TOURING ITALY - ADRIATIC COAST AND NORTH TO VENICE

Another post from Italy, but no photos I am sorry as this computer won't read my memory card USB Adaptor.

Since our last post we have worked our way up the east coast of Italy, spending time on the Adriatic Coast and working our way inland and back to the coast again. This zig zagging has given us an opportunity to see highlights inland and on the coast.

This region of Italy has afforded us a choice of accomodations from Agriturismos to apartments and small hotels. As more tourists come to this area, everything is open year round, unlike the south coast (foot of the Italian map) where hotels and apartments are only open from 1st June to the end of September, and there were very few private homes or Agriturismos to stay in.

We have found the countryside from Fano on the coast to inland towns like Atri very beautiful, with fields of poppies, grapes, wheat etc. As it is spring, many crops are rising and the patchwork of the paddocks is beautiful. We have stayed in Tavuliia ( a small town towards the coast from the ancient town of Urbino) which is the home town of motorcycle racing champion Valentino Rossi. The day we arrived he was racing in Germany and won, well the cannons fired for hours, there was a band playing echoing out over the valley to our Agriturismo. That night we went into town for dinner at a little local Cucina and were presented by the proprietor with a Valentino Rossi flag with his number 46 emblazened on it, two caps and two calendars with the compliments of the official fan club! These Italians are so passionate about their sport and sporting heroes.

We have worked our way up north and in the last few days have stayed in Montegrotto a Spa town north west of Venice. It is a lovely wooded town with thermal waters. We visited Venice by train (easiest way to get there due to traffic congestion across the causeway) and had a wonderful time exploring the canals and little paved alleyways - a photographers jackpot. Due to the days of rain before and the day we arrived, combined with a high tide, the piazzas were flooding due to water coming up throught the stormwater vents. Some shops had their gumboots at the ready to get in or out! Venice was full of tourists but still an amazing city.

We are heading north tomorrow over the alps and into Austria, where we are going to stay with a family in an apartment above their restaurant, 800m up in a small mountain village. During the winter they run a ski school and the son is a chef who well known for his Austrian, French and Italian dishes.

In two weeks we are due at the Villa we have rented in Todi, Umbria, so in the meatime we are heading north up through Austria, Possibly southern Germany and across into Switzerland then down past the Jungfrau back into northern alpine Italy, down to Milan then Florence and Pisa to Todi.

We will update you when we can find computer cafes and are able to download our photos.

Now an update about us;
We are all well and getting along fine. Only had a couple of moments, when we have spent too long in the car and are hungry, but an hours silence fixes all!
Lizzy and Anthony have been great company for Jenny and I and kept us going when the trecking got tough in some countries. It gives us an extra dimension seeing the country through their eyes.
Anthony has sprung some sort of growth from his chin. Lizzy is looking healthier by the day with this wonderful Italian food. Jenny is loving the food and sporting a new hair style and colour (Oops that slipped out) and I'm expanding around the girth and looking thinner on top (roll on 50)
Our little blue Peugeot 307 sport wagon has been great, but it took me a little while to come to grips with the manual stick on the right. The Diesel with turbo has been economical and yet speedy enough to head down the autostradas at 130km per hour, slightly faster than the trucks but way slower than the mercs, BMWs and Porsches in the left lane
"Charlotte" our GPS makes sure we are on the right track, and I don't know how we could have done this trip without her and Anthony's techno and navigational skills.

Italy as a country is far more diverse culturally and geographically/topographically than we had thought. It is certainly a land of contrasts, from the steep/rocky Amalfi Coast, to the dry hot flat southern mediterranian coast, the flat barren land of the south coast covered in closed resorts, to the picturesque landscape of the north adriactic coastal area through towards the Tuscan/Umbrian inland, up to the north and the Venetian Islands. Can't wait to see the mountains of the north.

We hope all our friends and family are well and please keep in touch either through comments on the blog or emails to cohenfamily@xtra.co.nz . We like hearing about what you are up to. It gives us a connection to home