Our first real ride was a short one from Mestre to Jesolo, along the shoreline east of Venice, to where Jesolo sits at the far end of the lido. It was nice to start off gently as we’re not used to having the heavy packs on the bike. It was also very flat and a lovely day. We saw lots of aquatic bird life on the way including flamingos in the Venice lagoon. We had no bike or other problems except getting a bit lost once we arrived in Jesolo as we attempted to go to the beach before going to the accommodations and were off the planned course. We actually never made it to the beach as we ended up on the wrong side of a canal, couldn’t find a bridge, and decided to retreat and call it a day.
Our accommodation for the next 2 nights is a unique one. It is an agriturismo or a farm B&B. We’ve stayed in these before, often they are on vineyards. This one is an ostrich farm! We went out to the ostrich pens, they have 29. They also run a restaurant here where they serve alternative meats such as ostrich meat and eggs but also donkey. Apparently these are higher in protein, lower in fat and more eco friendly than beef, pork and chicken. Ostrich eggs are very large, the equivalent of 24 chicken eggs. However they don’t lay as many and only at certain times of the year. We opted not to eat here though and instead looked for more typical italian fare. We did go have a look at the birds (struzzi in Italian), they are very interesting up close.
The other interesting thing about this agriturismo (called Antiche Mura or ancient wall) is that it is beside an archeological site where there are only a few walls remaining of a 9th century cathedral, hence the name.
The lido is primarily a beachy place; it looks a lot like the Italian and French riviera with lots of ritzy hotels and beaches covered with rental chairs and parasols. We took the short ride to the beach today and sat there for a short time on the small public area. Going to the beach with the bike is not the most convenient as you have to have your cycling gear on, bathing suit underneath, bring alternate footwear, towel, hat, etc then store/lock the bike and carry helmets/tech gadgets, bags, shoes/socks to where you’re sitting. Once your’re done you have to get rid of all the sand, re-dress in the bike gear and shoes with a wet swimsuit on…(it’s worth it-GG) can you tell this isn’t my favourite way to do the beach? We did treat ourselves to gelato at the end though.
geeteetravels 
Glad you had a good first day of riding. The ostrich are such interesting looking animals! No food pictures, are you on a diet?
We’re glad to see you arrived with everything intact and are well on your way. We will continue to follow your journey.