Continued from last month, extracts from Julianne and Darryn Webster’s travel diary

Day 22 (16/09) - Do they have poisonous snakes in Italy?

Julianne: The boys decided to go on a motorbike ride around the twisty roads today. Both Bronwyn and I were feeling a bit numb and were not really interested in going along. As Tremosine is in the mountains there are many tracks to hike and we thought we would hike up the mountain to a local cheese factory. We figured the hike there and back would negate the effects of eating any cheese!

Wandering through the little towns was great – beautiful alfresco painting on the sides of many of the houses and narrow little roads running through the towns all with the fabulous views of Lake Garda. We saw lots of little lizards and crickets out on the mountain pass and we were wondering if there were snakes in Italy. Around the next corner we found the answer to our question – one was happily lying out in the sun right near Bronwyn’s feet. Our next question was “Are the snakes in Italy poisonous?” All of a sudden we became much more aware of where our feet were going. We also saw a squashed scorpion but in its current state it wasn’t much of a threat.

It is very melodious walking through the villages – there are many cows and sheep with bells around their necks and their constant grazing makes for a very tuneful experience. This is offset by the fun we had walking along the edge of the roads through the villages. The roads are very narrow and we often had to squash ourselves against the sides of houses to make sure we didn’t get hit be fast moving local traffic (particularly the scooters and three wheeled cars).

We stuffed ourselves silly at the cheese factory – so much yummy cheese and cold meats. It is a shame we can’t bring it home, as it tastes so much better than the food we get in Italian restaurants at home. On our journey home we came across a wedding at the local church (they all end in tears). It had finished and everyone was outside of the church waiting for the bride and groom to leave in their highly decorated car. Like any good tourists we stopped for a sticky beak. As the bride and groom left in the car all the guests piled into their cars and followed the happy couple out, madly (and merrily) beeping their horns. It is quite a spectacle to watch.

When we got back to the hotel the boys were still not back from their ride. At about 7:30 pm we started to get a bit worried as it was dark and had started to rain and we had not heard from them. We text them to find they were stuck along the lake in traffic and were stopping for dinner. By the time they got home they were tired from a big day out. Seems they had ridden into Switzerland and through the Northern Italian Alps and time had slipped away. By the time they decided to head home they got stuck in traffic on very dark and slippery roads (and I hear had got lost a few times). For the boys in the club, apparently the roads were fantastic and the only road condition not encountered was snow. For the girls, why is it when men are in groups they make the most ridiculous decisions (like the “We’ll just make this quick 100 km diversion through the mountains at 3 pm and still make it home whilst it is light.”). Ciao Julianne

P.S. The picture today is the view from our villa - it is really beautiful. Our holidays were marred slightly though today as Dave and Bron had 140 pounds stolen from their room. They had left there money out (not in the safe) and were fortunate not to have the full 640 pounds stolen. The language barrier makes it a bit hard to complain so they've put it down to a learning experience.

Darryn: Dave and I decided to explore some of the back roads heading west of Tremosine toward Mt. Tremalzo. The local maps showed roads heading across the hills and into the next valley. Looked easy enough. Having GS BMWs meant that no road (or even lack of road) could stop us and there was not much more Dave could do to his bike.

We headed off about 09:00 with the roads getting narrower and bumpier though the scenery was superb and cruising through the foothills past little streams and farms was superb. Then the road turned to dirt and then to rocks. The road continued up the side of the mountain through switch back after switch back with the rocks ranging in size from grapes to oranges, combined with several hundred kilos of someone else’s motorcycle, the occasional 4WD (and a car!) and wash outs creating rock ledges this was quite challenging. The pay back was the magnificent scenery looking back east through the valley to lack Garda, more than worth the effort.

The rocks stopped at the top of the mountain and a nice, smooth bitumen path lead down the other side. This was quite easy except for the combined hazards of cow poo and a slightly damp, very slippery surface. We stopped for lunch in a town called Breno about three hours and 113 kms later, seriously worked over though having had a great time.

Checking the map out we again ignored the time and distance ratio deciding to go to a place in the alps called Livigno. Livigno is a ski resort and tax free shopping haven, potentially for motorbike stuff (In a previous trip with Dave Moore we had stopped in Andorra Le Vella where there is serious duty free motorcycle gear).

