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A pet friendly Columbus Day weekend in France… part three

I don’t usually try to do a lot of “stuff” when I have my dogs with me on a trip. They are just now becoming seasoned travelers and still react to other dogs and cats easily. We usually try to eat in at least one restaurant when we travel with the dogs. This time, we never did manage to dine out. I think it was mostly because we used the little kitchenette in the Tower.

On our first night there, Bill and I were too tired to go hunting for dinner. He went to the grocery store and picked up a roasted chicken and some side vegetables, along with a very nice chocolate dessert. Naturally, he also bought lots of wine. Semur En Auxois is in Burgundy, which is a big wine growing region. Although I had originally wanted to visit Champagne, Burgundy is definitely not a bad place to be if you are an oenophile. Bill was able to pick up many good bottles at reasonable prices. Buying wine was one of our missions for this trip.

After we ate dinner, we watched a little French TV and then went to bed. The next morning, it was bright and sunny outside. After breakfast, we took the dogs for the first of many long walks! Louise had told us to follow the disused train tracks near the Tower for a lovely walk that offered views of Semur En Auxois. Here are some photos from our first look at the town.

A lovely view as we crossed over a viaduct that passes Semur En Auxois.

A couple more shots. I had no idea of how pretty our walk would become.

Once we crossed the viaduct, we got off the tracks and walked through a neighborhood that led us down to the river.

At the bottom of the hill…

Charming Pont Pinard. My next post will have better pictures of it.

A kind man said “Bonjour” as we passed.

That bridge leads to someone’s private property…

A church in the main square, which we reached after climbing some steps.

These little dog stations were everywhere. I was glad to see them, though not everyone used them.

A view of the tracks across the viaduct.

Semur En Auxois has a very charming downtown area, complete with lots of shops, a few museums, and some restaurants. Sadly, because we had the dogs with us, we didn’t try any of the restaurants. It’s not because they weren’t dog friendly, but because our dogs are still learning how to behave. They’ve gotten much better since we started taking them with us, though.

Our first walk lasted a good solid 90 minutes or so. That’s more than twice what our dogs usually get, so they were pretty tired. We had such pretty weather, though, that we decided to have a quick lunch at the Tower and go for a drive. We proceeded to take two more walks, which I will detail in the next post.

Hikes, short breaks

The walk from Hell to reach Heaven… Vintgar Gorge

The entrance to the Vintgar Gorge…

Thursday morning, Bill and I were looking for things to do and decided we wanted to visit Vintgar Gorge. Although I am pretty sure I had read about or seen pictures of this marvelous natural attraction near Bled, I can’t say that I had made any solid plans to get there. I happened to read up about it online the morning of our visit, loved the photos I saw, and suddenly decided I wanted to go. I read in one TripAdvisor review that it was possible to walk there. I mentioned that to Bill and he was all for walking, even though the review mentioned that parts of the walk weren’t easy because there were no sidewalks. The comment about the lack of sidewalks should have given me a clue.

Anyway, like two idiots, we set off on our hike, thinking it would be a fairly short walk. We neglected to carry water or sunscreen, though I did carry my purse and had put on some sunscreen before we started walking. At first, the walk wasn’t too bad, though Bled is a pretty heavily trafficked town. We dodged cyclists, trucks, and cars, but we were feeling fresh and energetic and I was buoyed by the idea of seeing some gorgeous scenery.

At one point, we came to a terribly tight area with really awful vehicular traffic and no sidewalks to speak of. No matter if you were on your feet or on wheels, it was fairly dangerous negotiating the area. I was beginning to think the walk was a bad idea, but then we made a right turn into a more residential area. The horizon beckoned with looming snow capped mountains and expansive fields full of wildflowers. We passed a stallion pacing about in a small pen and I explained to Bill how horses are gelded (I spent most of my childhood showing horses). Then we started talking about more contentious subjects as we headed more and more into the country. A few thoughts about when the walk was going to end started to creep into my consciousness as we kept marching.

After about an hour, I was seriously beginning to worry about our decision to walk to the gorge, but then I saw a sign that said it was only 1.5km away. Feeling a second wind, I bore down into the walk uphill, even as I began to realize that I was sweaty and tired and not in fabulous shape. It’s true we had no water and I didn’t see any stores where we could buy some fluids, but the spirit was somewhat willing even if the flesh was weak.

