Blogs from Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy, Europe - page 5

Today was Trieste day. We woke up early having had a bad night. The sounds of the local disco in Sistiana had wafted up from the harbour and disturbed us giving us a fitful night of sleep. Have come to the conclusion with campsites that some you win and some you lose. This one has everything but the boom boom reverberating from the harbour really took the shine off it. Our next door neighbours with child left having got fed up of the music and we moved to another plot further away in the hope of losing the noise. We had to sacrifice our sea view which was painful but we really did not feel inclined to listen to another night of disco music. We chose not to try the internet today as the cost of ... read more

Before we set off for the start of week 2 we wrote down our thoughts on the week = we seem to be trying to mark campsites and work out which we prefer. At the moment would say that it is the quieter sites with perhaps less facilities like bars and swimming pools. More facilities tend to mean more people and that brings with it extra noise. We get a better nights sleep without the families who need all the facilities. Toilets and shower blocks range from excellent to downright basic. Some cleaner than others. I suppose you take your chance with each one. Washing clothes seems difficult at times. I can get them washed but moving on each day means little time to get them dried. I concentrate on smalls as these do dry easier. ... read more

Ten days in September in Italy visiting cities mostly: Bergamo, Florence, Lucca, Rimini, Venice, Trieste, Milan.. Its my first visit, and being nature person I still really appreciated art and civilization i found in that country. Every city has its own spirit, but Florence and Venice especially. Milan was not impressive, except Duomo worth visiting as rest cities had heavy Romanesque buildings and Milano Duomo is magnificent piece of Gothic. Letting pictures speak for it. Enjoyed traveling by trains. ... read more

At the foot of the Juliaen Prealps, on Via Augustus that connected Aquileia with Norienna (Austria), Fruili is a series of fortified towns dating from Roman times. Lombards came from Norway through the central plains of Europe in the 5th century, settled and controlled the area until its was annexed to the Republic of Venica in 1420, fell under Austrian rule in 1798, belonged to France for a short time and oscillated between Austria & Italy until annexed by Italy in 1866. What about Yugoslavia, just over the lesser hills? The people mostly speak their own language, Fruileano, rather than Italian and many don't move far from the village in which they were born. That is, apart from all those Fruili folks who emigrated to Australia in the 60's. Our friends live in Gemona del Fruili ... read more

Triesting Times Three Countries In One Day The amazing hospitality being shown us in Croatia continues. Sanja’s brother, Miki, and his girlfriend, Doris take a day off to take us to Trieste in Italy. This involves travelling from Croatia, through a corner of Slovenia, and into Italy. There are good quality roads all the way. There has been a lot of road building in recent years but there’s also a lot of toll stations to pass through to help pay for it. Miki is also very careful to keep to the speed limits in Slovenia – both him and Sanja have told us that the Slovenian police hand out large instant fines for anyone caught speeding. Miki is clearly on a different career path to Sanja. He is an expert at finding his way to Trieste ... read more