SUNDAY 30/5/99 A DAY AT THE BEACH IN JESOLO

I woke late with the alarm after the previous long nite webbing. Just made it to brekky at 10:00 as they were starting to pack it up. After talking to the guy on the hotel front desk about possible places to see for the day, I decided on the beach at Jeselo instead of the historic area. The beach area is apparently the place to be, and he suggested getting a bus from the main town square.

I wandered off to the square and found the bus stop and a sign that mentioned Jesolo. I waited some time for a bus and walked around the town centre. There were lots of people out, sitting, talking. A couple of older men were discussing their new bicycle and the merits of the Japanese gears and brakes. I am not sure whether they approved of them or not. See the photo, this was taken in 'stealth' mode - that is I just aimed the camera roughly and pressed the shutter without looking through the viewfinder.

There were many people on bikes, mopeds, and motorbikes. Only the motorbike riders seem to wear helmets. Several buses had gone by, but none indicating Jesolo. After checking the sign, someone told me that there was no bus running, only early in the morning. She suggested I take the train to Mestre, the stop between the town and Venice, and then take a bus from there. With nothing to lose, I headed of for the station. Mestre was only one stop, 1800 lire return - cheap.

Mestre is a medium sized station with 10 or so platforms, food shops, information etc. Outside a petrol station advertised petrol at 1800 lire = A$1.60 a litre! No wonder they all drive small cars and bikes.

I got a bus ticket to Jeselo for 9500 lire return and waited for the 2:15 bus and hoped it was going to be worth all the trouble getting there. The bus rolled up on time and was a nice coach with A/C. The trip through the country reminded me of country Japan a bit - narrow roads, houses close to the roads and small farms. After a brief stop at the airport we arrived at Jesolo after an hour or so trip.

Jesolo looked a little like Italy's answer to Australia's Gold Coast. There were lots of people on the beach. Standing in the middle it seemed to stretch as far as I could see in each direction. Each hotel had their own section with numbered chairs laid out. I walked some way up the beach along a path at the back of the sand. I stopped at a beachfront café/bar and ordered a cointrou on ice. I was fearing a huge price being on the beach, but was surprised when it was only 3000 lire, less than A$3. It was not measured either, just poured in. So I sat in the shade sipping it and watching the beach goers go by. It had cooled down by 4:30 and the breeze was refreshing.

The main road a block behind the beach was similar to other beach strips around the world - full of swim wear shops, resaurants, souvenirs, and so on. I walked up one side of the strip and down the other for some way. Like the beach it seemed to go on forever. There were people young and old cruising the strip. A convertible or sports Mercedes, or a Harley bike seemed to be the vehicles to be seen in.

The bus back was overfull and those standing got shuffled off to a second bus. On the way back was a long line of slow moving start stop traffic and it took 2 1/2 hours. I thought it must have been end of a holiday or something, but no, just a normal Sunday during the warmer months. I would hate to see the place in peak holiday time - not my idea of fun.

When I got back I typed up postcard 2 and loaded it onto the web page with just a couple of pics. I had to get to bed early to be ready for work in the morning. I did manage to listen to a bit of Australian radio station Triple J over the Internet. It was amazing to hear Adam Spencer doing the breakfast show coming out the speakers of the laptop from so far away. Unfortunately the connection was poor and it dropped out from time to time.