Brenno to Livigno was a mixed bag of slow towns mixed in with some fast twsities. Enough to keep you amused but not enough for real fun. We arrived in Bormio, about 40Kms from Livingo to find it full of bikes. While we were waiting to make a turn, a troop of about 40 bikes off all shapes and descriptions rolled by. As we later found out, Bormio is at one end of what is considered the best motorcycle pass in the Italian alps, the Stelvio. We headed toward Livigno in amongst a gaggle of bikes and classic cars. For those who knew the road, it was on! Reminded me of the club going up Reefton. We hit Livigno about 03:00 having travelled about 140 kms in three hours! We walked around to find no bike shops at all. About 03:30 we realised how far we had to go to get home and knew it was going to be a late one.

We thought the fast way back would be to head through Switzerland, hit the motorway at Bolzano, then a quick blast back to the north tip of Lake Garda and home again. Little did we know. Livigno to Blozano (start of the motorway) was 140 km. Once into Switzerland it was motorbike heaven: perfect surface, wide open sweepers, significant speeding; we needed to make up some time. This was great until the Italian border when the road became narrow, twisty and congested again. The only entertainment was for the last 50 km or so Dave was tailgating a VW at about 160 km/h. We arrived in Bolzano 2 ½ hours later, the sun setting and the rain had started. Not happy Jan.

We had some trouble finding the motorway entrance and ended up taking the normal roads for the first 50 km or so. Finally found the motorway though it was dark and very rainy. I don’t think I have had a scarier experience on a bike than being passed in the dark and rain by cars travelling at 160 km/h plus. Until hitting the back roads where it was pitch black and twisty with few road markings. At this point, following the cars was about the only smart, though slow, way to go. Stopped for a pizza at about 08:30 having travelled a whole 100 kms in about two hours. Pizza was good. We made it back to the hotel about 10:30. Very late, very wet, exhausted and a bit grumpy. Total for the day 500 km taking nearly 12 hours with breaks.

The main lesson: always remember time and distance in Northern Italy work to their own ratio.

Day 23 (17/09) - On the road again

Julianne: Back on the Autostrades today with us travelling from Tremisone to Varese (approximately 250 kms). Whilst taking the scenic roads is lovely, they take hours to negotiate and this is becoming draining on everyone. Unfortunately, it was raining again today, which is okay for all except Darryn. Whilst the rest of us all have wet weather riding gear he is wearing motorcycling jeans which are not waterproof. So for the third trip on the bike, Darryn has become a tad damp.

We have decided we will never complain about CityLink tolls again - it cost us 12 ($20) Euros to travel on the Autostrades today. Whilst they are quick there is a lot of heavy traffic and the winds make it very tiring for both the rider and pillion passenger. I was glad when we got to Varese as my butt is becoming very numb.

Varese is not usually on the tourist map - it is predominantly an industrial town and most people would just pass through on the way to Lake Maggiore. We've stopped here as Varese is the home of the MV Agusta motorcycle (Dave, Bronwyn and Darryn all own MV motorcycles). We have a private factory tour scheduled for tomorrow - quite a privilege as this is not normally done. I think they are all hoping for some freebies from the factory (no guys, I don't think they are going to give you free motorcycles).

We arrived in Varese early in the afternoon and spent a good 30 minutes circling the town trying to find a hotel and, more importantly, one that had two rooms available. Once we had found a place to sleep we wandered into town where they had a big market throughout the city centre. Many meats, cheeses, fruits and breads for sale - all which looked really tasty. Also a pickpocketer's paradise so we were very careful with any valuables we were carrying.

Tomorrow morning we are going to explore some of the old castles and forts around the area. It will be fun looking at something other than a long strip of road for a day.

Darryn: Travelling the motorways requires you to change how you view the world. Whereas normally you spend most of your time looking forward to understand what will be passed next and how. On the Autostrade there is always something moving faster than you. This means you spend a lot more time checking the mirrors and staying right than seems reasonable. In terms of things moving faster than you your ego is supported when it is a 7 series BMW a big Mercedes or some such luxury car. You do know however that something is not right in the world when a Honda Jazz (1.3 ltr buzz box) screams by while you are doing 150 km/h or so.