The signs were telling us to go down a country road that I hoped would take us to the gorge. A group of cyclists passed us, then stopped. We passed them and headed up yet another hill. After about a half an hour, I saw another sign advertising the gorge… 1.5 km. Some very salty four letter words escaped my lips. How could we still be 1.5km away from the gorge after all that walking, mostly uphill?

As we were fuming over the sign that let us know that we’d apparently made no progress, the cyclists passed us again. It turned out they were Irish. One of the women said in a hilarious lilt, “You picked the right way to go!” as she panted and struggled to get the bike up the hill we were climbing.

I was about to get really upset when Bill noticed a store. We went in there practically radiating heat as we searched for cold water. All we found was cold beer… and the water was stored on a cabinet at room temperature. Bill said, “There’s no cold water. Only beer.” He looked at me quizzically. At that point, I was seriously getting pissed off, which depending on your viewpoint, is either hilarious or scary.

“Just get the fucking water.” I snarled, already way over the long walk in the heat.

Bill laughed, bought the water, and we went outside for a short rest. I started telling him that the walk was a really stupid idea, especially since we neglected to bring any water. He then asked me if I wanted to head back to Bled.

I stared at him in disbelief. Then I thought about it for a moment, then said “No, let’s see if we can get there. But I am NOT walking back.”

Bill wondered aloud how we’d get back to Bled and I said, “You will call a taxi. You brought your phone, right?”

Bill laughed again and said he’d brought it and, unlike me, hadn’t used up all his roaming minutes. We rounded a corner and I was starting to feel a little bit down when I suddenly heard the sound of rushing water! Then, Bill noticed a sign for a town that we probably would have walked right through had we not accidentally taken the detour intended for cars. I could see the river in the distance and, voila, there we were… at Vintgar Gorge!

We walked down the twisty hill to the gorge and the first thing Bill saw was a sign for a taxi service. Clearly, we weren’t the first to decide we weren’t up to walking back to Bled after walking to the gorge. Next to the sign for the taxi service, there was a very large gasthaus serving fresh trout all day.

We walked through the free parking lot and paid four euros each admission to the gorge. Public toilets were a welcome sight, as well as picnic tables and refreshments. We decided to walk the gorge before enjoying beer and ice cream. I knew if I sat down, my muscles would stiffen up and it would take some doing to stand up again.

At the end of the 1.6 km walk, there is another ticket booth that offers refreshments, toilets, and a lovely view of a waterfall. We sat there for an hour, ate ice cream, drank beer, and enjoyed the serene sights and sounds of rushing mountain water.

At the end of the Vintgar Gorge walk, there is also a trail that leads to another town where we could have caught a bus, but Bill said it looked too rugged for the likes of us. In my exhausted state, I was inclined to agree. We walked back the way we came, had some delicious fresh trout at the gasthaus, and then got the waiter to call us a cab back to Bled. By day’s end, we’d walked well over ten miles. Not bad for an almost 44 year old fatass housewife.

Here are some of the photos I took on our gorgeous walk to and along Vintgar Gorge.

This was a pretty stretch of road, despite all the trucks…

This is where I heard the water…

I got even more photos than I’m sharing in this post. Vintgar Gorge really is very beautiful. It was somewhat busy the day we walked it, which meant we shared the walk with a lot of people. I would imagine on weekends and holidays, it’s a madhouse at the gorge. I was so tempted to jump into the cold water. I wished I’d worn a bathing suit, though I didn’t see anyone really wading on the walk itself. Further down the river at the bottom of a waterfall, I saw what looked like local people setting up a camp and wearing Speedos. Along the walk itself, it’s probably too dangerous because of the rapids, waterfalls, and deep pools.

Bill determines how we’re getting back to Bled as I sip a much appreciated beer. The people sitting in front of us had a couple of dogs with them, one of which was a well behaved beagle. She made me miss Zane and Arran.

The mist from the waterfalls was so nice! This walk can be wet and slippery, so wear good shoes with traction.

Lunch… I had brown trout and Bill had brook trout with garlic sauce. Both were caught in the gorge and each cost about 13 euros. They were very large fish. For those who don’t like fish, there are a number of other choices available, everything from turkey to schnitzel.

We also ran into another group of Irish cyclists who made us laugh as they described their adventures getting to the gorge. I remembered that this trip was originally intended to be a trip to Ireland and smiled. It must be a sign that our next big trip will be to Bill’s ancestral homeland.

