Italy 68 - one major thunder storm and a morning in search of some city walls

---

What a night, what a night it was , it really was . We took to our beds as night fell and were totally unprepared for what happened next. The storm which seemed to want to end all storms. We have had bad ones before in Italy and Spain but this............well it beggared belief in its intensity, its power and the length of time it lasted. I don't know what time it started but start it did with a gentle pitter patter on Suzy's roof. This then escalated to the drumming that was equivalent to having Status Quo, the Manic Street Preachers and a host of heavy metal bands doing a concert on the roof. Then the thunder started. It stayed right overhead for what seemed like hours booming away as if we were being bombarded by shells. We could have been in a war zone. The lightening lit the sky as if it were daylight. It had been muggy all day so it was sort of expected but the ferocity of the wind amazed me. And the washing was still out being battered by the wind and the rain. The towels newly clean were being dragged in the dirt which was quickly becoming a quagmire. And still the thunder rumbled on not moving much. Suzy lit up as if lit by a thousand light bulbs and the wind howled through the trees. We had visions of branches falling on Suzy and damaging her roof and us inside. Our neighbour in his phut phut car must have been flooded out of his tent as we heard the car starting up . We havent seen him or her since. Our other side neighbours the Brits were sleeping in their car rather than the tent. The rain did stop eventually as did the thunder and it seemed quiet and dark when the electrical storm passed. What a night .........................

In the morning leaves everywhere but no branches down. The washing still there but wetter than when it was put out and the towels dirtier. Suzy was drenched with water on her roof which came off in floods when we moved off the site. Someones rubbish bag strewn in the hedge and an umbrella turned inside out by the wind. We had been slightly worried the ground was going to be too wet to move her but she trundled off easily and we hit the road.

We said goodbye to Serenissima . She hadnt been a bad campsite and served us well for our return to Venice and Padova and we would probably use her again rather than the larger campground at nearby Fusina.

Venice at 8 in the morning on a work day. Not a nice experience. We were heading for Cittadella. On to the Superstrada and then the motorway. Our little gizmo on the windscreen dinging nicely as we drove straight through the toll booths. All unmanned these days of course.

Not many people go to Cittadella. Perhaps because there isn't much there but it is the sort of place we like. Good and easy parking for Suzy on a large free car park. We had already found this on Google and knew it would suit our purposes well. When we arrived it was almost totally empty apart from the local driving school who were teaching the young italians the joys of reversing into parking spots. Cittadella is a tiny town with an infrastructure of industry and sports facilities, walls, a river and a park and shops . Just small ones but the sort you can buy your bread from and cakes, fancy sparkly handbags and shiny shoes. It was quiet for a Wednesday. We bought our bread, some shortbread biscuits with green and red cherries atop them and a long thin jam tart type of cake. .

The walls around the city have been restored and comprise of four gates at the north, east, south and west side of the city. We spent a pleasant hour walking round the town and looking at the walls. There isnt a lot to do in the town but it is certainly well worth a visit.

Cittadella was erected in 1220, at the time of the wars between the communes, by order of the city of Padua in order to build a fortified outpost that would defend its territory and was built in successive stages which comprised of 32 large and small towers with a protective moat and four impressive drawbridges. The walls towered above us between 46 feet in height and 52 feet. The thickness was apparent in the gates at just over 2 metres thick . Inside the walls in the thriving little town is an impressive church which seemed much too big for such a small place. Sadly it had no clock nor campanile and was not open.

After our visit we hit the road again . Italys roads in these parts are dreadful,pock marked, and full of pot holes. It was an unpleasant drive to our next stop as Suzy rumbled along up and down, clanking and clunking as she drove over the cracks in the carriageway. They say Italy has some of the worse roads in Europe and today that certainly held true.



Next stop the larger town of Bassano as we headed into the foothills of the Dolomites.

---