Day 24 (18/09) - Manufacturing Principles 101 – Italian style

Julianne: Our tour of the MV Agusta factory was not until 2 pm so we had the morning to do some sightseeing. We did do a test run to the factory first thing though as our navigation skills have not been the best. Whilst it may take an Italian 10 minutes to get somewhere it seems to take us three times as long – reading the map can be difficult when all the names look the same and most of the streets are one-way. The maps don’t tell you which streets are one-way and this can bugger up your whole trip plan.

Once the factory had been found we decided to go to a little village called Angera on the shore of Lake Maggiore. There is a castle called La Rocca, which has been in the Borromeo family since the 1400s (and is still currently owned by the family). The castle sits on the highest point in the village overlooking the lake and is made from beautiful stone. It is very provincial in appearance and does not have the same grandeur of the larger castles like Versailles in France or some of the larger castles in Italy. I was pretty excited to visit this castle as they had a doll museum – I figured it would be a small museum but any chance to look at dolls is greedily accepted. Turned out the castle houses one of the largest collections of 17^th – 19^th century dolls in Europe – rooms and rooms of them. I was in dolly heaven.

There were hundreds of French Bebes and German Brus (porcelain dolls) in pristine condition. For those not part of the dolly world, these dolls are very rare and sell on the secondary markets for big dollars (worth tonnes more than second-hand motorcycles, boys). Oh, and there was lots of lovely china and paintings in the castle as well as some beautiful fresco walls (or so I was told anyway). By the time I had finished getting my doll fix it was time to head back to Varese for our factory tour.

This next part I dedicate to my manufacturing friends – we could make millions here. Nigel, Bella and Robert – you would have all cried as I did. I’ll put this into context for everyone else.

MV Agusta motorcycles are very expensive mainly because they are Italian and hand-built. This means only a limited number are produced every year – in fact they can only produce 40 engines a day. They perform 100% quality checking on the engines but based on their timings can only check 32 engines per day (bit of a bottleneck here). They move parts of the engine from one end of the floor to the other end and then back again – no workflow happening at all. When they have finished with the engine, they pack it in a truck and send it 10 kms down the road to their assembly plant. Each motorcycle is made from parts made and assembled in three separate factories all within 10 kms of each other – a costly logistical operation.

If I thought the first factory looked disorganised, then I almost had puppies when I got to the second factory. They have a huge warehouse full of parts (they have 36,000 SKUs) – all are hand labelled (no bar-coding here) and all are manually entered into their “computer system”. I think they rely on staff who have been with them for years to know where anything is and it must be a nightmare each time a new item is introduced. The warehouse is split into two – one side for retail distribution and the other for spare parts on their assembly floor. If someone is missing a part, they just wander into the warehouse and take what they need.

The assembly lines are amazing – people wandering around doing stuff. I don’t know what the stuff is but they are pretty relaxed about doing it. No Japanese factory automation here. At the end of the day, the company is robbing themselves of profit as they could still have the hand-made components but they could do some great stuff with wastage removal and automation (oh my god, it’s like I’m back at work!). Despite all of this, the motorcycles do come out at the other end and they are pretty impressive machines. I’ve been told that I have to understand this is Italy and it is all about the art of the motorcycle and not the art of the manufacturing. All good things take time (which is probably why the Japanese produce and sell so many more motorcycles). Candice (Julianne’s boss DW), you had asked me before I left where I felt my biggest career development opportunity would be – I think I found it – trying to implement manufacturing 101 principles into an Italian motorcycle factory.

For today’s history lesson – MV Agusta are actually most famous for their helicopters and contributions to the aeronautical industry. The owner, Count Agusta, liked to ride motorcycles and became involved in motorcycle racing. He figured he could use his aeronautical knowledge to build light motorcycles that were fast and could win races and, thus, the MV Agusta motorcycle was born. The motorbike factory is one of their old aermachi seaplane factories and production is done in the old air-hangers.

