This morning with a degree of sadness we parted company with our travel buddies Alison and Peter. We both have different time spans to complete our journeys and different criteria on how we wish to proceed with the journey so it was obviously easier to split up, there is a possibility our paths may cross again before the end of the journey.
After we left last nights Stellplatz we travelled a short distance to Bad St Leonhard where we stopped to do a shop of a few essentials we were low on. It was only a small town but we spent about an hour wandering around.
Michelle was intrigued by how they used bricks in window gaps which were open for ventilation.Kunigundkirche.We had a chuckle at this kennel type construction that housed the robot lawnmower.
We drove on using a main road which reached a height of 953m to tonight’s destination at the stellplatz adjacent to the municipal swimming baths. in Judenburg.
We had to register our stay at the reception in the swimming baths and I was given a form on an A4 sized piece of paper to complete which asked for every bit of information including shoe size😂 The woman couldn’t get her head around how she was going to put in the computer that I said we were English but came from the UK.
I tried desperately to take a photo of this bridge that we drove over into town as it spanned a really deep ravine with a river far away below, but we couldn’t find anywhere to stand that enabled us to do it justice.I’m not sure but I think Eck means corner.I thought I’d buy myself a new outfit for the pub, but it was a bit pricey. Jacket 439€, waistcoat 229€, the lederhosen 589€ and the tie was 45€, a grand total of 1,302 euros😵💫😵💫😵💫I’m sure this is what she expected when they said do you want to work on a pole. The beautiful carpet was in the foyer of the museum representing the history of the town.A two sided sculpture in memory of fallen soldiers in both world wars.
I tried to take a photo of a bee collecting pollen but every time I got it in focus it flew to the next flower, this is the best I achieved.
Today was another day of pleasant driving through wonderful scenery, not as dramatic as the last few days but even so enjoyable.
This castle was high above a town called Griffin.
As usual there were lots of place and scenes we would have liked to have taken photos of but it is very difficult to stop as there are very few stopping places, however as a bonus the speed limit is higher here so we can move a little quicker.
There are only two motorhome parking places here and thankfully both we and Alison and Peter were able to take them as they were empty when we arrived.
The walk into town was only a short distance and we stopped part way to collect walnuts that had fallen off the tree, there were lots of pear trees laden with fruit, but I expect they were rock hard.
Tree laden with pears.This sculpture was on route but we couldn’t make out any information about it.
High above the town is Wolfsburg Castle which was built more than 7 centuries ago and has been rebuilt and changed ownership on numerous occasions the later owners derived their wealth from an extensive regional agricultural estate economy which changed in 1938 with the construction of Volkswagen factory and the town developed for the workers. Today the castle is an arts museum and arts centre with an extensive collection of modern art, sadly it wasn’t open and that saved our legs the challenge of walking up a steep hill to gain access.
Scenes from the town.Scenes from the town.
The centre of town wasn’t large as there is a lot of out of town development, there were some shops selling high quality expensive goods. There was also quite a lot of construction work going on in the centre on what looked like the re-construction of a culvert running under the town.
The man in the picture was constructing a wooden bridge to the doorway of a shop, I hope they put up handrails.Michelle found a vehicle suitable for her size.
Of course we reached a point where thirst directed us to a bar where sat outside and enjoyed a beer.
Earlier in the afternoon as we gazed in a shop window at some expensive furniture and fittings the owner came out and gave Layla a dog treat, a meat chewy. Then later as we sat at the above bar, a customer walked up to us and pulled out dog treats from his pocket and gave Layla some returning a short while later with some more. Needless to say no one offered us adults anything.
Tonight we are in the 7th country so far on our travels, we hadn’t intended to travel into Austria today but sadly the stopover we had selected turned out not to be worth the money so we moved on.
I had selected a route from Bled towards the pass into Austria to be a scenic route rather than take the main road, and boy did it live up to its expectations. I’m not sure others in a motorhome have travelled along it, as it was challenging but beautiful.
Not sure “Woody” got far on this bike😊
Without a video camera it is impossible to give an impression of the narrow roads we took through villages the hairpin bends,steep ascent and descent etc all I can say is it was fun.
This road narrowed down to a lane just wide enough for us.
