Good day heading into Italy

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Day 7, Saturday, August 30

Up at 6:00 am.; luggage out at 6:30, bkfst til 7, on bus about 7:15 a.m.

Today was a spectacularly beautiful drive through the Alps to go to Venice. Morning break in Innsbruck at the Swarovski store (and all I bought was a pencil with a crystal on the end - and got the “free gift” for groups who shop, a little tack pin with a crystal - cute). Three floors to the store, not huge, and there were quite a few things they didn't have, like the zodiac animals, and several others. A lot of the company's business is optics for telescopes, etc. They did have a fanciful winterland exhibit, several large pieces and assorted jewelry, but certainly not the selection I was expecting (they didn't even have the little stegosaurus that I bought in Grand Cayman, where I don't have to worry about tax, or VAT refund, or anything). The store (which was our RR break) is near the “Golden Roof” which is not very big and is supposed to be covered with golden pennies, so a friend of the King's wouldn't be called Frederick the Penniless anymore.

We had spectacular views almost the entire drive, altho hard to get good photos going at speed thru the bus windows. Many, many picturesque small Bavarian-style towns. Just gorgeous. Our lunch stop was at a small italian town called Dobbiaco which had a wonderful Alps view. I had soup, bread and small beer for E7.50. Spaghetti lunch with salad and a little canned fruit dessert was about E11.50, plus drink. Several of us who are missing our cats enjoyed a little visit outside with the local resident fat tabby.

We went through Cortina (not as picturesque, and mostly closed down for the summer - it comes alive during the winter, with lots of hotels and guesthouses). The old Olympic ski jump is starting to fall apart. We did stop for an overview photo of the area, without the ski jump. Then continued on through the Dolomites. This whole day was one spectacular view after another, only a tiny bit of haze - really needed a polarizing filter, and more stops.

We had a roadside RR stop at an actual Autogrill - very handy. I have been filling up my two water bottles from the taps each day, which has worked out fine for me, instead of having to buy water all the time (even in the restaurants - sometimes water costs more than beer, and ice is very rare).

There were several toll points along the roads today; lots of traffic, got stalled because of it a couple of times. But, we made it to Venice with time to spend in our rooms before heading off to dinner. Only had suitcase for about 5-10 mintues tho, to get a little cleaned up and changed, so I wasn't very organized. Pretty much just took my camera and money. So, I wasn't very well prepared, with a backup when my batteries started getting low; camera did make it through the evening.

Our bus took us to the big parking lot at the edge of Venice, then we took 3 taxi boats along the Grand Canal in to San Marco Square. A very fun trip; at one point I did say “this is rather ugly” -- but I got over that. A lot of the buildings along the canal are getting rather decrepit with age, of course, but many are still lovely, and we had fantastic early evening light. Saw lots of gondolas and many other types of boats. It was a delightful drive. We walked through the square, going and coming back from the restaurant, and had a nice view of the buildings around it.

Dinner was excellent, several courses, with wine included and mimosas to start (their version - orange juice and Prosecco) - I had a couple of extras that were left over at our table. There were several bottles of already opened wine on our table when we started, and we left wine there at the end!! And I wasn't even tipsy, but put away my share of course (Hated having to leave it there). I did purloin an empty bottle for the label, but that didn't work out - it disintegrated when soaked). We had choices at each course, except for dessert. I started with shrimp with a small bit of polenta accompanied by a dollop of puree of dried cod fish (much better than it sounds). Then Tagliatelle (a bit like the tagliarini I make) and Chef's Lasagnette. Main course for me was Beef Stew Doge's Style, spinach, potatoes, and a bit of salad. I guess I like it so much, because the flavors were familiar, similar to things I make myself. Dessert for everyone was Tiramisu, which I've never liked before - this was loverly - that was the only plate I cleaned up (plus a little extra). Another bonus of being a single traveler --I was on the end where they weren't always sure if they were supposed to put something down, because the tables were set for more people than we actually had (not everyone went). And Marieke sat with us in one of those spaces, so we had a chance to chat with her some. She usually sits at a separate table with Mario, the bus driver.

The ride back got a little exciting; our boat-taxi driver got into a couple of altercations with other boats, and ended up speeding a bit to catch up with the group - very fun for us!

All in all, an excellent day today!

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