Whilst you see lots of Ducati motorcycles in Italy you do not see many MV Agusta motorcycles. This is apparently because they are a “Sunday show-off” motorbike – so boys, seems you are using your motorcycles for exactly what they were made for – posing! Darryn and Dave left the factory happy (despite no freebies) and they even got to see the new MV 1000R model in the flesh before it has even been released in Australia. A big thank-you to our host Paulo who showed us around two of the factories – he was absolutely Italian and not bad on the eye either.

After the tour the posse headed up to the Santa Maria del Monte Observatory at the top of the mountains around Varese. From here you can see across the whole of the lakes areas and the views are astounding.

This is the last day we are with Dave and Bron. Tomorrow they go to the UK and we ride across to Tuscany to spend some time around Florence and Pisa. Darryn has been toying with the idea of hiring a car as riding a bike around Italy has not been much fun. You either spend lots of time on the Autostrade which is boring but requires 110% concentration because of all the cars doing 200 km/h or on the secondary roads that pass through many little villages so you don’t go much faster than 50 km/h (meaning it takes 5-6 hours to get anywhere before accounting for ‘getting lost’ time). My back and bum like the idea of a car but I think they’ll have to suffer for a few more days yet. Ciao, Julianne

P.S. I’ve now taken over 1000 photos – anyone up for a slide weekend when I return?

Day 25 (19/09) - Things to do on an Autostrade

Julianne: Just travelled from Varese to Firenze (Florence) today - about six hours of which five were on the Autostrade. So today was trucks and cars, more trucks and cars and even more trucks and cars. Not much fun. I spend the time singing away in my helmet (good thing we didn't get helmet intercom) and watching the world go by in the side mirrors (and hanging on). The Autostrade trip cost us 19 Euros in tolls today - talk about expensive. I'm getting pretty good at taking the toll tickets, paying the tolls and putting my gloves back on at 120 km/h (okay maybe I'm not hanging on for this part).

We got a bit lost and didn't take the right exit which meant we spent about an hour travelling on back roads through Chianti which was the most pleasant part of the day. Lots of little vineyards and olive groves.

We are staying at a place called Villa I Barronci which is a 12^th Century Villa. It is off the beaten track outside of a little town call San Casciano which is about 15 kms outside of Florence. We've taken it pretty easy this afternoon as we were both tired from the Autostrade. We have CNN on the idiot box and we're catching up on world news (mostly the coup in Thailand). So only a short blog today but a big day tomorrow with the tourist outing in both Pisa and Florence. Ciao, Julianne

Darryn: Jules description of getting lost may not quite give a true appreciation of the situation. Having become a little more attuned to the Italian way I could think of no better place to be lost than Tuscany on a lovely sunny day with nowhere to be at no particular time. Jules was a little more interested in getting to the hotel.

We ended up following our noses around and getting to where we needed to be. I surprised her somewhat by finding the hotel without really knowing where I was going and ignoring her directions shouted at me from behind. Sometimes you just need to appear to know where you’re going. It is not about the truth but about what people are prepared to believe

Day 26 (20/09) - Am I drunk or is that tower leaning

Julianne: A big day out with a visit to both Pisa and Florence. Pisa is only 60 km from where we are staying but on the back road it took us 2 hours to get there. The roads are very scenic but as there are so many little towns it takes so long to get there.

You know when you have arrived at the Campo dei Miracoli where the Leaning Tower of Pisa is as there are so many tourists. Where there are tourists you find lots of traders selling crap (yes Nat, I could have bought the matching illuminated Leaning Tower of Pisa to the Eiffel Tower). Even more amusing are the traders selling illegal luggage – it is all laid out on sheets and when we arrived there was rumour the police were coming. So the traders pull up the corners of their sheets so the luggage can’t be seen. Apparently it is not illegal to carry around fake luggage – just to sell it.

The Leaning Tower began being built in 1173 and was completed in 1350 (almost 200 years building - sure takes a long time here). Before it was completed it began to lean (1274) but they kept building anyway – maybe because it is in the Field of Miracles it does not fall down. They are doing a lot of work to stop it from continuing to lean and they have just completed restoring the belfry. We could have walked to the top but it was a two-hour wait to just get into the tower so we decided to just take pictures instead. The Duomo is also in the Field of Miracles and has a beautiful Façade – all lovely white marble.

