{"id":2411,"date":"2018-06-11T09:41:58","date_gmt":"2018-06-11T14:41:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.irelandbybicycle.com\/?p=2411"},"modified":"2024-06-17T18:51:52","modified_gmt":"2024-06-17T22:51:52","slug":"180611-casey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.irelandbybicycle.com\/index.php\/180611-casey\/","title":{"rendered":"180611-Casey"},"content":{"rendered":"

I thought I made a slow start this morning airing out the tent, but still found myself on the road by 8:45 am.<\/p>\n

Stopping for groceries, I bumped into a Russian couple (from St. Petersburg) cycling from Milan to Rome. They too were headed to Padua, but weren’t interested in being social.\n<\/p>\n

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I arrived in Padua before lunch and wandered back and forth through the city streets for a while. Narrowly avoiding trouble, I was taking photos when the local police harassed someone for cycling in the pedestrian zone (a common practice everywhere in Europe; they must have blown their whistles a half dozen times at people in the time I waited there).\n<\/p>\n

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I followed a canal into Mestre. Wealthy Venetian merchants built dozens of estates along its banks.\n<\/p>\n

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Cyclists abound on my chosen route to Venice (also the Italy 1 cycle route). I cycled up behind a Dutch couple and talked with them for a while. This was their first international trip. 5 km outside of Mestre, one of them experienced a flat tire. Confirming they had things well in hand, I finished the ride into Mestre alone. From the booking, I had expected a hotel with a few shared rooms. Instead I find myself in a mega-hostel.<\/p>\n

My bicycle safely stowed, I forged forth in search of a box. The day reminded me a lot of my last box quest in Dublin (“Join Rick’s Bicycle Shop Tour today!”). The first (and closest) shop should have a box tomorrow afternoon. The second turned out to be a motorcycle shop. The third recommended the first. Walking to the fourth, in some ways I hoped they wouldn’t have one – I didn’t look forward to dragging a box 2 km. The proprietor abruptly told me no box, and laughed scornfully. “Very difficult!”<\/p>\n

That completed the circuit, returning me to the hostel. One more cycle shop remained – 1.5 km in the other direction. But surely a shop named “Shimano” would be able to help. Instead I found a sporting goods shop that doesn’t sell cycling gear.<\/p>\n

Returning to the hostel, I had an email response from yesterday – also the first store. They should have a box available tomorrow afternoon for 10 euro. In a way the cost is comforting; they’re more likely to have something they’re selling than something they’re giving away.<\/p>\n

Taxi scheduled for Thursday morning (with extra time planned given the box and requiring a larger taxi that might not be the first try). A train ticket to Venice costs 1.3 euro, and takes seven minutes. I know just where the station is, just down the street near a bicycle shop.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I thought I made a slow start this morning airing out the tent, but still found myself on the road by 8:45 am. Stopping for groceries, I bumped into a Russian couple (from St. Petersburg) cycling from Milan to Rome. They too were headed to Padua, but weren’t interested in being social. I arrived in … Continue reading “180611-Casey”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[52],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2411","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-touring"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.irelandbybicycle.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2411","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.irelandbybicycle.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.irelandbybicycle.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.irelandbybicycle.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.irelandbybicycle.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2411"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.irelandbybicycle.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2411\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2523,"href":"https:\/\/www.irelandbybicycle.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2411\/revisions\/2523"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.irelandbybicycle.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2411"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.irelandbybicycle.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2411"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.irelandbybicycle.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2411"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}