Home: Safe And Sound
Trip Start
Feb 27, 2007
1
41
Trip End
May 19, 2007
Dublin,
Ireland
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
The lack of travelpod updates over the last three weeks was mainly due to horrific costs and lack of internet cafes; the average rate in Italy was €5 for an hour in the hostels and €2 per 30 minutes outside - if u could find a place, but Switzerland took the biscuit; there was a place in Interlaken which was looking for €6 for 30 minutes. Ill let u have a guess how many times I checked my mail there. Comparitevely speaking the UK wasnt too bad - £1 for 20min.
Anyway, after Florence, the main places in Italy I went to were Padua - from where I visited Venice, which was an amazing highlight of the whole trip. What a city. Forget Amsterdam and Bangkok as examples of canal cities - this place is amazing. Go there. U wont regret it. Charming vistas abound at every turn. Gorgeous cathederals, St Marks Piaaza, colourful bridges, history, ambience, culture, vibrancy, zest, yet all done in the best possible Italian taste. Tremendous. GO THERE. Also visited Lake Garda and Lake Como before driving over the border into Switzerland. Alas I only had 2 days in Switzerland. I stayed in ILK, where I went on a canyoning adventure - great fun, jumping over wfalls, sliding, clambering and slipping over the course of the river. Also climbed a smallish mt (1300mt)which gave spectacular views of one of the most beautiful places Ive seen on this trip - ILK, with its two gleaming blue lakes and the snowcapped alpine trimuverate of Jungfrau, Eiger and ? - which translate as The Virgin, The Monk & The Old Man. Capped it all off with a spa session in town with a view of the mts before a never ending 12 hour midnight drive to Calais to catch my Eurotunnel.
ILK - Calais (Switzerland to France)- 800 odd km, 12 hours. TIPO is a marvel.
Then I spent a pleasant few days in the UK - although the weather was pretty shit, visiting Canterbury, Bath (my 3rd visit in 13 years - its one of my favourite all time towns), Wells, Wales and finally Liverpool from where I got my ferry home. Watched the FA cup final on the boat - would have been better off watching the waves from the upper deck as it was one of the most painful experiences of the whole trip, comparable to that day I spent wilting in the Saudi Customs area.
So, as they say, "they think its all over - it is now". Done and dusted. Not sure if I learnt anything from the trip, or if I gained any penetrating insights into various cultures and traditions, or indeed if it made me a better person. Perhaps the only thing I did learn is that it beats working!
Anyhow, Ill maybe try to put up a few pictures over the next few weeks but dont hold ur breath. Finally, thanks to everyone who sent me a comment of support or good luck over the last 3 months. Appreciated. Cheers, and good luck to u now.
Wadirunner & TIPO.
Comments
Well done to you and TYPO
We knew TYPO would go the distance...wasn't too sure about the ginger head tosser though...we were betting you'd get a heart attack from the high Internet fees ....but you proved us wrong. Job well done both of you!
PS
Where are dem bloody photographs?
Tipo and Dublin
Knew you'd get home, Tipo and all, and make that
final few metres up the driveway in Dublin
Fabulous trip. Well done.
Campo
I can't believe it.
Incredible that you made it all the way. Congratulations!! Next time I embark on a big overland adventure(not too likely in this particular lifetime), I'm getting myselp a FIAT TIPO! Obviously a lot more dependable than my poxy Landrover Discovery.
Well done GHT.
Boiler
A nice pizza
Hello son, can't tell you how pleased your auntie and i are to have safely back in the bosom. You say you had a nice pizza in venice, is it? there's very nice pizza place opened up in the village so you won't be needing to fret. i don't know if they do a St Mark's pizza but if you tell them what you want i'm sure they'll oblige you. your auntie's favourite is a sausage, tripe and liver special, but the cheese does get tangled in her whiskers, she's an awful one for whiskers, always has been. more whiskers than a feckin catfish.
the tipo is a fine car and a credit to you. welcome back home son and don't you be worrying about finding a job. i've had a word in dougal of flattery's ear and he said there'll be a place for you in his porky insemination barn. they need young men like yourself to get the tuskers hot under the collar is how he puts it. it's just a case of putting on the pink bathers and capering around on all fours till one of the big bastards mounts you. dougal and the boys will be right there to whip him off in a flash and collect the juice in a suitable receptacle. they lost a young lad only last weekend, rent asunder they say while dougal and boys were out having a fag - oh how they laughed down the pub, could have happened to anyone - so there's a chance for you start immediately, so there is. it pays by the volume so it does, a pund a pint for the pork juice. but you have supply your own bathers.
i'll be seeing you soon, son.
take care
love from your uncle slice and auntie rasher
a nice pizza
Hello son, can't tell you how pleased your auntie and i are to have safely back in the bosom. You say you had a nice pizza in venice, is it? there's very nice pizza place opened up in the village so you won't be needing to fret. i don't know if they do a St Mark's pizza but if you tell them what you want i'm sure they'll oblige you. your auntie's favourite is a sausage, tripe and liver special, but the cheese does get tangled in her whiskers, she's an awful one for whiskers, always has been. more whiskers than a feckin catfish.
the tipo is a fine car and a credit to you. welcome back home son and don't you be worrying about finding a job. i've had a word in dougal o' flattery's ear and he said there'll be a place for you in his porky insemination barn. they need young men like yourself to get the tuskers hot under the collar is how he puts it. it's just a case of putting on the pink bathers and capering around on all fours till one of the big bastards mounts you. dougal and the boys will be right there to whip him off in a flash and collect the juice in a suitable receptacle. they lost a young lad only last weekend, rent asunder they say while dougal and the boys were out having a fag - oh how they laughed down the pub, could have happened to anyone - so there's a chance for you start immediately, so there is. it pays by the volume so it does, a pund a pint for the pork juice. but you have supply your own bathers.
i'll be seeing you soon, son.
take care
love from your uncle slice and auntie rasher
Re: Well done to you and TYPO
Go the distance - stop it - u make it sound like a Rocky Movie! TIPO vs Balboa - i know who Id put my money on. Both are Italian stallions in their own right! Good to be back, strange to be back. Thanks for all ur comments over the last few months. Ill try to get the photos on the site but Im not too hot at that stuff. Where r u guys going on ur hols? Any more bowling trips? Did u see Spidey 3?