We decided to take the Autostrade to Florence, as we didn’t have another three hours to travel by the back roads. Florence is large with lots of things to look at and we really underestimated the amount of time to look around at things. I was pretty excited to be in Florence – it is after all the home of banking and the famous Medici family (they are the founders of Accounting as we know it today). It obviously doesn’t take a lot to get me excited!

We started out at the Ponte Vecchio, as it is the easiest thing to find being a bridge (although it was the only bridge in Florence not blown up during WWII so maybe it isn’t that easy to find). The Ponte Vecchio was built in 1345 and butchers and blacksmiths originally used the shops on the bridge. As Florence became wealthier the bridge was taken over by goldsmiths and today it is lined with jewellery stores.

From the Ponte Vecchio we wandered through the Uffizi, which is lined with beautiful statues, and the Piazza della Signoria, which is basically the town hall. Outside of the Piazza della Signoria is a stone copy of Michelangelo’s David and it also has the original “Rape of the Sabine Women” by Giambologna and “Perseus” by Cellini, both famous statues.

We then went to the Santa Croce (built 1294), one of the major churches in Florence. Famous Florentines (people not biscuits) buried here include Michelangelo, Galileo and Dante. Also buried here are Machiavelli and Leonardo Bruni (he was an early days Humanitarian). We then visited the other major church, the Duomo or Cathedral of Florence. It is stunning and part of the church’s buildings date back to the 4th century.

Florence is a beautiful city and it would have been nice to stay there for a bit longer as we did not have time to go through all the museums. Plus there is some great shopping with it being famous for leather goods and designer clothing (this is the home of both the Gucci and Pucci designer houses). It is a very congested city though and we saw our first collision between a car and scooter – I thought the crowd were going to mob the driver and it seems the smaller the vehicle the greater the right of way you have (I’ve always believed truck beats scooter – just try arguing with the truck after it has run you over!). Parking is also a problem and we saw hundreds of cars with wheel clamps – I don’t know how you know you are in the wrong spot as there does not seem to be any signs saying you can’t park anywhere you please (Florentines take parking lessons from the French!).

We have been lucky with the weather - it has been about 30 degrees every day. It does make for hot riding though and we tend to get a bit tired and grumpy in the afternoons.

Day 27 (21/09) - The S222 and S118

Julianne: We decided to have an easy day as we have six hours on the Autostrade tomorrow to get to our next stop. We had breakfast outside and met a few of the other guests staying at the Villa. The funniest was an Israeli Jew who has also been a Pollack, German and is currently a Canadian. He changes countries whenever a nationality becomes unpopular and figures Canada is pretty safe. He was very anti-Bush and was itching to find some Americans that he could rant at for amusement.

After consulting our trusty travel guide we headed down to Siena through the Chianti Region (lots of vineyards here). The ride down was very scenic and we knew to allow for a couple of hours to travel the 58 kms. We stopped at a little town called Monteriggioni, which is a hilltop garrision town, built in 1203. It was built to stop the invading Florentines from attacking Siena – unfortunately it didn’t work and Siena was invaded and annexed anyway. The town still exists inside the citadel today and you can walk around the walls to view the surrounding countryside.

We stopped here for lunch – there are about half a dozen restaurants and unfortunately (bah humbug DW) we had to pick the one where a wedding reception was being held. We didn’t actually know this until we had ordered and the bride and groom walked out of the church opposite – needless to say lunch was very leisurely.

Next stop was Siena, a medieval town built on seven hills (there is not one flat street in Siena). Legend says that the son of Remus (think wolves), Senius founded the town of Siena and everywhere you can see statues of wolves. Siena is full of Gothic architecture and is one of the only Italian towns south of the Alps to be so rich in the Gothic style. The Siena Duomo (if you haven’t guessed by now a Duomo is a domed church) is a resplendent Gothic building but it was a shame half of it was covered in scaffolding (for those scaffolding freaks – Europe is the place to do the great scaffolds of the world tour).