If you get to Vintgar Gorge and want to have lunch, the restaurant is well worth a stop. They have a wide variety of dishes and a very cool biergarten area. The guy who waited on us was very friendly and hardworking and we definitely appreciated that he called us a cab. WiFi is available there, but you have to pay for it. Despite my Internet addiction, I didn’t bother.

I’m not sorry we walked to the gorge, though I probably wouldn’t choose to do it again. If you’re reasonably fit and want to walk to Vintgar Gorge from Lake Bled, it’s certainly doable. Just be sure to bring water and make sure you know your route. Also, be prepared to dodge a lot of traffic. I would not recommend walking to the gorge if you have young kids. If we ever make it to this little slice of Slovenian Heaven again, it’ll be with wheels. Our taxi ride back to Bled was 10 euros and worth every penny.

Sundays

A beautiful day for wandering and drinking beer!

The weather here in Jettingen is finally fine. This morning, I decided I wanted to visit the Naturpark Schönbuch with Bill and the dogs. I noticed the park last month, as we were on our way to Waldenbuch for dinner. The drive to the park from our house is really pretty and I was hoping to get some good photos. We set out at about 10:00am and enjoyed a lovely walk through a different forest than the one right behind our house. Thankfully, I remembered to apply sunscreen and insect repellant. Bill didn’t and I have a feeling he got some sun today.

I always get a little nervous when I take walks in the forests around here. Although the paths are well marked and I have an excellent sense of direction, I’m always afraid I might get lost. But there were a lot of folks enjoying the park today with their dogs, on their bikes, or jogging. I suppose if we’d really gotten hopelessly lost, we could have just asked someone.

We check out the huge map. When we lived here last time, we lived close to the southern end of this park, but we never visited. I’m glad this time, we’re making a point of getting out and seeing local sights. Parking at the nature park is free and plentiful.

The first of many street signs. This was near the cemetery, where many people were paying their respects to the dead. We didn’t visit the graveyard because dogs aren’t allowed.

Teepees in the woods? Who knows?

Fenced in deer.

They were not bothered by us at all.

The boys were mostly oblivious at first.

As we walked further down the road, I could tell Zane was getting thirsty. A stream ran to our right and he kept acting like he wanted to go to it. There was no handy spot for him to reach it, though…

And then we happened upon this… It’s probably not for drinking, but Zane was able to enjoy a few sips.

Around this point, I was getting nervous. I just let my instincts do the navigating…

We walked up a long hill that about kicked my ass…

Passed what looked like a lumber yard… and I started to hear cars in the distance.

I was very relieved to see this. This is the sign for the parking lot where our car was. Right across the street is a gasthaus. It wasn’t quite ready for business when we finished our walk at about 11:00am.

We went a short way down another trail heading toward Herrenberg. I wanted to try to get a photo of the view overlooking the valley.

This was about the best I could do… I bet it would be a lot better in the winter, though the colors aren’t as pretty then.

After our walk, we took the dogs home. I changed shirts and shoes and we went to Nagold for lunch. It was packed there today because there was a garden festival going on. We finally found parking over near the pool area.

I can’t resist water fowl…

There were lots of people in Nagold… including a fire eater.

And if you wanted to, you could have escargot for lunch. It actually smelled really good, but snails are not my thing.

A pretty shot of the church in Nagold. Love this town. It’s super cute and very close to where we live.

I was starting to get discouraged as we searched for a place to eat lunch. Nagold was brimming with crowds. But then we spotted an empty table at the Alte Post. We sat down and enjoyed a much deserved beer.

This was so refreshing after our long walk…

Alte Post has an asparagus menu right now, but I decided to have salmon with mashed potatoes, chives, and beurre blanc sauce. This was absolutely delicious and easy to finish!

Bill went vegetarian and had herbed noodles with a salad and a little sprinkling of Parmesan cheese.

The salad was loaded with peppers.

We could have spent all afternoon in Nagold, but we needed to get to the Real to exchange a rack of beer and pick up some water and wine. Also, we have dinner reservations for tonight.

Besides, Nagold was packed…

More water fowl…

I had to take a picture of some tulips growing in our garden. One of them is half red and half yellow. I hadn’t noticed until Bill pointed it out.

