All photos taken on June 24, 1984.
It was a nice hotel indeed, and it served a superior continental breakfast of croissants, pumpernickel bread, cheese, ham, yogurt, cherries, fruit juice and coffee. We had a long drive (7 hours – 10 1/2 hours at Enzo pace with 2 short stops) ahead of us today, so we were on the bus and on the road by 7:30 AM.
Our first stop was at the Semmering Pass, where had Chocolate Torte and hot chocolate.
It was a nice break in a scenic area, but time was getting on and we headed onwards to Bruck an der Mur (Bruck on the Mur River)…..
…to Sankt Veit an der Glen (St. Viet on the Glan River) where chef Wolfgang Puck was born in 1949 and then Klangenfort, where we stopped for lunch at a Chinese Restaurant. We had the soup of the day (Goulsh soup-who knew?), bread, Chinese tea?? and fried bananas.
We crossed into Italy near Tarvisio in the province of Trieste, just before 4:00 P.M.. The mountainsides seemed steeper, the bridges seemed older and the Italian Autostrada began. Enzo was back in his home country. Wait, did I just feel the bus speed up by 1 k/h? Now, we were moving!
We rolled into Monastier di Treviso on the outskirts of the outskirts of Venice around 6:00 PM, checked into the Park Hotel, quickly ate a supper of tortellini, beef, potatoes and peas, before getting back on the bus for the 30 minute run into Venice. Did I mention, we were in the outskirts of the outskirts? That’s Cosmos Convenience folks.
Quick transfer to a boat that took is to St. Mark’s Square in Venice. We hurriedly shuffled our way to the Grotto, where the Italian cultural performance was already in progress. As we got closer, we could see the nice tables and chairs and the performer on a brightly lit stage, just before we were directed to the left and into the Grotto Annex, with long folding tables and uncomfortable benches and nobody on stage.
Oh, we could hear the performance through the wall as the singer launched into ‘O Sole Mio, but he was not playing to the annex stage, except for once every verse, where he would stick his head around the partition and belt out a few words, before getting back to the better clientele. At least the spumante was good, there just wasn’t enough of it. Performance soon over, we did a bit of a walk about.
Back on the bus for the run to the suburb of the suburbs of Venice and into bed we tumbled. We would see much more tomorrow, we hoped.
PHOTO DROP 
Great journey!
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That was a long day of driving, but it was nice to be in Italy. Thanks for reading Luisa. Allan
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🙏❣️🙏❣️🙏
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Treviso is actually a lovely little town which we’ve visited more than once as we’ve flown in and out of there sometimes when visiting Venice and enjoyed spending a few hours wandering around. I prefer the centre of Venice after 4.00 p.m. when all the tour groups have left and you can have the place pretty much to yourselves. Nice to see you on the gondola.
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I live staying in small Italian towns, once the tourists leave (except for me of course. That was particularly true in Riomaggiore. Thanks for reading Marion. Allan
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I’ve never visited Venice in summer (my visits have always been in the spring although one was in November) and have never experienced the huge crowds. Nevertheless, it’s always so great in the evenings after the day trippers have left.
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I totally agree. I guess, in our case, we were the day time tourists leaving Venice for the outskirts. Wish we could have stayed in Venice for the night. Thanks for reading Lynette. Allan
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Let’s think positive, at least you got to see Venice on the first night, rather than staying in the suburb of the suburb of the suburb. Can’t wait to see the next part.
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Agreed and we really enjoyed our evening stroll after the Grotto annex performance. The next day was much better all round. Thanks for commenting. Allan
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Lovely captures from a long, but scenic bus ride to Venice. We’re typically early risers so we don’t really explore after dark (largely because at that point we’re way too tired). But it seems like a good way to experience a quieter side of the city. Plus I’m sure it looks pretty with all the twinkling lights reflecting in the canals.
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Thanks Linda. The countryside was beautiful in this part of Italy. Like you, we tend to stay indoors in the evenings, but when we do wander out, there is always something magical to see. Thanks for reading Linda. Have a great Friday. Allan
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The scenery was beautiful, but I’m sorry you got the “second seating” at the concert. Still, it sounds as if you made the best of things. Plus, being in Italy is great!!!
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It was a good view from the bus and we all laughed about the Cosmos 5161 cheap seats at the Grotto. It became a standing joke whenever Allison explained why things were the way they were and it all makes a great story. Like you said, we were in Italy and that ain’t bad. Thanks for reading Ann. Hope all is well. Allan
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