The other building of interest is the Palazzo Pubblico (Town Hall), which has the second highest medieval belltower in Italy – it towers above all else in Siena (after climbing up and down all the streets in Siena there was no way I was climbing more stairs up a belltower though). Siena could have been a great city to rival the likes of Florence but in 1348 the plague wiped out most of the population and the city has remained pretty much the same in size and style since. Whilst not too good for all those who died, misfortune has created a beautiful medieval city frozen in time for all of us tourists to enjoy.

When in Varese, our host Paulo at the MV Factory had told us to travel down the S222 road. It is the road that runs through Chianti between Siena and Florence and is apparently quite scenic. Well, we found the road and I’m not sure about the scenic part as I had my eyes closed in abject fear for most of the journey. The road winds through the Tuscan Hills and is a large collection of tight hairpins and switchbacks. Dave and Bron, you would have been loved to have been on this road. When we came to Greve there was a turnoff to San Casicano where we are staying. Sick of being on the tight and twisty road I pointed out the turnoff to Darryn. This was the S118 and it was worse! This road was tight, twisty and the width of a poorly travelled goat track – and it had buses travelling in the opposite direction! I had found one of Dante’s seven levels of hell (I am sure he had travelled down this road and it had inspired him to pen “Inferno”). Once we came to a stop at our Villa, Darryn had to prise me off his back, as I was busy doing my best impersonation of a limpet (I promised I would hold on tight, Mum).

I am still recovering from the experience as I write this blog (okay, it was a little fun in a scary sort of way) and I am not feeling inspired for the six hours on the bike tomorrow. Only two and half more days on the bike and I am looking forward to getting back to planes, trains and cars! Ciao – I’m off to laze in the pool for a while. Julianne

Day 28 (22/09) - No more Autostrades, please!

Julianne: You guessed it - most of the day on the Autostrade travelling from Tuscany to Innsbruck. We did over 500 kms today and it cost 33.70 Euro - the most expensive leg so far. The most expensive part of this was the 8 Euro it cost to travel the 30 km from Brenner in Northern Italy to Innsbruck in Austria. Today we travelled past 34 trucks in a row, the majority being B-Doubles - pretty scary sort of stuff. The bike does come in handy though when we reach traffic works as we can scoot down the outside or middle and navigate these pretty quickly.

My one concession today was a lunch stop at an AutoGrill - these are a bit like petrol station roadhouses but a bit more upmarket (??). You can even buy a weekly AutoGrill limited edition plate to add to your collection. I was so disappointed we didn't have room for a plate! These places are packed with people stopping for lunch and like most good Italians they are all downing bottles of wine for lunch. Slightly worrying given they are all heading back on the same road as us. Autogrills are only to be found in Italy and if you find yourself driving around in this country stop for a look - most amusing. Apparently Autogrill is the world's largest food and beverage operator with 314 outlets spread throughout Italy - I bet you all never knew Italy was famous for bad consumer eating experiences!

The Autostrade is big business in Italy. There are many extensions, new tunnels and highways being built - if they keep going Italy will be nothing but a series of really big roads. The Autostrade was pretty much most of our day. We have decided to stay in Innsbruck for a couple of nights and have a day off the bike - yeah!Cheers, Julianne

Day 29 (23/09) - How to get arrested in Innsbruck

Julianne: A rest day in Innsbruck and a bike free day. We just wandered around Innsbruck taking in the local sights which really only takes a couple of hours. Innsbruck is a 12^th century town that only came into existence because there was a spot to pass through the alps between Austria and Italy - and that's all there is today too.

Sightseeing highlights are the building with the gold roof (Goldense Dachl) made to celebrate the wedding between Maximillian I and Bianca Maria Sforza and the Town Tower which you can climb the 148 steps to the top of (we did this as there isn't much else to do). The gold roof is a bit of a let down as it is made of copper - so it makes it even more unimpressive than it already is. The town is probably best enjoyed in winter and it has hosted the winter Olympics twice (1964 and 1976). The funicular to the top of the mountains was shut so we couldn't go to the top for the great views of the runs that we couldn't ski/snowboard on anyway!