I’m so happy the weather has finally warmed up and the sun is shining. I am definitely ready to put the top down on my Mini and hang out at some biergartens. We’ve decided that this year, maybe we’ll even see if we can bring our dogs with us. After an hour of walking, they may be tired enough not to raise hell. We will have to go back to Naturpark Schönbuch sometime soon. There are miles of trails to be explored there.

I will have a new restaurant review up today or tomorrow. Tonight, we venture to Holzgerlingen for the first time.

BeNeLux

Our trip to The Netherlands via Luxembourg… part 4

Monday night, Bill and I walked all over creation… Well, maybe that’s overstating things a bit, but we did take a very long walk. I was already a little fatigued from the first walk to the Centrum earlier, but I was a bit curious to see if there was a shorter route to the Centrum. I have concluded that there probably is one, but the walk Bill and I took on Monday night was only successful in that I found a grocery store, which I had been wondering about during my first long walk to town.

As we started in the direction opposite of the one I’d taken earlier in the day, I had a nagging thought that maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to go exploring. But the air smelled of horses and the houses in the neighborhood were cute. We ran into one guy with an energetic spaniel who was playing with its leash. We started walking and soon ended up in a part of town that looked a bit seedy… or as seedy as a neighborhood can look in The Netherlands. The truth is, it was still a fairly nice looking living area, it just wasn’t as cute and polished as the other homes we’d seen. I spotted a grocery store and wondered if maybe there was a restroom in there. There wasn’t, but we did find a wine tool, which we ended up not needing because I already had one packed in my bag.

The need to pee was overwhelming, so we visited a fast food joint called Charly’s. Bill ordered a couple of Cokes and a couple of orders of frites with ketchup. I relieved myself of the beer I had enjoyed while waiting for Bill. We ate the fries and drank the Cokes and started walking. As we got deeper and deeper into Apeldoorn’s “projects”, I started to get a little worried. I usually have a very keen sense of direction and rarely get lost. Bill doesn’t completely trust me, though, and goes into Army officer mode. He whips out his iPhone and consults the compass, not at all interested in letting my intuition take over.

We passed a duck pond near a tired looking apartment complex and I wanted to turn right because that was where my intuition was leading me. But then we saw a bus stop, so we turned left and approached it, only to find out that my intuition had been correct. We followed the stops for Bus 11, which we knew went to the Centrum. Our walk led us past what looked like a brewery, a couple of industrial looking businesses, and perhaps a municipal dump… I stopped to snap the picture below, because it was surreal.

A very large, pink, ten speed bike replica was in this lot full of cut tree branches and other debris…

My hips were starting to hurt and my feet were sore. Just then, Bill said he thought he heard someone playing tennis. He glanced to his left, only to see a very tall Dutch guy wearing traditional Dutch wooden shoes. He was walking his large dog and the clogs made a regular popping sound, as if he was playing tennis. He was the first guy I’ve seen in wooden shoes, but perhaps not the last.

We eventually ended up near a canal. I knew we needed to turn right, but was enchanted by the canal and wanted to see more of it, so we went straight, then turned into another apartment complex. There were what looked like large plastic spoons attached to the side of the canal. I should have taken pictures because it was a weird sight. But by the time we reached the canal, my hips were screaming and I knew we still had a long way to walk.

I did take a picture of this sticker because it describes me.

We finally got to the Centrum, though it was a part I didn’t explore earlier. Bill was still in Army mode, while I was relying on my intuition. We approached a group of guys who appeared to be drunk or high or both. Bill wanted to avoid them. We crossed the street and I spotted the mall where I had stolen a free piss earlier in the day. We walked through the Centrum and looked for a place to have dinner, but it was getting late and I truly worried that if I sat down somewhere, I’d have real trouble getting up again.

So we headed back toward the hotel, the same way I went when I had walked back from the Centrum earlier in the day… and on the way there, we ran into a group of Americans leaving an intriguing looking French restaurant. I would have liked to have tried it had it not already been about 9:00pm and my hips weren’t bellowing in pain.

Bill was very apologetic when we got back to the hotel. He handed me a bottle of Trappist Ale and a couple of ibuprofen. It wasn’t too long before I was sound asleep. I woke up yesterday morning vowing that I would enjoy a lazy day… I think, all told, I walked over ten miles on Monday. That may not seem like a big deal to some people, but I am a confirmed fattie who is about to turn 43. It was pretty strenuous for me.

