GRAZ, SLOVENIA, ITALY, TRIEST, TREVISO, VICENZA

---

HEY GUYS, LEFT VIENNA TO HEAD DOWN TO SLOVENIA BUT ON THE WAY WE ARE STOPPING IN A PLACE CALLED GRAZ, MY SISTER IN LAW GERTI COMES FROM THERE, WE HAVE BEEN BEFORE BUT AS WE ARE VIRTUALLY PASSING THE TOWN ON THE AUTOSTRADE, WE HAVE DECIDED TO STOP AND VISIT HER FAMILY. THE SCENERY IS SO BEAUTIFUL ON THE WAY, GREEN MOUNTAINS, WITH A HINT OF SNOW STILL ON THE HIGHEST PEAKS, WHEN WE ARRIVE IN GRAZ AFTER LEAVING THE AUTOBAHN, WE TURN LEFT AND IMMEDIATELY I YELL TO PAUL THAT'S WHERE GERTIS MUM LIVES! AND AS WE PULL THE GRISSWOLD MOBILE HOME INTO THE CAR PARK, AND I SPOT HER MUM AND WAVE, BUT I DON'T THINK SHE REALISED IT WAS US. A YOUNG BOY CAME UP TO THE WINDOW AND SAID TO PAUL, HELLO PAUL WELCOME TO GRAZ. I LOOKED AT HIM AND SAID WHO ARE YOU,
I AM DAVIDE, BOY LAST TIME I SAW HIM HE WAS ABOUT 4 YEARS OF AGE AND NOW A VERY GOOD LOOKING YOUNG MAN. WE PARKED AND WENT UPSTAIRS, WITH THEM TO HAVE A COFFEE AND CAKE AS IT WAS HIS DANIEL'S BIRTHDAY AND HIS PARENTS - GUSTI AND INGRID AS WELL. WE HAD ABOUT 3 COFFEES AS MRS WILFLING KEPT WASHING AND CLEANING CUPS AND MAKING COFFEE FOR US, BY THIS TIME I WAS HANGING OFF THE WALLS. WE LEFT THEN TO GO AND STAY WITH ANGELA, AND THAT NIGHT WE WENT TO A LOCAL RESTAURANT FOR DINNER. WE HAD TYPICAL CUISNE FROM THE AREA, SOUP MADE FROM A LOCAL HERB, TASTED LIKE GARLIC BUT WAS REALLY GOOD, PAUL HAD VIENNA SCHNITZEL WAS SO BIG TOOK UP THE WHOLE PLATE, AND I HAD ANOTHER DISH OF CHICKEN AND SALAD WITH PUMPKIN OIL, SO GOOD, BUT SO MUCH. WE HAD A GOOD TIME WITH DAVIDE, ANGELA, GUSTI, INGRID AND DANIEL.. THAT NIGHT WE DRANK RED WINE AT ANGELA'S AND TALKED ABOUT AUSTRALIA,,AND EVERYTHING ELSE THAT WAS WRONG IN THE WORLD. THE NEXT DAY ANGELA TOOK US ON A TOUR OF GRAZ AND UP TO THE TOP OF THE HILL WHERE THE SCHLOSS IS, PAUL WALKED UP THE STAIRS BUT ANGELA AND I TOOK THE ELEVATOR, PAUL TOOK 7 MINUTES TO CLIMB UP,ABOUT 1200 STEPS, HE MADE ME PUT THAT IN SO THAT YOU THINK HE IS FIT, WE HAD A GOOD TOUR AROUND WITH ANGELA GIVING US THE HISTORY OF EVERYTHING, WE WALKED ALL AROUND THE TOWN HAD LUNCH NEXT TO WHERE ARNOLD SCHWANGGER BUYS HIS LUNCH, THAT ONE WAS CLOSED AS IT WAS SUNDAY, AND THEN ANGELA TOOK US UP THE MOUNTAIN TO THE FESTIVAL FOR THE FIRE BRIGADE, AFTER PAUL TELLING HER HOW TO DRIVE THE CAR, WHEN TO CHANGE GEARS ETC, WE MADE IT TO THE TOP AND THEN HE WANTED HER TO PARK HALFWAY INTO THE FORREST AS THERE WERE CARS EVERYWHERE, BUT SHE SAID NO, AND THEN RANG DAVIDE WHO GOT US PERMISSION TO GO AND PARK WHERE THE FIRE BRIGADES WHERE ETC, HAD A GR8 TIME, DANCED WITH THE COMMANDER OF THE FIRE BRIGADE AND PAUL WAS ASKED TO DANCE BY A YOUNG GIRL SEE THE PHOTOS, AND WE HAD A LOT TO DRINK LOTS OF BEER, AND DANCING AND SINGING AND EVERYTHING WAS REALLY GOOD,EVERYONE WAS WEARING TRADITIONAL COSTUME JUST LIKE IN THE MOVE 'NATIONAL LAMPOONS EUROPEAN VACATION' LOTS OF FUN!! AND THEN PAUL WAS GIVEN A PIN TO WEAR BY THE NEXT MAYOR OF GRAZ?? HOPEFULLY HE WAS VERY NICE TO TALK TO, WE SAW HARALD GERTI'S BROTHER AND HIS FRIEND RICKARD WHO BOTH CAME TO AUSTRALIA AND MORE BEER, SO MUCH UNBELIEVABLE. THE BEST TIME WE HAD IN THE TRIP.
