#Let's go - FINALE!

Our last stage to Venice... the day starts with a breakfast that is really good for Italian standards and our hosts are incredibly nice and helpful - internally I apologize because I thought the guy was a serial killer.

8 o'clock - on the bikes and let's go! It's supposed to be up to 29 degrees, so we don't want to waste any time. Today we have the longest distance ahead of us. 138 km.

Thoughts are circling... Did we aim too high? My butt hurts. Is there a train to Mestre for the last hotel? How are we going to make it?

We reach Lake Santa Croce. A beautiful lake in the Venetian Alps. Turquoise water - like in a fairy tale. You could stay here and enjoy life, but we still have 110 km ahead of us.

Then we go up the last pass. The border between the province of Belluno Dolomiti and Veneto. Once we reach the top, we say goodbye with a grateful last look back at the impressive mountains of the Dolomites.

Now we race down the mountain under the highway! It's a lot of fun - downhill all the way! We don't have any sympathy for those who are struggling uphill.

It gets tiring again when you have to ride through the cities on Saturday. Warm, lots of traffic, watch out for the way. Mario ahead, Petra behind. (If Petra had to find the way, we would probably be in Wuppertal-Süd by now)

By the way: My butt hurts. My thighs are tired. We haven't even completed half of the distance yet!

And all of a sudden, we're no longer in the mountains. It's such a huge feeling to achieve this by bike. You can feel that the warmth is different, it smells different, the trees and plants are different. Large vineyards, we're riding on the Prosecco road through Veneto.

In Santandrà, there are still 56 km to go, my (Petra's) butt hurts so much that tears are running down my face. I don't want to give up, but maybe someone has already died from butt pain and it just hasn't been reported? Just kidding, we need to take a break. Mario comforts me a bit and we drink ice-cold cola. There's a wedding going on in the church across the street and we watch the beautifully dressed wedding guests. We wonder how the women can walk in such high heels. My butt is feeling better.

We reach Treviso. From here, we have another 46 km to go. It's a beautiful city where you could spend a day. We continue riding and discover a small bistro right by our route - we sit right by the water, by the River Sile.

I wonder if anyone could take the bikes and us to Venice? Who cares what others think. Then we just almost made it... or we just won't tell anyone. Privacy!

After a delicious meal and cappuccino, we continue, with our butts on the bike saddle.

We take photos of the remains of the old barges at the "Cimitero dei burci" and dismiss thoughts of transporting the bikes by water.

The route from here is flat... it goes through many small streets, through small villages and hamlets, suddenly everything looks the same. In the distance, you can already see airplanes coming in to land. We're getting closer to the finish line, which is also confirmed by the cranes of the harbor that are visible on the horizon.

We reach our hotel in Mestre! After 782 kilometers, we made it. In the first moment, we are happy to have reached our goal. Take a short breath, lock up the bikes, take a shower, and off we go by train to Venice. For those who know as much about Venice as I did just a few days ago:

Mestre is part of Venice. It doesn't make much sense to ride directly to Venice by bike, there you can only push the bike, which is no fun, that's why our hostel is in Mestre.

It takes 12 minutes by train to get to Venice

Venice consists of 118 islands that are adjacent to each other. The city was built using wooden piles driven into the sea floor.

Describing Venice is difficult, we think it's beautiful! Yes, Venice is surely marketed to a maximum for tourists, and when we arrive in the early evening, there are still many visitors here. The later it gets, the thinner the crowds in the narrow streets.

After sunset, the countless lights in the lagoon are reflected in the water, it becomes quieter - time to let fragments of our journey pass in review in our minds... it's still too early for all the great impressions, feelings, and thoughts. After an Aperol and dinner right by the Rialto Bridge, we treat ourselves to a ride on a water taxi.