Happy Travels

VENICE

As you can see, chronologically these pages don´t follow. I´ve not told you about Venice – that city was very hot, very crowded (which I believe is about normal for their summer and holiday season – and anyhow it is a tourist place-I read 20million visitors pa), it was a relief most times being on the water. In Venice, all public transport is by ´vaporetto´ a small passenger ferry along the canals. To cross the Grand Canal, the main ´street´, between the 3 bridges, one can use a ´traghetto´, a cheap way to get a gondola ride as it is a gondola and just takes one, standing, for 50c across.

When I flew in I took a ferry to Lido, an outer island, sort of like a breakwater to the shallow waters of the Laguna Veneta, from the Adriatic, where I managed to get a single room. The accommodation problem at that time of the year (June – September) means when a room is let, if there are 2 beds and a single traveller, then the charge is double for the room. A huge amount of hostels and hotels and other accommodation charge this way as so many groups travel together.

I enjoyed Lido, easy and flat to get around in, lovely buildings with frescoes, balustrading and the famous hotel used in Thomas Mann´s novel ´Death in Venice´, yep, can´t think of the name. Back to Venice – not at all what I imagined. Behind the buildings facing the canals is a maze of small lanes and the map markings and the street signs on buildings mostly don´t match. I moved from Lido to the back streets of Veneto (Venice) for 14€ pn and got so tired of losing my way, I left town and went to a camping ground. Before the move, in a large untidy second hand book shopI met some nomadic americans whom I befriended. Cliff & Sandy – really not pleased with the US of A and have been on the move in their VW Kombi van for 17 years basing themselves in Europe and one time returning to Washington State for a short stay and for other winters heading to Greece for 6 months. I moved to the Serennissima Camping ground and paid 2€ in return into Venice on the bus and lived in a like little shoebox. The mosquitoes were a bit of a problem, and the heat, however after 10 days left Venice by train for Graz, Austria.

In Venice I saw inside very few of their landmark buildings, admiring the outside however, some of the queues were 2 hours long – waiting in the sun – Europeans are quite nuts about standing in the sun. I did notice that there was not the same sting in it that we suffer from and I was one of the few crazies wearing a hat – my American friends said the same – they wear hats where no one else seems to bother. Think people forget that eyes need protection etc.

AUSTRIA

Train from Venice – staff at the station and tourist offices less than helpful, little english for such a tourist turnover. But the train left Venice no air conditioning and no dining car with the trip taking 8 hours or so. I want to return the trip during winter. The train sped through the Alps, there was no lighting in the carriages and it was pitch, except for a very weak emergency light in the corridor – trains are compartmentalised. So to come out between the Alps, glance a tiny village, and back into another tunnel, what a view when snow atop the mountains. And the tunnels went for about 30 minutes, so some distance. We were informed by a fellow who pushed a trolley with chips, chocs and cafe´, that the air con and the lighting would work when we hit Austria and would you believe, with no change of engine, or other rolling stock, in Austria everything worked. And the attendants were tidier and more official looking. There are no superlatives different to use other than magnificent, glorious, beautiful etc for the scenery. And train trips just so comfortable. I was also told that trains out of Germany always have dining, air cond, lighting etc – they run through 3 and more countries – so can´t work out why the Italians didn´t provide the basics.

So I get to Graz, sort of mid east Austria, go find accommodation at the local YHA, then a woman who can give me the directory for WWOOFing, We´re Welcome On Organic Farms. One can work for food and bed up to 5 hrs pd x 6 dpw. I picked a farm at Liszeldorf about half way to Vienna and she dropped me there. The farm kept funny looking sheep that I kept thinking were goats, they had spiral horns, and a young crazy dog, 3 young children, chooks, couple of ducks, etc and a lot of herbs, vegies, fruit trees, and plants. I got to share the living room with whomever wanted to come in, they worked like navvies hours per day, I learned how to stake and tie tomatoes, dig gardens, plant seeds, rake grass, water vegies, collect berries they cooked into ´marmalade´, and helped with some housework some times. Klaus works from about 6am and Irmi also with a day at work in Vienna (Wien) once per week. And they have a kiwi fruit vine growing – in Austria – I have never seen that – it is a beautiful vine and the fruit hanging waiting to ripen by October.

They had made their own pond which we slipped into to cool down – a lot. The temp was pretty high.

ROMANIA

They went on hols to Korsika and I left, spent a couple of nights at Irmi´s place in Wien and caught the train to another wwoofing family in the middle of Romania, Mosna, near Medias. I knew nothing about Romania at all so thought this a good way to introduce myself to the country. I lived with a family of 5 children, had my own little room, and then worked mostly with Lavinia the mum. She works in the house, cooks all the food, stews, saves, purees, uses everything that comes off the farm, makes cheese, quark and ricotta from the milk of about 4 cows. She maintains the herb garden, organises the delightful flower garden, and grows the vegies ………she doesn´t stop.

The only organic store in all of Romania is in Sibiu, about 60kms away, and they helped open the store. They provide it with their dairy products but sometimes the market is slow. I met other organic farmers, honey, vegies, and goat products. I bought the goat fetta which was just yummy. Also we bought goat milk and made cheese and yoghurt, and home made organic goat yoghurt is 100% better than in the stores. I also tried very fresh, just home-made sheep cheese, would be classed as organic too, and that was extra delicious. Someday I want to go back with an interpreter and talk with a shepherd – they combine their sheep herds and of a night pen them and remain there in a small hut guarding the flock with the help of sheep dogs, big heavy animals, who keep the wolves and bears at bay – hence the need for a big heavy dog. I missed seeing wolves and bears but others at the family´s house met a bear on their hike. (And later in Brasov there were bear watching tours offered from the hostel but I didn´t go-they saw bears every night).

Willy, farmer and father of the family, had to take his buffalo heifer to a nearby town so she could meet a handsome buffalo, he had to walk her – 13 kms – what a sight on the road we were. I walked 11 kms at which time Lavinia arrived in the car with sustenance – a wonderful feed. This was at 7.30pm. Daylight extended up to 10pm. I rode the extra distance into the small village, mostly gypsies, called Polesti. This is where i met the shepherd and tasted such yummy cheese.

And this is where this is about to finish. I stayed at the family´s place for 6 weeks and then left for Bucharest where I now am. However, on 20 Sept fly into Dortmund, Germany and then, lots of choices. But will be in Munich for 9 October. Why did I fly here etc. well plans made and circumstances changed, so am left with about 3 weeks to fill in. Plan to fly to the UK by end of October and go wwoofing somewhere there.

Photos on camera and disc and yet to work out how to get to this page.