Mia Bella Italia

Well, I have no idea if that's the correct Italian, but we just love Italy. We sailed across the Gulf of Trieste and entered Italy at Grado. Its a pretty dramatic entrance, the channel markers start about 1.5 miles out from the coast, and the depths just outside the channel are under 2 meters. 

Pavlov on the dock at Dersene San Marco

The marina fronts onto a narrow canal.

A bridge connects the marina to the coastal town of Grado

We'd booked Pavlov into a marina; Dersene San Marco, that sat on the canal just outside of Grado. It was our first experience with the pole mooring system that the Italians prefer; two poles at the bow both take a bow line, then backing onto the pontoon. We cheated and stopped at the fuel dock to work out the system before we tried docking. Its not easy as there's a fierce current running in the canals, but we got there. There is about 1 metre of tidal movement here, so calculating tides and currents is a skill we've had to dust off and relearn. We've come into the marina so that we can drive to Ljubljana to pick up Megan's repaired camera.

Grado main street

Old Venetian style buildings

Cuteness abounds

No moss grows on the cyclists here!

A canal and mooring basin extends right into the middle of the town.

Grado is a town much like Lefkada in Greece that we loved so much. It's a bit gritty, a bit touristy; but there are lots of lovely buildings, narrow alleys and fascinating canals and lagoon bits to explore. Grado is built on small mud islands that arise out of the lagoon. There is water everywhere, with buildings, churches, villages just rising out of the blue. Its quite magical. We've also discovered the three major food groups in Italy: Gelato, Gelato and Gelato. Folk seem to consume it by the tonne night and day.

It took three Capitainaries to check us in. 

The marina sits on a mud island on the side of a canal.

Grado is a great combination of old and new. There are old mosaic remains right next to modernist architecture, and the combination really works.

Early Christian era mosaics.

Grado: a combination of the old and new

Grado is also renown for its beaches. There are miles of coastline strewn with multi-coloured umbrellas, covered with devotees of sun worship.

And the beach goes on .... 

Coastal walkway

Bathing off the rocks - this is the free beach

Main beach, you must pay and it goes for miles.

All the umbrellas are colour co-ordinated.

Given that the land is so flat, rising barely feet above sea level, the bikes are just great transport. Grado is a very bike-friendly town, with bike lanes going just about everywhere. We took a long ride (about 25 kilometers) out to Aquileia, which featured early Christian churches and monasteries.

The exterior of the church at Aquileia

Stunning mosaic floor

Wrong religion I know, but it looks like a Shiva Lignam to me!!

Frescos in the church

Organ and vestry

Roof detail

Mosaic detail

Not another beautiful altar

The town of Aquileia was interesting, particularly the pile of cones. I think they must be reliquary containers, for ashes? Any other ideas? A monument to gelato?

Aquileia town street

My best guess is that these contain reliquary remains.

Next up is our trip to Ljubljana (again!). Ciao for now.