SATURDAY 12/6/99 BOLOGNA TO MOGLIANO VENETO

I was up and out of the hotel later than I had planned. After packing I took a taxi to the station. It was a long wait for a train, and the train was an ordinary intercity train - no air conditioning.

At Mogliano Veneto I dragged my case to the new hotel in the now quite warm early afternoon weather. The new hotel is further from the station but otherwise OK.

After a shower and change I walked back into town. I ordered a pair of sunglasses with prescription lens at an optical shop, which should be ready on Wednesday. I also stopped at a shoe shop in search of some walking boots. I found out I was a size 44 in Italy, but there was none left in the style I wanted. I did find another style though which luckily had only a 44 left.

Dinner was at the Pizzeria in the main street where I had spaghetti carbonara, cold roast beef, and strawberries and gelato. I had a drink at the hotel bar on the way back, a bus tour was in from Hong Kong and a few people were at the bar.

SUNDAY 13/6/99 A DAY IN TREVISO

When I got up in the morning, the weather looked overcast, and hedging my bets I wore shorts but took a rain jacket. However the weather cleared and was quite warm. I decided on Treviso for the day, it was only two stops in the opposite direction of Venice by train.

Treviso was a great town to visit after the tourist swarms of Venice and Florence. There were few tourists, and mostly locals walking around, returning from church, and walking their dogs. Every turn provided numerous photo opportunities. There are the remains of a wall around the city with a walking path along the top. This is surrounded by water, with several canals through town also. See picture below of a meeting of dogs on the wall.

The McDonalds in town was very subdued - no huge 'M', and could almost be missed except for the yellow Ronald in the outdoor eating area. However I got lunch of fried rice from a small Chinese takeaway I came across in town, and ate it alongside a river and bridge. No one else was around apart from the odd person walking across the bridge. I walked around town and back to the centre, and stopped at a café for coke and water. I rested there for some time, before heading off for another walk through the centre of town, and back to the station. As I was leaving a 'Men at Work' song was on the radio. I commented to the Waitress that it was an Australian song. She seemed quite surprised that I was from Australia, and as she didnt seem to speak any english, did a kangaroo impression behind the counter.

Pictures