Day 3: Venice to Ravenna

I decided to mix up the riding today by taking two ferries towards the islands south of Venice. The ferry left from Lido de Venezia, just west of the train station, departing to the elongate island of Lido. A speedy ride for 8 km along the west coast of Lido took me to the southern edge of the island. From the southern tip, my second ferry ride departed to Pellistrina. Once on Pellistina, I had to race to the south to catch the final ferry to Chiogga. If the ride took much more than 10 minutes, I would've needed to wait an additional two hours. Thankfully, I had good weather and I was feeling especially energetic.

Now in the city of Chiogga, I found myself in the middle of an open market that stretched for 2 km. There was no riding my bike through it, so I soaked it up and toured the many vendors' tents. Once away from the crowd, I still had about 90 km to go to reach Ravenna. The riding was flat, except for the occasional overpass. Again, some trucks, but I began to realize that they are more common than I had anticipated. The day was overcast and I was starting to shake my cold that began on day 1, so all was looking up.

Ravenna was nice. The old town was quiet and great for exploring old churches with great architecture. I stayed at Hostel Dante (19 euro/night, buffet! breakfast included), about 2 km east of the main city center. The price was hard to beat and I went to town on the buffet breakfast.

Summary: 105 km (65 miles); relaxing, breezy ferry rides followed by coastal riding and great town strolling