We spent most of the day just wandering around the shops checking out the crappy tourist souvenirs. The ones I like the most are those that have written on them - "There are no Kangaroos in Austria". I think this is for the benefit of the American tourists, of which there are many. Innsbruck does boast a Swarovski Crystal Museum mainly designed to lure in the tourists to spend. We went in a couple of times and I think they now have us on surveillance. Darryn has a wallet that constantly sets of store security alarms and it was making them go beserk here! The second time we walked out they had people running out of the store looking to chase a would-be thief only to find one did not exist. I've told Darryn he must now walk either 10 metres ahead or behind me when entering and exiting stores and I will not come bail him out of jail if he gets arrested in a place where English is not spoken.

The personal highlight of the day was seeing the Innsbruck wedding party outside of the Golden Roof. The bride was at least 8 months pregnant, in a skin tight short white (??) dress and smoking. The groom wore a white suit with brilliant white Nike runners and was smoking. The bridesmaid could have been pregnant but I think maybe wasn't, wore a skin tight short red dress and was also smoking. They all continued to puff on their ciggies whilst having the traditional wedding photos taken - Kath and Kim eat your heart out! If you look hard enough you can see the groom in today's photo. Now an invite to that wedding reception could have been the most happening thing in town today!

If you are travelling through Europe my suggestion is don't stop at Innsbruck unless you are planning to do some winter skiing. There are much better places to go!

As a postscript to yesterday - yes Autogrill is bigger than McDonalds, mainly due to the fact they have KFC, Burger King and Starbucks under license in both Europe and the USA. Want to know more about Autogrill, check out their website at: http://www.autogrill.com/gruppo.aspx?fake=e73a84bbd60e44eb9d9cb7747fdbd622&pclear=1

I suggest you only do this though if you are really bored or travelling through Innsbruck. Ciao, Julianne

Day 30 (24/09) - Oktoberfest in September

Julianne: We left Innsbruck today and headed into Munich for a day at Oktoberfest. We had been told we would be there for Italian weekend. Apparently all the Italians jump into their campervans on Friday and make the 6 – 8 hour trek to Munich to spend all weekend drinking and then drive back Sunday night. This explained why we saw so many campervans on our trip from Tuscany to Innsbruck on Friday and we saw a few early leavers as we arrived in Munich. All I can say is I am glad I am not travelling on the same roads as a bunch of drunk Italians doing 140 km/h down the Autostrade!

Darryn felt he got a culture shock when he went to the DollsParty in Tokyo but I think I got a bigger one going to Oktoberfest. Lots of women and men in traditional German wear – Darryn enjoyed the breasty views from the women but I think there were a few men that should not have been wearing Lederhosen or should have bought a pair a couple of sizes bigger.

I thought the place was absolutely packed – wall-to-wall people – but then we went into couple of the Bier Houses. People were everywhere – crammed into little seating booths, dancing on tables, drinking beer and eating whole fried chickens. I haven’t even mentioned the hats yet – oh my god – hats that looked like beer steins, beer barrels, something Hansel should be wearing, cows horns, the list goes on! I had bought Darryn a German t-shirt with bib and braces and he didn’t want to wear it afraid he would look silly – not a chance in a place where silly is normal.

We sat in the biergarten of a couple of beer houses (most notable Hoffbrau which is where all the Aussies go next week) and Darryn had one-litre beers. It doesn’t take too long of sitting in the sun and drinking large beers to make one a little bit happy. We also did the German thing and ate half a cooked chicken, some kartoffelpuffen (potato pancakes), a foot long bratwurst and a giant donut – all good German fare.

After spending some time in one of the tents singing (Country Road – John Denver) and listening to “ompha” music we decided to head back to the hotel (if Darryn had stayed for another drink there was no getting on a plane tomorrow). On the way out I watched a little Italian guy try to take on three large German security guards and another Italian guy hurling up every drop of beer he had drunk during the day (chances are he was driving the campervan home). There were a lot of people who looked like they should have been leaving at the same time as us but were forging on regardless.

So I can say I have been to Oktoberfest but I think it is best enjoyed by those “beer-swilling” boy types – not the place for someone who is limited to a minimal alcohol intake. Amusing for five minutes and then you start to become an advocate for genetic breeding in humans.

Off to London tomorrow (no more motorbike) with about an extra 15 kilos of luggage.

Cheerio, Julianne