The cities we land in but never stay in: part 2

Our tour of airport stops continues, with a few notes for next time.

Treviso offers a little of the Venice you imagined, fewer crowds and more prosecco. Take it out of the boarding-pass brackets and head for Piazza dei Signori rather than the bus to Venice’s Piazzale Roma. There are canals, medieval and Renaissance buildings and handsome squares, with room to enjoy them. Start in the centre, then see the 13th-century Palazzo dei Trecento, the impressive Porta San Tomaso and Fontana delle Tette, the Fountain of Breasts, one of northern Italy’s more unusual sights.

There’s another reason to stay: tiramisu.

If you’re trying Italy’s famous dessert in a city that claims its invention, Le Beccherie is the historic restaurant attached to one of the best-known origin stories. Restaurateur Alba Campeol, often called tiramisu’s mamma, and pastry chef Roberto Linguanotto are central to that story.

No elaborate secret, just an idea as simple as the ingredients and method. The flavour was enough to turn it into an Italian dish recognised around the world. Add prosecco: this is its home territory, too, and it makes fine company for dessert.

Girona may be treated as Barcelona’s second airport, but it has a different mood. The red bridge over the Onyar was designed by Gustave Eiffel’s company; the stone streets of the Jewish quarter, El Call, and the cathedral are equally good reasons to stop. And for television fans,

the city was a Game of Thrones filming location.

Food is another part of Girona’s identity. The Roca brothers’ El Celler de Can Roca, with its three Michelin stars, put the city firmly on the gastronomic map. We’re heading to La Fabrica: speciality coffee, brunch and bicycles. It belongs to the cycling culture that has made Girona a favourite with riders from around the world. Order breakfast that stretches towards lunch and watch the medieval setting accommodate the present rather well.

Charleroi isn’t competing for “prettiest city”, and it may never have topped your list. Its industrial past, difficult reputation and unpolished architecture rarely make Belgium’s tourist posters. That’s precisely what makes it interesting. Former coal mine Bois du Cazier is now a compelling museum and UNESCO-listed site. Photography enthusiasts should make for the Musée de la Photographie,

one of Europe’s largest museums devoted to the medium.

For the evening, Le Rockerill turns a former industrial building into a cultural space, club and concert venue. Check the programme for your visit. Charleroi may be rough-edged and sometimes unattractive, but it isn’t dull.

Low-cost airlines changed our map of Europe.

We learnt names we might never have known and discovered places we never meant to visit. Sometimes the best part of a journey begins where we were about to leave.

The cities we land in but never stay in: part 1

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