Escaping storm Boris to get to Altino

We had a noisy night with heavy rain - and it was particularly loud early in the morning. Checking the rain radar it looked like it would get worse so we got packed up and left.

We stayed on the motorways to minimize the risk of flooding. The roads were very rough with lots of potholes - not sure if that happened in the last few days with the rain.

We were glad to see some sunshine at last.

There are the Euganean volcanic hills between Ferrara and Padua.

We drove north of Venice to the Archeological Museum of Altino near the Venice airport. The planes were taking off over our heads.

This area has been occupied since the 8th century BC and has developed over time by the Veneti - the people who later built Venice.

On the ground floor of the museum showed their development in pottery and religious items. They bred horses and also sacrificed them to the gods.

Then in the 2nd century BC the Veneti gradually became Roman’s and more Roman infrastructure was implemented. The town was very large and quite densely populated. Now the remains are under the fields.

There is a huge amount of day to day items. The jewellery is very similar to todays. There was also a

kiln with pots to be fired. The glassware was very sophisticated.

We were the only tourists in the museum so we got a personal tour to see the outdoor area 600m away.

There were sections of Roman roads with cart tracks, mosaics and remains of the large water distribution building for the town.

The archeologists are still digging. They have an endless amount of work to do.

The town was abandoned in the 7th century AD as the Veneti had moved to the island areas for protection from invaders like Attila the hun and the Lombards. They then established Venice.

After our history lesson we then drove round the marshes of the Venice basin to the Dei Dogi sosta - like an aire but with toilets and showers - at the beach at Jesolo next to Venice.

The beach is huge with lots of hotels and beach chairs and umbrellas - but all the tourists have gone. I think I prefer it this way.

After a quick paddle and walk along the esplanade we went back to the van for dinner of harissa salmon - a good quick one pan dish.