MONDAY WE LEFT TO HEAD OFF TO SLOVENIA., THE WEATHER IN GRAZ WAS AROUND 25 BUT WHEN WE ARRIVED IN LJUBLIANA IT WAS AROUND 17 AND RAINING, STAYED OVERNIGHT THERE AND HAD A LOOK AROUND CITY AND THEN HEADED OFF TO BLED, THE TOWN ON THE LAKE WITH THE ISLAND IN THE MIDDLE. ALL THE WAY TO BLED IT WAS BEAUTIFUL SCENERY HOWEVER, LIKE A GHOST TOWN, NO ONE AROUND ALL THE STREETS IN THE TOWNS WE PASSED THROUGH WERE DESERTED, BLED WAS SO GORGEOUS, BUT VERY COLD, WE HAD TO HAVE THE HEATER ON IN THE CAMPERVAN ALL NIGHT, AND THE MIST WAS RISING FROM THE LAKE, VERY EERIE, AND SPOOKY JUST LIKE THOSE MOVIES WHEN THE MURDERER COMES OUT OF THE MIST!!! WE STAYED A COUPLE OF DAYS THERE AND THEN PAUL DECIDED IT WAS TIME TO HEAD ON DOWN TO ITALY. WE ARRIVED IN TRIEST, IN SHITTY WEATHER RAINED THE FIRST DAY, BUT WE WENT INTO THE FORREST TO PICK ASPARAGUS, AT LEAST PAUL PICKED, I JUST TOOK PICTURES OF HIM, SO FUNNY TO SEE. THE 2ND DAY WE WENT INTO TRIESTE BY BUS, AND IN THE MAIN PIAZZA, THEY WERE MAKING A MOVIE SET DURING THE 1950s AND HAD ALL THE OLD CARS THAT THEY USED TO USE IN THOSE DAYS, WAS GOOD TO SEE, TOOK PHOTOS AND
EVERYTHING, WE STAYED 2 DAYS AND THEN MOVED ONTO TREVISO, BUT STOPPED FOR THE DAY IN VENICE, AND AS USUAL JUST GR8 NEVER CHANGES, ALWAYS SO PRETTY AND LOVELY TO SEE, THE WATER WAS HIGH THOUGH AND SLAPPING OVER THE PIAZZA AT LITTLE, NOT TOO HIGH THOUGH, AFTER THE DAY SPENT THERE WE WENT TO TREVISO, THIS TOWN WAS THE NICEST I HAVE SEEN IN A LONG TIME, LITTLE CANALS EVERYWHERE, SMALLER THAN VENICE, BUT PRETTY AND THE MOST BEAUTIFUL HOUSES IN THE SOME OF THE AREAS THAT WE HAVE SEEN AND THE DESIGNER SHOPS, NEED TO MARRY A MILLIONAIRE NEXT TIME.!!!!!!!!!!!! STAYED OVERNIGHT AND THEN MOVED ONTO VICENZA, THE CITY OF
'PALLADIO' THE FAMOUS ARCHITECT. THIS CITY HAS SO MANY FANTASTIC BUILDINGS DESIGNED BY THIS GUY UNBELIEVABLE BUILDINGS. THE WHITEHOUSE IN AMERICA FOLLOWS THE SAME STYLE AS THEY HAVE THERE, WE WENT AROUND FOR 2 DAYS LOOKING AT THE DIFFERENT STYLES THAT HAVE BEEN USED. WHEN WE WERE LEAVING THE CAMPERVAN STARTED TO MAKE A SCREECHING SOUND AND WE HAD TO GO AND FIND A FORD DEALER TO HAVE THEM LOOK AT IT AS IT IS BRAND NEW AND COVERED UNDER WARRANTY. THE NOISE WAS DRIVING US INSANE, A VERY LOUD SCREECHING SOUND, AND PAUL KEPT COMPLAINING, WE COULD NOT WORK OUT WHAT IS WAS, I TRIED RINGING THE HELPDESK FOR FORD AS ADVISED BY OUR AGENT IN GERMANY WHEN WE PICKED UP THE VAN, BUT SHE WAS JUST THE OPERATOR AND SAID SHE WOULD GET SOMEONE TO RINGME BACK, GUESS WHAT, JUST LIKE AUSTRALIA STILL WAITING FOR THE CALL. WE FOUND THE FORD DEALER, WHO LOOKED OVER EVERYTHING BUT HE COULD NOT WORK OUT WHAT THE PROBLEM WAS AND SAID HE NEEDED TO HAVE THE VAN FOR A COUPLE OF DAY, SO PAUL SAID WE WILL DRIVE TO FONDI, HIS HOMETOWN, AROUND 450 KMS, WITH THIS NOISE, SO WE WENT LOOKING FOR EARPLUGS, COULD NOT FIND, AND THEN WHEN WE STARTED THE VAN AGAIN, THE NOISE HAD STOPPED, SO I HAD FINALLY WORKED OUT WHAT THE 2 FORD DEALERS, PAUL COULD NOT WORK OUT, THE AUTO STAIRS THAT WE HAVE TO GET UP AND DOWN INTO THE VAN AT THE BACK HAD NOT BEEN CLOSED ALL THE WAY AND THIS WAS A WARNING THAT SOMETHING WAS NOT RIGHT. WOMAN POWER, YEAH!!!!! I WAS NOT LOOKING FORWARD TO SPENDING 450KMS LISTENING TO PAUL WHINGING ALL THE WAY, I WOULD HAVE COMMITED A MURDER THAT DAY FOR SURE. NEXT STOP AREZZO, THIS WAS FUNNY WE HAD A VAN 3.10 M HIGH AND THE GPS WAS SENDING US TO GO UNDER A BRIDGE THAT WAS ONLY 2.50M, SO I HAD TO FIND ANOTHER WAY AROUND THE CITY WHEN THE GPS KEPT SAYING TURN BACK, TURN BACK, EVENTUALLY I JUST SHUT HER DOWN AND FOUND MY OWN WAY TO GET TO THE FREE CAR PARK FOR CAMPERS IN THE CITY.

---