Sweden Travel: Beach

We thought an evening pic-nick at the beach would be nice for us and for Isla. We enjoyed it, but the water was so shallow that Isla ended up staying on the sand with us. The name of the little town is lost to me right now, but they've built a nice little (but long) pier out to water deep enough to swim in with a restaurant at the end.

Denmark Travel: Copenhagen

I decided that Copenhagen is a must see. We are allegedly only 40 minutes away by train. It took a little longer because we couldn't use the automated ticket dispensers and had to consult a human. Those humans are in short supply, but much more helpful than the ticket dispenser. She sold us on a Jojo card and set us on our way to the train waiting just outside the office. We hopped on and got to Copenhagen around an hour later. I had overlooked the fact that we'd need another type of currency - the Danish Kroner. After being denied a pee in the digitally controlled toilet because I didn't have 5 Danish Kroner, we stumbled on a nice coffee shop not far away. We got some good advice, which we didn't follow, and instead went off on our own.

We did find the Copenhagen Red Cross charity shop. The volunteers were welcoming and amazing...

Italian cheese

I am depressed about the cheese. Even here in Rome only Italian cheese is available and it is all very anonymous white cheesey stuff. We did buy a small wheel of English cheddar, but during our drive it got too hot and sort of melted. The wax on the outside melted, then the cheese sort of oozed out. Ick. Sadly this leaves me without good cheese for the next 2 months. I'm going to look online to see if i can get an emergency delivery of Cheddar!

Roma Chiuso

Sunday in August in Rome and not even the cafe and pizza joints are open! I am reminded that this is a Catholic country....

Roma in August

We travelled to Rome to drop off the dog's crate to have room in the car for our friends. Our wonderful Roman landlord has allowed us to leave that crate here in the apartment, and he allowed us to stay for a couple days. Rome in August is like a ghost town. Everything is closed and the streets are very quiet - a perfect time to drive in Rome. Yesterday we dropped off our ugly Renault Scenic and picked up a Fiat 500L. The sat nav took us through Rome, past the Vatican and a few other famous sights. I was amazed at how little traffic there was. When we first arrived I thought that it was nap time (which it was), but it is more than just nap time. Everyone is on holidays, including most shop owners. Cafes are closed, restaurants closed, clothing stores, half closed. The weirdest thing is the roads. Every time I've been in Rome I've had to worry about being run down by random drivers. This morning I stood in the middle of a four lane street looking up and down at the empty road.

It's not as if it is massively hotter here than the rest of Italy, at least to us. It is just that everyone takes a holiday at this time. It is a nice time to be here in some ways.

Bavarian Clothes

Yesterday when we stopped in H. Bavaria we found ourselves in the centre of a town with 4 yarn/fabric shops and 3 Bavarian 'costume' shops. It was of course after closing, but we could admire their lovely window displays. On a dare (Christopher dared me to go in and try something on) we both tried things on. Christopher may or may not have bought his, you'll have to ask him about it. It was very pleasant to be the 'right' size. The jacket fit, the curvy bits worked well and in the right place, and the sleeves were the right length. After the Sicily curvy petites and the French skinnies it was a lovely, welcome change. I am now the proud owner of a Bavarian style grey wool suit with green trim and red velvet cuffs. I plan to wear it to work all the time.

Mantova Swans

Those of  you who don't have a retriever may be unaware of the spectacle created by a dog fetching a frisbee. She, and by extension, we, become the centre of attention. Yesterday when we arrived in Mantova after finding our hotel room, we took the dog to the water for a little swim. She loves fetching her floating frisbee, over and over and over.

As we were throwing for Isla, the local swans took an interest. When 29 swans start swimming towards you it is hard to know what to think. They look majestic, but also slightly threatening. An irate swan can easily break a person's arm, so we were a bit worried about 29 of them heading towards the dog. It appears that, like the local populace, they were also curious about this odd being swimming in their water and the strange possible food product she carried. The got to within about 2 metres of Isla before deciding to halt their stately advance.

Other facts about swans - their poo is the same size as Isla's. Ick.