[EUROBOUT CONTINENTAL CAROUSEL - 1984] DAY 9

Travel Notes
August 19, 1984 - Day 19
AUSTRIA - ITALY

Vienna, Austria - Hotel Academia

It was with great cheer that we bid goodbye to the chain-mail beds. The magic of the previous night was still operative, with Sylvia and I tra-la-la-ing Strauss on the way to the bus.

Vienna, Austria - Tarvisio, Italy

Since Lucerne we have been traveling through mountain country and there is so much to see while on the road!  Looking up, one notes the reinforced steel, sometimes wooden, structures used to keep rocks and stones off the highway.  There are  highway signs that tell you to beware of : deer, stray falling rocks, pheasant and even cows!

There were no problems at the border, and the dollar exchange very good from the American point of view.  At 1500 lira to a US dollar, we're all millionaires now, or at least we feel like we are!  However, one million lire is not exactly a lot when a can of Coke costs 3000 lire...still, even with such prices, Italy appears to  have a thriving economy.  We also saw the first signs of littering since we left London.

Tarvisio - Monastier/Venice, Park Hotel Villa Fiorita

Augh. such a very long drive today!  And that was even before discovering that Bart had the wrong directions to the hotel - or maybe it was the wrong hotel for the directions, who knew? Between them it's a matter of pride for Earl and Bart to get us to the hotel while the sun is still up, but they had no such luck today.

Long story short, we arrived at  quarter past eight in the evening. We'd stopped to ask directions, and I'm not sure Carmen helped any by going up to the bus door and trying out her broken Italian.

We found the hotel by going to a bus station, letting Earl off to take a cab, and then following the cab to the hotel.  Which was the good news.  But at 25,000 lire for a cab?  Mamma mia!

However, the hotel is not without its consolations : the bedroom is lovely, with a balcony that opens out to the garden and villa below. 

There was “vera cuccina italiana“ for dinner : pasta, veal, ham, and still more pasta! Really yummy stuff.  Some tour members went silly, asking for spaghetti when there was a perfectly good white sauce on top of the pasta - argh!