We had planned to do a short trip today but as I said things changed and we headed off up the road that took us into Austria, again a challenging road, not particularly narrow but it climbed steeply and I was using second and third gear regularly, we eventually plateaued out at the top.
Leaving the car park we drove through a tunnel and came upon border control and we had to have our passports checked, this I believe wouldn’t have happened in the past, but European countries are beginning to tighten up.
As we drove on we got held up at some roadworks on a rather steep section, they were repairing the road on a hairpin bend and had stopped the traffic in both directions, the woman in the car in front got out and smoked a cigarette we were there so long. Setting off again wasn’t easy as we hadn’t built up any speed or revs.
Eventually after a long and steep descent we arrived in Ferlach where we are staying tonight. Peter and Alison went for a bike ride and we went for a good walk around town, rewarding ourselves with a drink and ice cream.
Some scenes from Ferlach.
There are three museums in town that looked interesting but sadly they weren’t open, one was devoted entirely to its history and production of hunting rifles.
If everything else fails you can always rely on a Mcdonald’s breakfast menu.
I really enjoyed todays drive as we left Hotel Willy and drove up through a pass in the Julijske Alps, there were a few time today on our journey when we had to drop into second to negotiate hairpin bends but nothing too dramatic. Driving here in Italy and today in Slovenia is very slow going, not only because of the roads but because of restrictive speed limits, it took 2 hours to do 75 miles. We drove through some magnificent scenery with snow capped mountains, up to plateau areas with ski resorts, reaching I believe a height up to 1,400m before descending through the Spodrje Gorge into Bled.
We had decided to visit Bled Castle before driving to tonight’s Sosta where there was a large car park catering for coaches, motorhomes and cars, but not cheap at 3 euros per hour.
The walk up to the castle was steep and I found it hard going but we enjoyed ourselves once we had reached the top, Peter and I have suggested that castles ought to be in valleys as they would be much easier to visit😂😂😂
The buildings at the lower level.At the higher level.Frescos inside the chapel.Michelle took some photos inside the buildings where Layla wasn’t allowed to go in.A donation of pipes, a skeleton that was found with jewellery, a model of the castle and the interior of a shop shaped like a hive that sold all products related to bees.Grapes growing high up.A little info about the area.The views were wonderful, Bled Island in Lake Bled.The church from above and at ground level.
We walked back down from the castle via a long series of steps that enabled us to access the lake, it looked interesting and we will walk back there tomorrow.
Tonight’s Sosta is modern well kept and comes with EHU, you have to pay cash and use the QR code to activate the electricity and this comes at a cost of 20 euros.
Tonight we are staying at Hotel Willy, yes we smiled, it’s 15 euros a night for very good services. We are approx 2k from the town of Gemona del Friuli which hard to say after a drink or two.
Gemona is a town with a long history and has long been a staging post on the road from the Adriatic sea to the Alpine passes of the north east. In 1976 an earthquake occurred in the Friuli region in north east Italy near Germona and 990 people were killed and up to 3,000 injured. The epi centre was close to Germona and caused much structural damage, the town has been rebuilt to resemble the original and work is still continuing on its castle.
The walk into town was up a long steady incline and thankfully the weather was warm just as we entered the heart of the town magically we came across a bar that was open, a welcoming cold drink was enjoyed by all.
Peter and I had a large beer.The ladies more petite.
As we walked up the steep steps and path to the castle, which sadly wasn’t open as construction work continues, we were rewarded with views over the town.
Views over town.A wise head replacement.Lots of viewing and photo opportunities.
Below the castle is the Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta which has been built up against the cliffs of Mount Glemine and dates back to the 13th and 14th century built on the site of an older church. It too was severely damaged by the earthquake and where possible it has been painstakingly restored as the original. Michelle went inside ( whilst I sat outside with Layla 😊) and was impressed by the interior she took photos amongst which were three of items damaged in the earthquake.
The figure is St Francis.
We had booked a table in the restaurant for 7 pm and it turned out to be quite busy, the menu was quite extensive and had over 100 different pizzas on offer, we didn’t choose one, the service was a little slapdash and our meals didn’t arrive at the same time which was annoying but Peter and I tried an espresso with grappa which was interesting.
