My Italian Journey: Monday 18 ay: Day seven: Ravenna to Venice

Excitement about returning to Venice and meeting Chicken and the hardness of my bed mean that I’m up early. Almost as soon as I start walking, I see Dante’s tomb ahead of me. I walk up to it and peer in. Nobody else is around. There’s just me and the dead poet. I amble on past the Basilica San Vitale and the Mausoleum and return to the market for tea and a read. In the hotel I have a terrible breakfast. My memory of travelling by train all those years ago from Ravenna to Venice is that we went up beside the coast, but now I must go from Ravenna to Ferrara and then catch a fast train to Venice. From Ravenna we pass through Mezzano, Alfonsine, Voltana, Lavezzola, Argenta, Porsto Maggiore, Montensanto, and Gaibenella before arriving in Ferrara. The train goes slowly, and it’s a joy for me to write down these names: some sort of honouring. Again I’m struck by the neatness, the fertility, and the seeming wealth of the countryside. The fast train from Ferrara is less romantic, but we pass…