Preganziol & Bolzano

Hi,

Last night Kay & I tried to download her photos but couldn't work it out. So I am going to try emailing something to a few of you. You just type in some details & it lets you see the 4 photos.

Anyway, After the day in Venice I took a day off yesterday! Spent the morning writing my diary & postcards. Kay was home for a few hours over lunch which was nice. I then took a train to the next station & wandered around Mogliano for a few hours. It's a bit bigger than Preganziol, & I even bought your birthday present, Dad! Then I learned how to waste an hour of my life.

Asked directions to the Post Office at the tourist bureau. Followed what she said but didn't find it, so looked around & stumbled acroos it. had not realised she has the same disease as Jen & Gayelene. When they give me directions I automatically reverse left & right now.

It was a big & busy PO, & after watching a few others I realised you had to get a ticket, which was in itself an experience, since you need to first indicate the sort of service you want. Thought it was safe to go for the picture of a letter as I only wanted stamps, & I could see the words "pension" & "business" on some of the other options. Well, there was only one person working letters, & it took an hour before my number came up on the screen. So after practicing the word for 8 & figuring I could gesture at the space left for stamps, I "asked" for that. At which point she shook her head & said "piccolo" a few times, which I took to mean the space was too small for the stamps. Confirmed when she showed me the 10x2cm franked stamps required!!! So we considered envelopes, but I would have had to address them & then she obviously had to weigh them before giving me the damn franks. Since I had envelopes in my backpack & could not be bothered addressing 8 then & there, I left with nothing! Except & dose of frustration, & the wish that I had asked Kay about buying stamps before attempting to do so. oh well...

last night we ate out with a friend of Kay's at a local pizza restaurant. It stormed, complete with lightning, for most of the night, which I think cooled things down today!

This morning kay left at 5am for a holiday down south with a friend for 5 days. I did not get up, but said my goodbyes last night! Daniel returns from Brussells tomorrow night, & they have kindly let me stay here on a night that neither of them are home. Today I caught the train up to Bolzano in the north of Italy to see Otzi, the 5000 year old mummy found in the Italian/Austrain Alps. Have just realised that I travelled for a total of 9 hours and was only there for 3! But the 5 hours there & 4 hours back were quite spectacular in terms of scenery as it took us through the Dolomites. The train goes along the floor of the valley & the mountains rise up on both sides. It's very geen at the moment, and there are grape vines all along the way, interspersed with olive trees further north. Towns intermittently come into view, sometimes crawling up the lower slopes with a backdrop of cliffs. And occasionally the vineyards climb over small hills, looking like patchwork blankets have been draped over the top. I even saw a few castles!

I had a book & read quite a bit in 9 hours, but kept getting distracted by the view!

Otzi & the museum are in a very unassuming little town. It's more german than italian. Fortunately there was an audioguide in English. It was amazing to see him & all of the artifacts they found with him - his clothing, arrows, bow, everything! There were even a few maple elaves he used to wrap embers in. Must say I was most impressed by his shoes. 5000 year old grass is still stuffing his leather uppers, complete with rope mesh to hold it in. Everything is kept in glass display cases at 6 degrees below zero. The museum also has many other things from the bronze age, and zillions of annoying school children who ran around madly making a lot of noise.

Have booked my ticket to Geneva tomorrow so it will be another 8 hours on the train.

Must go & pack!

luv, Bella xxx
I wonder what my Swiss name will be?