In the lobby of the hotel…

Me, yesterday…

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A review of Neuer Ochsen in Stuttgart-Vaihingen, Germany… (now closed)

My husband Bill and I had some business to attend to at Panzer Kaserne. After we were finished with that and got some gas for my car, we went into Vaihingen for some lunch. When we lived in Stuttgart last time, we spent about six weeks living at the Vaihinger Hof. That made us very familiar with the local restaurants. One of the restaurants we visited a few times when we were in the hotel was Neuer Ochsen, a place that vaguely reminds me of the Gordon-Biersch chain in the United States.

The place looks like it’s corporate. It’s located right next to the Schwaben Galerie mall and has a very upscale look. When we’ve been there, we’ve been mistaken for Germans and given German menus, which were a bit more complete than the English ones were. This time, it looked like they had menus in German and English for everyone. In the past, I enjoyed delicious duck breast and a tomato soup with mozzarella balls in it. This time, neither of those favorite dishes were on the menu.

Undaunted, I chose the fitnesssalat. I don’t usually order salads, but this one sounded delicious. It was made with turkey, apples, and celery. Bill went for a flammkuchen– French style pizza. He also ordered a radler (beer and lemonade) while I had a schwarz bier.

Our server was very friendly and competent and she spoke English, even good-naturedly indulging our lame attempts to speak German. I was very happy with the salad. It was huge, came with a choice of either mustard-yogurt dressing or a vinaigrette. I chose the vinaigrette, which was nice and light and flavorful. The salad was huge, with lots of field greens, peppers, sliced green apples, carrots, cabbage, and celery. It came with slices of white and wheat bread. I felt really good about eating it… I usually eat what tastes good. This tasted good, but was also good for me. Had I wanted to, I could have had steak or fish or traditional Schwaben food.

Bill’s flammkuchen was also good. The crust reminded me of puff pastry and it was topped with cream, onions, and bacon. His selection wasn’t quite as healthy as mine was, but it was very tasty.

I wasn’t drunk when I took this photo…

Or this one… Bill is looking very naughty here.

Fabulous “fitness salad”… The fried turkey made it seem less so. I would totally order it again.

Bill’s “French pizza” looked better than the ones we saw being served in Colmar last weekend.

For this meal, we paid 24,50, before the tip. It was quite a bargain! For those who have kids, Neuer Ochsen has a kid’s menu. They also have live entertainment sometimes. We saw a jazz show advertised today. I hope to get back to the Neuer Ochsen again soon.

After lunch, we came home, fed the dogs, and took them on a nice long walk in the woods… about an hour or so. They burned off energy; we burned off lunch, and now we’re refueling with more beer.

World’s biggest pile of rutabagas.

Best of all, no one asked me if I’m pregnant.

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More on yesterday’s fun… mostly photos

Horseshit. I took a picture of this in case someday I want to illustrate a pile of poo.

The dogs and Bill enjoy our energy burning walk…

I keep trying to get a photo of how beautiful and cool these trees look… and it never works. I need to play with the camera settings…

I thought these trees looked interesting. Just after I took this shot, Zane got on a scent and he and Arran howled, bayed, and barked for the next half hour… or so it seemed. They would not shut up. One nice thing about living near the forest is that the dogs can make a racket without annoying others… except maybe us…

On the way to Herrenberg… Germany is so freakin’ beautiful.

Shots of Tuebingen…

Bill enjoys driving with the top down in my Mini…

And we ran across these ladies on horseback near where we used to live… I miss having horses!

A shot of Wurlinger Chapel. This used to be what we’d see in our backyard.

It’s wine country down here, too!

anecdotes

Another long walk in the woods…

Bill and I took Zane and Arran for a walk this morning with the intention of wearing them out so we can go somewhere fun this afternoon. They usually nap when we go out, but there can be a big production as we’re leaving. We figured if we got them to burn off some steam, they might make less of a racket in the first few minutes before we leave.

We ended up taking a different route than the one we took two weeks ago and ended up in an area unfamiliar to us. Rather than trying to search for a way to make a loop, we went back the way we came. As we were walking through the woods, Zane and Arran got on a scent and started baying. There was a German lady standing at a fork in the road. She, too, had a beagle. His name was Rudy and he was a bit bigger than Zane and Arran, as if he had some other kind of dog in his heritage.

