Chioggia (on my bucket list since 2013) and Venice

Chioggio - with huge fish market to the left

After seeing the Italian film "Shunli & The Poet" in 2013 when it was on in Nelson as part of the Italian Film Festival, I was hooked on Chioggia and thought I will get there one day. Well that is now!

Looking up into the centre of Chioggia

From what I read, I thought it would be like Venice but without all the tourists! Well it was in a way, but not as many canals. We arrived last Wednesday and found a

Chioggia is one of
Italy's major fishing ports

camp to park up in. With peak season now over, we thought it would be easier to find camps. Well it is but unfortunately in places like Chioggia, the season is over so most of the camps are shut. We found "the International" still open, so along with one other camper van we parked up. There were a few groups in the cabins. We were about a 20 minute ride from Chioggia Central, along the coast which must hum with visitors in peak time by the look of all the now vacant Lido's.

Entering the city by canal

We rode our bikes into the heart of Chioggia and had a look around. We found where all the other motorhomes were parked up, just outside of the city centre, where we moved to the next day. Did a local cruise boat ride (complete with narration, but sadly only in Italian) that went into the harbour and up one of the canals, giving an idea of the landscape of this city.

Small fishing village on the Island of Pellestrina

Friday we caught a ferry across to one of the two islands on the way up to Venice, the island of Pellestrina, with our bikes for the day. We could have travelled up the two islands, but felt we were better off to take our time and enjoy the one, finding somewhere for a late lunch on our way back.

My delicious lunch

The island is a long skinny one with a sea wall that has been built up the centre length of the island to protect it from the sea on the east coast (on the Adriatic sea). It was full of small fishing communities all the way along the lagoon side of the island. Lovely colourful little cottages and buildings. Once again plenty of churches.
We rode to the end of the island where you could catch the ferry to the next island before carrying onto Venice if you wished. Perfect place for a small bar with a cold beer and delicious white wine. On our return ride we looked for a suitable place for lunch and found the perfect lagoon side Ristorante where we both stepped outside our comfort zones and ordered fish dishes. They were delicious.  I was a little

One of the groyne's at Chioggia's
harbour entrance with
fishing huts

worried about the sustainability of the clams I ate - being so small and plentiful. They are a big item here in this region. One can only assume with the number of boats harvesting them daily, that they are sustainable Shannon.
Bill had a dish of fried fish - it was a real mixture of smaller creatures! From small octopus to shrimps, calamari, sardines and others we couldn't identify. The little sardines had been gutted, so nothing too much to them. With a couple of lovely glasses of local white wine, it all went down very well.
We had a bit of time to spare before catching the ferry back, so checked out the other side of the wall. Quite a good beach for surfing Rocky, let Daniel know. But littered in rubbish which was disappointing to see as the other side looked so pristine, and most of the litter was from the fishing industry it's self with small nets and lots of polystyrene. Very sad.

Coming into Venice through the Lagoon

Saturday we caught the express ferry from Chioggia to Venice for the day (90 minutes). Bill was keen to take our bikes but luckily he googled Venice, and found it isn't really a bike friendly city. Thankfully we didn't! The ferry was pretty full and there certainly wasn't room for bikes, and once we got to Venice with all the stairs up

Venice

over all those bridges, it would have been a nightmare! It was 35 years ago we here, but neither of us remember a lot from then. It is certainly a huge tourist attraction, there were a few massive cruise liners in dock on our arrival, plus all the ferry's coming and going from around the area, and the railway station that comes right into the city centre, bringing in huge numbers with their suitcases. It was throbbing with tourists and tours.

This is the quieter season!!

We only had 6 hours to spend in this city, so we bought a Tourist Venice Guide book

Taking in the sights of Venice

complete with map, which we really should have bought the week before to have a better plan for our day. We made the decision to spend the day walking the streets, crossing the bridges taking in the architecture and ambiance. Enjoying the Gondola's as they travelled through the canals, one with piano

A serenade on the canals

accordion & singer, completing this romantic picture we had of Vienna. We also saw kayaker's travelling through the canals. Perhaps next time, that could be an option.

a nice quiet canal.

As for the museums, our day was full on as it was, and we wanted to enjoy the atmosphere of Venice as much as we could in the time we had. To really cover this city, you would need a few days, staying at one of the quintessential Hotels or B&B's that we passed. Sadly Bill found the Vivaldi Museum near the end of our day, too late

Don't show Pat!

to stop & enjoy. We only had time for a quick shared bottle of beer from a street vendor before catching our return ferry.

Perhaps us next time!

 For 14 Euro return, this scenic boat trip through the Venice Lagoon was excellent value, a much better option than driving/parking/training into the city.