I took this photo in town, I’ve called it “cricket ball.”
Yesterday was supposed to be our third day of visiting Venice but unfortunately before the day began we were hit by a storm with winds gusting up to 45mph and rain that never stopped all day. It wasn’t pleasant at all, we had to don full waterproofs just to take Layla for a walk.
Thankfully overnight last night the wind stopped but all day today it has been cool and showery. Upon leaving Venice we drove a short way north to Treviso where we are staying on a Sosta that is free.
Treviso is a city and commune in the Veneto region of northern Italy, a small portion of its inhabitants live inside the Venetian walls, whilst the rest occupy the area around the city.
There are many old buildings within the walled city, it’s not always easy to give a name to them.
At this one Michelle was able to do her “ Romeo where am ya,” as we say locally in England, I do know it’s not the correct city.😊
There were numerous architectural interesting buildings dotted about the city.
When we entered the city the long lunch break was in process so there weren’t many shops open but as we walked around the place came more to life and gave it more spirit.
A wonderful chimney, an old cannon, Layla wasn’t impressed. A modern church and a war memorial.We bought some oranges from this lovely fruit shop.
The province is home to the headquarters of Benetton amongst other names and the alliance maker De’Longhi. Treviso is also known for being the original production area of Prosecco wine and is thought to have been the origin of the popular Italian dessert “ tiramisu “ which was advertised in many cafe/ restaurants.
This cheeky fountain apparently once flowed with wine.
Around the city runs a river and inside there are small canals, we walked back for a mile or so along the river.
Side canal.
Alongside the river we came across a creature enjoying a picnic.
Again we started relatively early and caught the 9 a.m Vaporetto to Venice. The terminal for the Number 12 ferry to Murano and Burano goes from the opposite side of the island from where we disembark the Vaporetto, it is a 30 minute walk to Fondamenta Nuove.
I purchased a day ticket for the ferries which enables you to hop on and off as often as you like, for 25 euros each.
Isola di San Michele.
The first stop was Isola di San Michele which is the cemetery for Venice, The island is divided into sections according to denomination.
Not much further on you come to Murano. Murano since medieval times has been the centre of Venetian glass production, I have read somewhere that it was concentrated on this island so it’s furnaces couldn’t cause fires on the mainland.
I tried to take a photo of this magnificent chandelier but it was behind glass and the image doesn’t do it justice.
The island isn’t just about glass there are some wonderful buildings.
At one point I asked Michelle to stand on a bridge I wanted to take a photo of when a man with a delivery boat reversed down the canal and under the bridge.
Mid morning we stopped for coffee and a pastry.
Whilst in this cafe we were approached by an Italian lady who lived on the island and wanted to give Layla a treat which Layla very much appreciated. We heard her life story and how she’d lived in the USA always had pets etc she was a genuine Italian grandmother.
After a reasonable time on Murano we caught the ferry to Burano, this took a little longer than the first leg of the journey and the ferry stopped at Mazzorbo, we found out later you could get off here and walk across a wooden bridge to Burano.
MazzorboMazzorbo.Mazzorbo
The moment we stepped ashore at Burano I felt at home, I loved its colourful houses, it’s wider streets it was peaceful. Burano is tucked away in the northern lagoon, it’s brilliantly coloured houses and lace making tradition are a magnet for tourists who come here for a taste of life in a fishing community.
One building that towered above everything else gave a different perspective depending on where you stood.
As you can read the tower leans by 1.85m A selection of interesting items.
Ever since we arrived in Italy I’ve been saying I must have an Italian ice cream and today I achieved my goal.
Coffee flavoured.
Despite it raining quite heavily at times we really enjoyed our visit to Murano and Burano and could quite happily have spent more hours there, maybe we will return.
This morning we rose a little earlier than normal, we bought a 3 day travel ticket for the vaporetto and caught the 9am departure, this docked at the terminal Zattere.
Our early departure was designed to enable us to get to some of the main tourist spots before the crowds built up, that’s useful if you want to take photos but also for us it means Layla isn’t being trodden on.
Rialto Bridge.Posing on the bridge.
It was a short walk from here to St Marks square, Michelle tried to prebook a ticket to go in St Marks but they weren’t available, there was a lot of scaffolding around that limited the view and crowds were already beginning to form.
