August 18 – 22, 2026
Day 1: Tuesday, August 18 … Travel.
Day 2: Wednesday, August 19 … Benvenuti in Italia!! Fifteen hours from DRO to DFW to VCE (Venice, Italy). Even though we do this on a regular basis, there is nothing like the stress of “Did I remember to pack…?” “And “Is everything ready for us to be gone for two and a half months?” Or, “Our flight is delayed! What happens if we don’t make our connection?”
Like every other trip, we answered those questions, and a hundred others. Yes, we brought everything we need. Yes, life will go on in our absence! Yes, we made our connection in spite of the delay. And, thanks to Sharon’s excellent find, we changed our flight at the last minute to use miles and get extra comfy seats in Economy Plus. Luxury!All our gear arrived undamaged and in a timely fashion. And in spite of Komoot once again trying to kill us, (we should know better), we arrived downtown, mainland Venice a few hours after noon (4am Durango time).
We spent a leisurely afternoon dealing with jet lag and planning our time in one of the world’s most visited tourist sites during the busiest time of the year. It will be interesting.
Day 3: Thursday, August 20 … At its height, the Roman empire stretched from modern day Iraq in the east, through northern Africa, to Spain in the west, and as far north as England. It included all of modern day Europe. Imagine watching greedy, arrogant, incompetent, corrupt leaders piss it all away. I know, hard to imagine. As that once mighty empire deteriorated, people living near modern Venice were subjected to constant attacks and raids by ‘barbarians’ from the north. It was so bad that people found it preferable living in reed and mud houses built on stilts miles from shore in the marshy lagoon. Eventually, those resourceful (and now safe) settlers drove millions of logs straight down into the mud of the lagoon to serve as a solid base to build on. This is Venice’s origin story. Much the same is true of the nearby islands of Murano and Burano.
From those humble beginnings, Venice grew to be a trading and naval powerhouse. That time also passed. Now Venice deals with different invaders. Every year thirty plus million suitcase toting, selfie sticking tourists overrun the city.
We arrived, sans suitcase or selfie stick – but we arrived as part of the tourist hordes all the same. As Sharon has aptly observed “popular places are popular for a reason.” I get Venice’s popularity. It is cool. It is unique. Narrow alleys and canals weave and jog between charming buildings all very much showing their age. The canals, large and small are not just a tourist attraction. They serve the very real function of moving people and goods to around the city.
Since there was no way around being part of the hordes, we at least tried to be smart about it. We arrived early. We enjoyed seeing the major attractions, and then wandered far off the well beaten path. We spent the afternoon visiting the islands of Lido, Murano and Burano. It was interesting, and enjoyable. By late afternoon though, jet lag and tropical conditions had worn us down. We retreated to our air-conditioned room on the mainland for an early night.
Day 4: Friday, August 21… As veterans of a whole day of touristing, we employed a different approach this morning. We hopped of the bus directly onto a vaporetto – the everpresent water ferries that ply the waters all around Venice. These also happen to be part of our two day Venice transit pass. The #2 took us around the north and west sides of the island. We hopped off when the spirit moved us to explore an interesting looking area. We wandered down tiny alleys, into courtyards and along canals. Another vaporetto took us down the main canal to the bus station midday, as the rain showed no sign of stopping. We weathered the thunderstorms from the comfort of our room.
By early evening the storms had passed, so back to Venice we went. We spent the evening strolling, people watching (a favorite pastime), and sampling food and wine. As we walked, it struck us – in spite of the tourism, Venice is a real city! Well duh! No really. Many historic cities appear to be hollowed out shells. The only “residents” are tourists in short term rentals. Many seem more like Disney attractions than places where people live and work. We found neighborhoods in Venice where people hung out their laundry, walked their dogs, watched kids play, walked home past graffiti covered walls with their grocery carts, and stopped to chat with friends along the way. Regular folks living regular lives on their amazing, historic, rundown, unique island – that’s the Venice I will remember.
Day 5: Saturday. August 22… Our plan: spend two weeks hiking the Alta Via 2 in the Dolomites. The hike begins in the town of Bressanone, and ends in Feltre. We made arrangements to spend Sunday night at a guest house in Feltre. Monday morning we will take a train to Bressanone. The guest house owners have agreed to store our bikes until we return. Our goal today is to ride into the Dolomite foothills to the small town of Quero.
We put the ocean and Venice in our rear view mirrors and headed north. For most of the day we managed to find lovely, quiet backroads. Even on the busier roads, Italian drivers do not deserve their reputation for being aggressive and reckless. Everyone was courteous and considerate. The Sun was not so nice. It forced us to make regular shade stops to keep from overheating. How rude! Still, our first day of biking was a success. We reached Quero. Found dinner at the local market. Rinsed a gross amount of salt off our bodies. And enjoyed our evening in this charming mountain town.
It feels good to be on the road again. There are lots of moving parts with this trip, and we’re grateful everything has gone smoothly – for the most part. This next week will see us begin traversing what already looks like some amazing terrain. Until then- Seize the Carp!
Also…Sharon has started posting to Polarsteps. If you follow her, you not only get her side of the story, you get a little sumpin’ sumpin’ every day.
Follow Sharon Neubauer ‘s trips at https://www.polarsteps.com/SharonMoore234?referral=true
