25-26 October 2011: Soave, Italy
It has rained all night, so we eventually pack up and get going. We are heading to Mantova with the aim of being close enough to re-visit Venice tomorrow if the weather clears at all. We stick to the motorways and visibility isn’t very good, so no point in doing the scenic drive and are soon in Mantova. The weather hasn’t improved and we just can’t be bothered to get out, go for a walk in the rain, and get cold. So we stop and have a sandwich before doing a slow drive through town. This looked a nice place and if we were coming through this way again would definitely spend more time here.
We have decided to keep moving and head back to the Aire in Soave that we visited last week. We arrived at the Aire and as it was still raining we called it a day/night and couldn’t be bothered to get rugged up and put on wet weather gear. There were still a few people there from last time (so much for the 48 hour limit). We again saw Soave Castle which originally started construction in the 12th century, the fortress went through many hands and owners as it was conquered. Finally in 1889 and castle and bought by Giulio Camuzzoni and his family still manage the castle and fortress.
On the next morning the weather did look a little bit brighter, but not much so we decided to stay another day here, it is free after all and we have electricity etc. In the late morning the weather eased off enough for us to do a wander through town where I found a hairdresser who could squeeze me in, so I stayed to have my hair deratted and Scott wandered back to the van for some peace and quiet. In the afternoon we headed back into town where we had a drink at a little bar and then found a pizzeria who we thought was very quiet whereby it turned out to be packed later on, the food was excellent and we consumed a bit more of the local red wine.
27 October 2011: Treviso, Italy
Yeah it is actually sunny today so we drive into Venice. We park at the Tronchetta parking spot and take the People Mover (this is a sort of overhead tram) as there is a public transport strike today and we can’t take the ferry. We arrive in the Piazzale Rome and head straight back into the main part of Venice to retake the photos from the other day. San Marco Piazza has been underwater with the high tide so this morning getting across is via the footbridges that are quick assembled and as the water recedes are just as quickly stacked away. It was nice to be out and about in the sun and there are lots of people around, but everyone just seems happier. We also got to watch a large cruise boat coming into the harbour. We finally decided to call it a day late in the afternoon as we weren’t going far tonight. There is a free Aire in Treviso, so we set up camp and download the Lonely Planet chapters on Slovenia as this is a spur of the moment change of plans and we have no idea what we are even going to see there.