Highlights The mosaics

We were a little late leaving this morning, but finally hit the road at about 9. 15am. Jane and Ian told us they had a friend to collect from the airport.

We stopped at the nearby garage and bought fuel. We had found that our previous issues were because a non-Italian credit card would not be accepted. We needed cash and we had that today. We have been to the garage three times now, but this was the only time for fuel.

The first part of the drive was a repeat of going to San Marino, but with the chance to see the views this time. We turned off to Ravenna as we were told the mosaics were wonderful. The only problem was it cost a lot to go to one place and very little more for 5 places. I only wanted to see the best set of mosaics so Katherine and I just went to the Basilica San Vitale as John decided he was not keen at the price. It was a hot day and that also affected his thoughts.

It was very plain from the back where we entered, considerably cooler inside and a burst of light when the main area of the mosaics was visible. I read later that we should have followed the maze on the floor to get there but we didn’t. There were a lot of tour groups inside having the area explained to them but we just looked and took photos. They don’t do justice to the beauty of the mosaics on the wall and ceiling, with areas of gold glowing.

We exited by the much more attractive front and found John immediately although we were earlier than we had suggested. He had found a courtyard area with a fountain where we headed for lunch. We juggled three plates of food on the small table and shared our order. We then went back for a second unsuccessful look for the cache near the Basilica, and then went back to the car and headed for Chioggia.

The map had been deceptive and this next part was not as close to the shore as we had expected. We also got caught behind a truck and campervan with little space to pass. John was developing a headache when we arrived so the first thing we did was get a coffee for him.

The area is a suburb of Venice and also called Little Venice. It is built with canals and was attractive and worth a stop although maybe not at 3pm. We walked up the main street, alongside the pretty canal in the middle which had the tour boats on, but for only a short distance as we were on the hot sunny side, then back alongside a canal that was full of larger boats. The views from the end out to sea were nice and the bridges attractively old. We had nice gelato here. I thought I might not want any for some time after last night’s festival, but cool limone (lemon) was very refreshing.

The trip to Barcarola then went very smoothly. We had a canal side drive towards Venice then we were on the autostrade until about 20km away. It got quieter and quieter as we approached the end of the motorway. We were then onto the road that goes past Nico’s trattoria where we found a stream of cars and motorbikes heading in the other direction on the much smaller road. We assumed there had been an event on but Nico told us that it was just people who had been in the mountains for the day or weekend. He thinks they are crazy!!

We arrived and Mama recognised us and was much less panicked than last time. She greeted us, gave us a hug and kisses, and asked us about drinks then rang Nico. He soon arrived and we were settled into the room we had last time with Katherine opposite. Then we had gnocchi with fungi (mushrooms) he had collected from the mountains for dinner. He had mentioned collecting it and it was only later he said they found very little so I felt bad about eating all they probably had, but it was lovely.

We were then off for an early night as we are having an 8am start tomorrow to go to Lake Garda with Nico and his partner Raia (“Rye-Er”).