. With freshly oiled and pumped bikes, temps in the high 70s and low 80s, a flat route mostly on dedicated bike paths following the River Sile, and only 28 miles to cover, we rolled right along.
We stopped once for capuccini, and once for cheese, crackers, and fruit. And once to talk to a couple from New Zealand who were scratching their heads over a map, trying to figure out if they were on the right path. We checked our GPS devices and confirmed that they were, and spent a few minutes comparing travel notes. They are staying in Treviso and rented e-bikes for the day. Next, they will board a cruise ship for a trip to Croatia and other countries in the Adriatic.
Even with all those stops, we got to our B&B almost two hours early. Our host, Simione, was nice enough to let us in, and his cleaner hurried to ready our room while we stored the bikes, presented our passports, and got a brief introduction to the city.
We are staying in a 16th-century palazzo, the former residence of Renaissance painter Lorenzo Lotto, with a spacious private room and bath. Very comfortable.
After showers and a little rest, we took the paper map prepared by Simione and headed out to explore the medieval walled town.
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| Simione recommended an osteria with an outside terrace overlooking one of the canals. We had a lovely meal. |
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| The bike paths along the River Sile reminded us of those along the canals in England and France. |
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| Throughout the Veneto region, we saw (and heard) bell towers. Historically, the bells rang to mark the beginning, middle, and end of the day, and to alert citizens to important civic and religious events. |
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| Treviso is surrounded by a moat outside a stone wall, and is crisscrossed by canals interrupted by waterwheels that powered flour mills. |
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| The fish market was closed for the day, but we found a bench in a small park on one end of it, and read books for a half hour while waiting for our restaurant to open. |
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| Treviso is sometimes called Little Venice, though the canals are not served by water buses or gondolas. |
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| Cattedrale di San Pietro Apostolo. |
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As we biked into Treviso, we rode through a marshy park on a wooden trail on stilts, and we passed this old ship graveyard called the Cimitero dei Burci. In the late 1970s, wooden barges used to transport goods between Venice and Treviso, known as burci, were abandoned here. As they have slowly sunk and rotted, they have become habitat for plants, birds, and fish.
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| We have had some really nice dinners, including this one. |
