We finally arrived yesterday evening in Venice or to be precise 15 minutes by bus from Venice. We got a great welcome from our Airbnb hosts with instructions on how to get into Venice, including a bus ticket because they cost double when you buy them on the bus. Then we took off our bike gear (peeled if off really) had a quick shower and went looking for the bus. Before we found it, we found a little pizzeria. It was too much temptation to resist, we were melting with the heat, tired and hungry….. so we had great pizza, cold water and good wine and went home to fall asleep. The tourist  Venice will begin today.

(Beautiful Austria)

But the tourist Austria began yesterday. We left our backpackers (backpackers don’t get breakfast included in with the bed) guest house early (8.30am) yesterday morning with a promise of breakfast on the way. Now, this can be a bit of a mistake, because Denis doesn’t eat breakfast and I can’t function without it. So I was more hopeful than certain that I would be nourished before lunch. And within minutes of our leaving the town of Fussen my hope dissipated. We hit a traffic jam on a narrow road. As we had never been on the road so early we thought they would be clear but no, the camper vans and trucks were already ahead of us. The road was too narrow for any handy bike manoeuvres so we waited. Thirty five minutes later we were still waiting there, but it was cool and picturesque, so no rush…..

(The reason for the traffic jam)

It turned out to be road works. We were now in Austria. Having travelled for so long on the motorways of Germany we were woken up by our route in Austria. It was beautiful. Cool and shady with amazing views around every corner, so much so my little camera ran out of battery long before the border with Italy. And around one corner there was a restaurant – breakfast! It had taken an hour but the setting was perfect so I didn’t complain.

(Isn’t it pretty? Yes Denis, I mean the bike!)

Just as we arrived a bus full of elderly German tourists also arrived, we spotted them just in time and we dashed towards the outside seats. We were fast….. and younger (by a little…) but they still made it to the seats before us.  By this stage Denis was interested in breakfast and was a little put out by our delay so he used his secret weapon – me. I smiled and waved at the waiter and when that didn’t work I followed him into the kitchen. I only succeeded in annoying him and we still had to wait until he served the whole bus.

(The waiter. I’m not as charming as I once was…. but charming enough to get a photo and a smile for you guys!)

Off to Venice with some suggestions (thank you Susanna and Marie) will let you know how it goes, Mairead.