On board the Ave Maria barge, my first delicious taste of northern Italy is of mozzarella buffalo, pasta, and a white chocolate ganache and wildberry tart. Beneath it, my placemat traces the cultural taster to come… from Mantua along canals, rivers, roads and trails to Venice by bike and barge.
We cycle next morning from our mooring on Lago Inferiore, just outside Mantua’s old city wall, on a 32-km circuit. Two other lakes hem the historical centre, pink and white lilies spectacularly carpeting their surface close to shore. In Marmirolo, swallowtail battlements top the square clock tower and adjacent town hall denote the small town’s support of the emperor in the 11th and 12th centuries. Surrounding is a countryside of cornfields dotted with two-storeyed, square farmhouses. Hay rolls stuff dilapidated red-brick buildings; church spires mark distant villages. Back lakeside we whizz past fishermen with nets of thrashing fish… maybe bass or perch.
Later, a guided tour through Mantua’s historical centre, a UNESCO World Heritage site, reveals impressive medieval and Renaissance palaces, basilicas, plazas, towers and churches. It’s a step back in time.
I breakfast on the two-hour cruise along the Mincio River, disembarking the Ave Maria at Governolo to cycle. Alongside the peaceful Po River, Italy’s longest, cornfields peter out; patchwork green fields border ploughed ones of beige clods; birch trees, grown for paper, stand soldier-like. Sporadic towns are a smattering of yellow, white and terracotta buildings.
Bells ring twelve times from Bergantino’s church tower. We arrive to a deserted cobbled plaza, most of its pastel, double-storeyed structures having closed until 3pm. In the Historical Museum of the Ride, grand, mechanical music machines dating from the 1800s to mid-1930s play boisterous music. I discover amusement parks began in the 18th century, then enjoy watching working models of bygone funfair rides.
Ten minutes’ cycling on, Caseificio Sociale Ballottara has tastings of their crumbly Grana Padano. The strong-flavoured cheese, made since the 12th century, is more-ish!
After a total 50-km cycle, we rendezvous with the barge in Zelo. The town consists of a pub, church, pier and little else.
With rain forecast, plans change and the third day we ride a rural 23km to Mantovani Distillery where, for six generations, grappa has been produced. Ingesting it burns my insides! The hazelnut, limoncello, salted caramel, tiramisu, pistachio, and a few other liqueurs are way better… just as well I’m not riding further.
We bus to Ferrara, where the drawbridge is down across an aquamarine moat surrounding the 14th-century Este Castle. In the historical centre, overhead passageways cross river stone cobbled alleys lined with two and three-storey window-shuttered buildings. The rain puts a stop to further exploration and we drive onto Adri, once an Adriatic seaport but now 20km from the coast, to overnight on Ave Maria.
Two hours cruising down Canal Bianco next morning brings us to Porto Viro to cycle a narrow strip of land cutting across a lagoon where fish are farmed, in Valle da Pesca. Men in overwater sheds used for harvesting clams make cages to trap invasive blue crab. Distant flamingo appear motionless in the quiet Po Delta.
Waves pound in on the Adriatic Coast’s sandy Bagni Beach where we lunch before finishing a blustery, 43-km ride in the historical centre of Chioggia, known as Little Venice. The Ave Maria delivers us to Pellestrina Island in the Venetian Lagoon. We dine on cuttlefish and baccala (a white fish), Chioggia famous for its fish market which we wander next morning. Market day, the main street running down to the harbourside is cluttered with clothing and shoe stalls, and crowds. I prefer the peaceful, quaint canals lined with small motorboats.
Back on narrow Pellestrina Island, we ride 9km north along its Venetian Lagoon coastline fringed with fishing and clam boats. Colourful, simple homes cluster its three small settlements. A 10-minute ferry ride delivers us to Lido Island. Northwards again, we cross the 13-km-long island 4.5km along at Malamocco, its original settlement, to cycle the Adriatic coastline. Cooled by a lunchtime swim at Spiaggia degli Alberoni beach, we continue on to the Ave Maria at Lido’s pier and the end of six day’s cycling.
Cruising to Murano Island for a glassblowing demonstration at Vetreria Artistica Gino Mazzuccato, its showroom featuring stunning, and gaudy, pieces, we then navigate Venice’s busy waterways. The bell tower, built in the 12th century as a lighthouse, dominates St Mark’s Square. We moor on opposite Guidecca Island.
Our final day is on foot walking Venice’s picturesque canals finding surprises around every corner. But, despite its magic, I prefer the rural landscapes and uncrowded towns I cycled.
The writer travelled as a guest of UTracks on their 8-day Veneto Bike and Boat Premium tour.
WORDS —
ELEANOR HUGHES