We intend to return to this area on Thursday and I will endeavour to take more successful photos
Doge’s Palace.
We wandered off from the busy area and began to explore the streets in the vicinity, there are a lot of shops selling expensive items and many shops selling identical items, Murano glass, Carnival masks etc.
A shop selling puppets.
Eventually we decided to stop for a mid morning break.
Coffee and a very fully filled jam brioche.
Fully refreshed we wandered on….
After a while the streets began to fill with fellow tourists so we headed back to Rialto Bridge, crossed the Grand Canal and began to walk along much narrower streets with fewer tourists. Eventually the stomach dictated a stop …
We weren’t tempted by a full lunch although menus were very inviting and settled for a small omelette each.
Feeling refreshed but beginning to tire we walked in zig zag way through many streets keeping the Grand Canal on our left, these streets were decidedly less touristy.
You often hear about Venice’s problem with flooding and even today there were some areas with water washing ashore from the canals, we even saw a waiter wearing wellingtons.
Walkways were provided where flooding is often.Not sure I would want to eat at this restaurant.
Just a brief blog this evening as it has been a functional day to enable us to reach our goal of Venice.
We took the Autostrada for at least 90% of the journey which is quite boring as my eyes tend to be glued to the vehicles ahead and not on the scenery.
We had pre-booked our stay here as it is a popular site and thankfully booking in went smoothly, there are some premium pitches bordering the lagoon but you have to book them a long time in advance, we are on a pitch about 20m from the edge of the lagoon and we can see Venice in the distance.
Next to the campsite is a boat yard with approx 100 fast looking speed boats stored on shore, there is a crane with a cradle that swings them onto the water, also there is a large roll on roll off ferry moored up.
There’s quite a lot of action on the water with a variety of vessels passing by.
Today we drove down most of the eastern side of Lake Garda, slow going.Thankfully the roads weren’t as narrow as some we have endured over the past three days, Michelle took some photos as we drove along as again stopping regularly to take photos wasn’t easy. Today being sunny and a Sunday everyone was heading for the lake, there were scooter clubs, motorbike clubs, vintage car clubs along with hundreds of day trippers heading towards the lake. Thankfully after a while we cleared the lake and as we were driving away our side of the road became much quieter.
A narrow section.
The site we were on last night and in the fields alongside the road are full olive trees laden with olives and we did see at least one outlet selling extra virgin olive oil.
Our target for today was to reach Soave a much shorter journey thankfully. I’d heard of Soave wine but didn’t know of its origin, but of course I do now as it is made from grapes from this region.
Grapes hanging above one of the gateway entrances to town.
Soave is a walled town with its walls and entrances still in existence, high above is a castle which Alison and Peter visited, we walked up to the castle but didn’t wait for it to open, I was just extremely pleased I had the ability to climb up to its high perch after the last 16 months feeling weak.
You could walk on part of the walls.We found these flight of steps leading upwards out of a park and used them to reach the castle.View across the town.
As we walked into a town we came across a row of Harley Davidson motorbikes parked up.
Through a gateway in the above wall you could hear music and the babble of many voices.
In an area elevated above the road were long trestle tables with benches, the bikers plus others were eating there and drinks could be bought from a bar.We saw this menu outside a bar/ cafe but weren’t too sure of the horse meat stew.
We did take a refreshing cold drink in a bar at the bottom of the town before heading back to Homer.
Entrance gateway with the grapes.Not sure who he is or why he is doing a leap frog.Michelle went in this church and was impressed.
The arch priest church of Soave was built in 1744 on the site of where in 1303 a primitive church was built., it was enlarged in 1883. The entrance steps are marble, it has a single nave with side alters of Baroque style rich in marble with valuable paintings. There are paintings throughout the church and there is a large fresco on the ceiling of the nave.
Not long after we got back we could hear what seemed like loud cheering from a number of people, when we looked across the road we could see a large gathering of people who were taking part in a keep fit session, dancing and performing other exercises.
They were there for approximately 30 mins and then they moved to a sports field behind us where they continued to exercise for another 30 minutes. It wore me out watching😂😂😂
taraabit 