Berrrrrerr-lin

Still cold, but above 5 which is nice. A big day of driving across Germany. No speed limit and no tolls. Gotta love that!

Other cost saving measure was that we found we can get a refund on our toilet stops if we buy something.

Toilets are big business here- even in cafe's there can be a turnstile asking for .70€ or more. Alas, it is less than Venice...

Double rooms in Germany means 2 separate single beds pushed together with a doona folded on top of each. Not in the aussie/frenchy way where they try to hide the fact that they have made a double out of two beds.

The 'going' rate in Venice/ Rach looked hard for the double bed/ We will need a proper translation for 'nien gluten' but Rachel's second shnitty was amazing

White Easter in Munchen

Went to barvarian pub for some local fare. Rach had her first legit German shnitty, and Trav found out how hot horseradish can be when mistaken for grated cheese.

Woke to snow in Munich. Thought it was behind us! A beautiful city to see covered in snow. Easter Sunday in the main square at a great cafe- you can buy hard boiled eggs for 1€ each. With local sausage, pretzels, cheese and ham we had a great brekkie.

Explored the very clean and well designed city and took in the beautiful snow-covered 'Englischer garten'. Watched the surfers in the garden hit up the river waves :) looks fun but v cold.

Off to Berlin today- hope the roads are not too icy.

Ps everything reasonably priced so far except for toilets and water, again no taps...

Trav et Rach in the snow/ surfers in 'Englischer garten'

Roads are rivers in Venice

The first thing you notice here is the lack of engines running. Very quiet and slow.

Thursday: Each night between 6 & 7 locals and visitors flock to the many little bars with 'snacks': cheeses, salami, anchovies, bread, artichoke etc.

No one here drinks or eats fast, and you can sit on your 'spritz' or glass of wine for an hour and watch the world float by.

10€ for 5 snacks and 2 glasses of wine. At 7 peak hour is over and you realize that you had better get to a restaurant before they are full.

In the very residential Dosodoro where we are staying we found the best gelato we have ever had: Grom.

The pistachio is grainy, savory and sweet. The salty caramel is out of this world and strawberry has pips through it. We made 4 visits in 2 days. That is how good it is.

Good Friday: visited the tourist side of Venice. So so so busy. The main square is so grand for such a small town; police have their work cut out confiscating knockoff handbags and sunglasses and moving on people who sit on the ground (it is forbidden).

Took a gondola ride through the residential (quiet) part of Venice. The gondolier took us through the rivers of his childhood and also on to the Grand Canal.

An arm and a leg but worth twice the price. Once he saw we were comfortable he offered us a 'discount' on the hour long journey which was impossible to resist.

It changes how you look at the village. So calm, as authentic as a tourist experience gets. The sun was coming down as we turned on to the home stretch. Magical, surreal and something we will never forget.

Quote of the day... In response to 'tap water thanks' the waiter said 'we only have bottled'. So, you do not have a tap?

Wine bar & shop/ Venice back (waters)

One for dad and jase (and other racing nerds)

Wednesday: After a full day of sightseeing in Florence and Pisa we were on track to arrive at Venice (sans accommodation booking) around 11pm. We were also battling with over 100 semis across the mountains.

Deciding the late arrival may create an issue due to the relaxed way of life here (read reduced reception hours), lack of wifi action (you need an Italian phone number to access at public sites) and limited driving ability because of the canals we looked on the map for an overnighter and found... Imola!

Unfortunately we forgot F1 is no longer here but a visit to the track this morning was still good fun. Saw some bikes out on practice, checked out the start/finish line and peered into the Ferrari digs.

Annoyingly though, in typical Italian driver style, the 'imolese' think they should be on the track too.

Tuscany

Tuesday: Wine tasting in Montalcino started the day. Stand out visit was the beautiful vineyard / home of a biodynamic wiz. A great couple of hours with her and the three dogs, looking at the vineyards, cellar and bio equipment. Very interesting and awesome wine too!

Arrived late in Florence but got a spot on dinner recommendation from our (kitschy but great) hotel. A local family run trattoria Rach got her first taste of homemade pasta- amazing!

Wednesday: A full day of bootlegging. Regrettably we only had a half day in Florence. For us, it is the most beautiful city so far- along with Porto.

The lineup to see Michaelangelo's David was moving slower than a french check out chick so we ditched the line to explore the city.

On our way to the river we saw the replica David where the famous statue once stood. Bootleg No. 1.

Set off for Pisa to see its famous tower. It is really hard to look away. At the top its lean is about 5m off of centre. Sorry that our pics do not do it justice. Beautiful, funny and bizarre all at once and well worth the detour.

On the way back to the Pug we were heckled by a pack of dodgy watch salesmen. We negotiated a price: bootleg No. 2!

Trav with some very happy vines at Pian Dell Orino in Montalcino/ Missing Florence already/ Pisa

Rome-ing...

Who said Rome was not conquered in a day?

We did our best to fit Rome highlights in to one very busy day. 11 hours later had seen the Vatican, Sistine Chapel, the Colosseum, and last but not least the Pantheon, Spanish Steps and tartuffo gelato in Piazza Nevona.

The Vatican line up was over 100m long, and as we approached the entry we discovered why the line moved so slow.

Locals were pushing in at the front of the line. They are pros here. We tapped one guy on he shoulder and said 'the end of the line is over there'. He pleaded ignorance and pushed in again a few places behind us. Cutting the queue to see a church. Very Rome.

The light is beautiful in Rome at night. Tiny lamps on the sides of (very) old buildings and the reflection of fountains at every square is very romantic.

Started to drizzle on the way home. Before the first drop had hit the ground the hawkers had hit the streets with umbrellas. They came from nowhere and everywhere. Most original line was 'I give you special half price- 5€. All the others had a starting price of 5€.

The layout and scale of buildings in Rome is intimidating and masculine. It was built with the confidence and spirit of being the centre of the old world.

Saint Peter's in 3D/ Colosseum/ Rach at the top of the Steps

Alba to Rome...

On the way to Rome we stopped at one of the small villages in Cinque Terre- a world heritage site. Huge cliffs, terraced vineyards, and tiny little towns hugging huge and steep cliff faces.

Lunch was as simple as it gets. With a touch of vertigo we found a snack bar above the old town with million dollar views.

The bill came to 20 euros (inc 2 courses for Trav), the chairs were plastic. Mum was in the kitchen while dad ran the bar and 5 tables. Amazing lifestyle- their house was on the terrace below with olive trees, vines and tomatoes.

We thought Paris traffic was bad. Rome is a step up- speed limits, road markings, traffic lights and common courtesy do not apply. Scooters weave in and out of bumper to bumper gridlock and cars drive in the emergency lane. The major accident on the way in did not change for a second the mentality of the local's.

Finished the day with a touch of local food poisoning at a very touristy restaurant that we would usually avoid and a walk to the Trevi Fountain.

Lunch with a view/ Trevi Fountain