MONDAY 14/6/99 A DAY AT THE OFFICE

There were only four of us for the first days training in the office at Mogliano Veneto today. As well as myself there was a guy from Argentina, Saudi Arabia, and Finland. We finished at 4pm, and back at the hotel I sent some email for work. Later on I walked to the main street of town and just sat for a while. My legs were a bit stiff and sore from the walking yesterday. I also found the supermarket was open, and picked up a couple of things. They sold wine in bulk, and had three 2000 litre tanks inside the store. The prices were similar to Australia, and many of the same brands were available some with English, and some with Italian names.

WEDNESDAY 16/6/99 ANOTHER NIGHT IN VENICE

We had a full day of training on Ethernet and TCP/IP today. There were about 14 in the class now, with additions from France and Sweden. After work I picked up the sunglasses that I had ordered on the weekend, and caught the train into Venice. From the station I caught a ferry to St Marks Square, hoping to get some more photos at dusk. I wandered around the waters edge from 8 till 9pm, and took a number of photos.

A jazz band was playing at a café in the square and I stopped for a coke. Again a very expensive coke at 14,500 lire, but I got to sit down and listen to the music and watch the end of the sunset. Earlier on some gondoler men told a touring family that they couldn't sit on their seat, 'it was not Hyde Park' they said. Some backpackers were sitting on the ground near the café listening to the music, they also got shifted on by some sort of uniformed people.

The walk back to the station through the dark laneways of Venice at 10:30pm was a bit of a concern. There are signs posted every so often however it would not be hard to get lost. There were still a few tourists about and women walking alone so I didn't think it was too bad. There were quite a few people still about near the station, and souvenir shops and restaurants were still open.

THURSDAY 17/6/99 LAST NIGHT IN ITALY

After work I typed up the last web page postcard from Italy and posted it to the web. With the addition of the new boots and a few inches of notes from work, it was a tight squeeze to get everything packed. I went up to the Trattoria in town for a last meal, and decided on pizza followed by the usual strawberries and gelato. The waitress had got the patten by now, and knew what I wanted for desert.

FRIDAY 18/6/99 LAST DAY AND TRIP HOME

Before the session for the day had finished, people started dissapearing and heading off in all directions. The Mercedes taxi I had sailed along the motorway reaching speeds of over 160km/h as the unseatbelted driver talked on his mobile phone. The flights were delayed and I managed to get an earlier flight, although it left about the time of my scheduled flight. The Alitalia experience was somewhat different to what I am used to on Ansett at home. The cockpit door was open, and it was interesting to see a passenger and the pilot exchange comments with each other from their seats about the delay. It also amused some of the other passengers, but I have no idea what was said in Italian.

The flight back was uneventful. It got off the ground close to the scheduled time of midnight in Rome. We got a meal on the plane, and were told to close the window blinds as the sun would come up soon. I got some sleep during the short night, and breakfast before landing in Bangkok in the afternoon. The stop in Bankok was brief, and we continued on to Melbourne. We landed soon after 5AM, and I got out of the Airport very quickly and caught a taxi to the office to pick up my car. The car battery was a little flat, but it started OK after its three week rest, and I headed home.

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