We love Vicenza because it really is at the centre of all the other places that you might want to go to.

What I mean is that you can access the countryside, mountains and lakes and other wonderful cities and in the case of this blog, the sea, as they’re all within a few hours’ drive away…You have so much choice!

This time we headed out to Bibione where Mr Casa Alison booked a Half Marathon weekend.

Bibione is a seaside town on the Adriatic coast, not far from Venice. It has long and wide sandy beaches with the sea on one side and a lagoon on the other.

It also has vast, open skies and a wide horizon so you’ll get some awesome sunsets and great photos.

Saturday Morning

SLEEP: we checked in at Hotel Alemagna, set among the pine trees in the part of Bibione known as Lido del Sole, a quiet residential area, a few kilometres away from Bibione centre, so ideal if you want to hear the birds in the trees when you wake up in the morning.

We arrived at the hotel one week before the summer season officially opens so they were literally changing lightbulbs and doing some other maintenance work during our stay but that didn’t spoil our fun.

We used the beach facilities like the loungers and the beach umbrella for free and we got a late checkout included, until 3pm, so Mr CA could have a shower after the race and transform himself from a sweaty runner to a squeaky-clean athlete.

Saturday Afternoon

We picked up the bib and goody bag from the race village at Piazzale Zenith, on the beach and in the centre of Bibone.

Then we strolled around the shops a bit and got nostalgic looking at all those kids’ toys like the colourful beach balls and sets of buckets and spades- remembering all those holidays at the beach with our cute little boys: digging hoes in the sand, little toes in sandals, jumping the waves and eating ice cream in the late evening…

Sunday Morning: The Race

We pedalled along the cycle path which runs by the sea and arrived at Piazzale Zenith for the start. There’s a tribune for the families, which gives you an uninterrupted view over the start of the race.

The course runs along the seafront as far as the Pineda (pine forest) at one end and then turns back on itself and goes as far as the lighthouse at the other end and finally returns to Piazzale Zenith.

It’s a beautiful course and a great race to do this time of year. Nice and sunny, not too hot and lots of time spent in nature.
You’ll need sunscreen and a running vest.

Lunch: Ristorante Pizzeria San Marco for a pizza ai frutti di mare-seafood pizza with mussels, baby clams, prawns and baby squid.

We celebrate another race, another medal, another beautiful weekend and Mother’s Day in Italy.