The lady was telling us about how Rudy runs and bays… and she had obviously trained him, since he was in the down position as we approached. But he came over to meet Zane and Arran as she was telling us about how Rudy once got loose in the woods and she waited two hours for him to come back. Suddenly, Rudy attempted to mount Arran, who was having none of that. A short fight ensued and we decided to part ways.

It was actually kind of cool meeting her, though. I’m sure we’ll run into them again. It’s nice to know there’s someone else near us who has a hound and knows their nature. They like to run, hunt, make noise, and eat. German dogs are usually very well trained, but hounds can be a challenge…

This is about right…

I took my camera with me again, so here are some new photos… Some are blurry because I was trying to be all fancy, walking while shooting.

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France and Germany… a send off from the Army– Part 8

After a good breakfast at the Star Hotel, Bill and I set out to see Nice. Although it had been almost 17 years since my last visit, I basically remembered where to go to get to the beach. The aroma of salty air always excites me, but I had completely forgotten just how insanely blue the Mediterranean Sea is near Nice.

A sign in our hotel room…

Nice is much bigger than I remembered it. I think the last time I went there, I didn’t get out and see much. I was with two friends who are now a married couple and I think I felt a bit like a third wheel. This time, I was with my beloved Bill. We made our way downtown, passing a park where a Middle Eastern man appeared to be giving a very animated lecture to another man. I have no idea what they were discussing, but it was obviously important business, given how the man was carrying on.

The park…

We crossed the park and I spotted some steps that seemed to lead down to some close knit alleys. We went down and started walking… I’m glad we went that way, since it took us through some charming plazas and past a beautiful cathedral that was being extensively restored. We went inside, enjoyed the ornate decor and listened to the peaceful music that was piped in. It was easy to ignore all the scaffolding in the middle of the cathedral. The rest of the church was so pretty.

Charming Nice…

After we left the cathedral, I smelled rotisserie chicken roasting on a spit and heard some more modern sounds, probably Michael Jackson’s “Love Never Felt So Good”, which I heard a few times during this trip. We meandered through the maze of neighborhoods until we were spit out near a farmer’s market that was right next to Nice’s “boardwalk”.

Farmer’s market…

Near the beach!

I went down on the public beach, which has pebbles and rocks rather than sand. A lot of people were sunbathing and there were a few bums that appeared to be sleeping on the rocks. A couple of brave souls were swimming, though it wasn’t very hot outside and the water, while not freezing, was kind of cold. I would have liked to have gone swimming, but I doubt Bill would have been up for it.

We decided to take a VERY long walk instead. We walked along the beach, then up a hill that curled around to a World War II memorial. We kept walking down to the harbor area, where luxurious and simple watercraft shared space. We passed people walking their dogs and people repairing their boats… we saw a cruise ship or two and the air, once again, was perfumed by brilliant flowers. This time, they were bright purple. I was kind of wistful as we passed the dock and I saw one of the Windstar ships there. We’re due for another cruise at some point.

World War II memorial

By the time we got back to the hotel, it was lunchtime and we figured we walked about nine miles. I got a lot of great pictures of the dramatic scenery near the shore. We watched people fish and snorkel and listened to people talk… In all, we figured we walked about nine miles.

We enjoyed a late lunch at a fish place I happened to find a couple of blocks away from our hotel. They were serving paella and tuna as specials. I ordered us a carafe of sauvignon blanc and some water and we enjoyed a thoroughly delicious meal. Afterwards, we went to a nearby mall for some ice cream because I had a terrible craving for it. After lunch, we went back to the hotel, where I fell asleep. I did a lot of napping on this trip! Bill did school work while I snoozed and recovered from our nine mile hike, which totally wore me out.

Lunch and dessert…

Instead of going out to dinner, we stayed in the hotel room and ate cold cuts, bread, chocolate and guacamole from the local supermarket. Of course, we washed it down with water and a nice red wine. I would have liked to have spent another day in Nice. We probably could have done it, but we were running out of cash for train tickets and needed to think about getting back to Germany so we could get a flight home. I briefly considered trying to get something out of Aviano, which is a base in Italy not far from Venice. It would have been closer to get there by train and we love Italy. But Aviano’s schedules weren’t very predictable and we managed to find an inexpensive flight to Frankfurt, courtesy of Air Berlin’s subsidiary, the Austrian airline Niki. More on that in the next post.