Distance: 31.8km (604.9km), time spent: 8:54.
Weather: Morning haze, overcast.
Second to last day, or the penultimate one. End is around the corner, the mountains, valleys and peaks are left behind and far back in the distance, lost in the haze. Memories are though still crystal clear. Another long day lies ahead of us, to Jesolo, but not as long as the day that still lingers in our feet. We all slept bad for a while, until I found the magic switch for the air condition in the night.
Leaving Bocca Callalta at the top of a levée.
Passing by Sant' Andrea di Barbarena with its big church.
Yesterday we passed by some kids selling trinkets for fun next to the path. Among what they sold, I found a scallop, which I bought. Now I have attached it to my backpack, making me more of a pilgrim.
An old bunker near the path, one of several memorials or monuments of the world wars we walk by.
A quaint light over Johanna and Florian, on the penultimate day of our trek.
I am uncertain whether the weather outside is for the better or for the worse. A haze has descended upon the landscape, making everything pale. It is a slow visibility, and a special atmosphere. We walk again on the only elevated feature in the area, the levée, singing When The Levée Breaks as we go. Of course, the only thing that breaks, are our voices.
Standing alone in the middle of a field, the Chiesetta della Madonna del Soc.
The surface is hard, though, as there is a road going on top of the levée. Next to us are hamlets, small farms, acres, churches (both small and big), odd curious relics from the world wars like bunkers. Above us the sky is overcast, with sunrays suddenly bursting through the layers.
Flower in Zenson di Piave.
While yesterday took us on quiet roads and paths next to the Piave, today takes us on a levée walk most of the time. Where the surface was hard before Zenson di Piave, it is on a soft gravel track afterwards. We stop for a coffee in Zenson di Piave, almost all the places here has something to do with the Piave in its name, marking the importance of the river in this area. It is quite a scenic walk next to it afterwards.
Architecture feature in Zenson di Piave, one side of the house maintained, the other not.
While walking straight on top of the levée, a distant beacon looms ahead, as usual are the church towers the dominant features in the horizon now. More reminiscences of being on a Camino than on a hike, further accentuated when yellow arrows begin to appear. This is the Via Postumia, another one of the routes to Santiago, this one starting in Budapest in Hungary. A longer walk than I am walking on now, but far less mountainous. I always love getting across yellow arrows in places I least expect them to be.
The river Piave.
Levée walk next to Piave.
A farewell to arms. Literary ghosts whispers their names here. Hemingway was stationed in Fossalta di Piave in 1918 as a Red Cross ambulance driver, getting wounded and in love. I see the statue, but that is all I see of this small town except for the facades of the buildings. A curious pyramid-shaped chapel is placed here, looking over a curious bridge crossing over the Piave. The walking on the levée continues, a ridgewalk in miniature.
Walking in a straight line towards Fossalta di Piave at the top of the levée, the church tower like a lighthouse in the distance.
Bridge and chapel in Fossalta di Piave, Der Traumpfad goes on the track next to the chapel.
Strange is the path where Der Traumpfad crosses under a railway line. A gravel track heads down from the levée just before, but the trail stays on it and then shortly after heads down to the same track on a steep and cumbersome short path. Florian has got behind as we enter Musile di Piave, taking a look at another WWI monument before heading into the town. We should have taken lunch somewhere along the levée, with more nature around us, but we end up taking it in the Piazza XVIII Giugno square in Musile di Piave instead, in front of the town hall. Johanna has some trouble with her feet today.
Sharing the way with Via Postumia. If you consider it, you can then first hike Der Traumpfad and then follow this Camino all the way to Santiago de Compostela.
Path before Musile di Piave.
Out of Musile di Piave, the going is on hard surface. Trees lines the road, and there are scattered settlements around. Walking is less interesting, until about one kilometer away from Caposile, where we walk on a dirt track next to the Fiume Piave Vecchia. We cross over the Sile river on an odd pontoon bridge from WWII, where each section of the bridge consist of a boat.
Chiesa di San Donato in Musile di Piave.
Now the path turns more interesting as it enters a road that goes next to the marsh wetlands of Laguna di Venezia. There is a constant cry from birds as we pass by several wildlife reserves. The vegetation is kept tall here, by purpose I guess, to shelter the birds and wildlife from any traffic or human noise on the road. Although it is a very quiet road, barely one car is passing us by as we walk here. It is a long walk too, almost 10k all the way to Jesolo.
Bridge and monument to VII and VIII Battalion Guardi di Finanza in Caposile.
The pontoon bridge in Caposile.
Florian wants to see the sea and beach, so he leaves us for a while, catching up with us later with his business unfinished. Johanna has just bitten her teeth together, trying to forget the pain in her feet, keeping a good pace up front.
Light over Laguna de Venezia.
Laguna de Venezia.
We arrive in Jesolo, which thankfully is not the same as Lido de Jesolo, the beach resort on the other side of the sand spit. Our place for the night is the Hotel Udinese da Aldo, which is fine. We especially like that we have a balcony, sitting down with a cold refreshment and rest before going out for dinner. Which we find in a small local café, serving us exactly what we need. Then we go for a short walk in the town, ending at a square where we sit down with an icecream in the dark.
Torre de Caligo, old tower passed by just before Jesolo.
This would be a fairly good day on a Camino, so I am quite satisfied with the walk today. I think they have found a good way across the Venetian Plains. With all its settlements around here, I think it would be difficult finding a more scenic path. I have felt my pulse slowing down having come down from the mountains, but now that the day is at an end, I can feel it is rising a bit. Tomorrow is the last day, when we will arrive in Venezia, after the long hike over the Alps and Dolomites. München is a distant, but still vivid, memory. I wonder what I will dream of in the night.
Jesolo.
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