Italy 2016, day 16 - The return

8 AM this morning. All packed and ready to go, just one more toilet stop and then we're driving home. It was still nice and cool. We had our tent-check at 7:30 nice and early. Breakfast will be picked up at Lidl in Monfalcone soon.

Pretty soon we had the Alps in view again.

Lovely little villages.

Awesome castles.

We had lunch at the Chiemsee. Pretty nice stop and I'd not been here before.

It's a pretty big lake.

The rest of the journey went well apart from tons of traffic delays in Germany. We got home just after midnight, well done I think.

Italy 2016, day 15.

This morning we visited a little village calles Aqualeia. There are some Roman remains there that interest me a lot. This is an old Roman road.

One of the views further away. I love this photo, I'm thinking of having it printed...

There was also a cemetary for soldiers. This beautiful statue was there.

See-through.

Aqualeia church. I was the only one allowed in because my T-shirt had sleeves (short ones) and my shorts were long enough... Bit silly I think but who are we to change their rules...

After all this "boring" Roman stuff we went to an outlet shopping centre a bit further up the road. They did have a lot of cool shops I must admit.

However, I sometimes found photographing a butterfly more exciting ;-)

I did end up buying some Nike air's and other clothes so I was pretty happy with that.

In the evening there was another beach party.

So it was cocktail time again. YAY!

Italy 2016, day 14.

There was a cabaret night at the theatre tonight, performances by several boys and girls from the animation team. They did a nice job and it was an hour of fun watching them to all sorts of acts. It's amazing howmuch time and effort they put in to entertaining their guests.

Italy 2016, day 13.

I don't think much happened today. At least there are no photos to prove otherwise ;-)

Italy 2016, day 12.

It's very warm during the day and I don't always feel like going to the pool. I discovered this spot next to the back of the tent where you can sit in the shade of a tree and feel a nice little breeze. Lovely spot to read :-)

Cocktail time again! :-)

Italy 2016, day 11 - Grado / Grease

Today was a good day for exploring. Because nobody else wanted to explore with me I went by myself. Which is probably best as I make lots of photos which takes time and usually annoys others anyway ;-)

So Simone and Larissa went to a shopping mall and dropped me off at Grado on the way there. Milan stayed at the pool with friends.

The start of my adventure was at the North side of the island.

This is the canal leading towards the edge of the old town where the harbour is, view from the sea side.

Bigger and smaller fishing boats are still going in and out daily from this old little town.

Harbour view.

Looking down the canal from the town side.

Some fishermen are doing quite well I reckon ;-)

I visited the Carpaccio square. I had to ;-)

Then I walked into the old town, my main target for today. I walked through every tiny street and alley I could find and came across beautiful old squares like this one with a very large grape tree.

Tiny streets.

Of course Jesus is never far away in these kinds of neighbourhoods.

During a downpour of rain I had my lunch at La Caina again. Delicious pizza. by the time I was done the rain had stopped, perfect :-)

The back of restaurant Toni.

This is the "Basilica di Santa Maria delle Grazie". This little piece of serenity was founded in the 6th century making it about a thousand years old. How impressive is that eh?

The inside was so quiet and peaceful. Awesome place.

Then I continued my journey through the old town, heading South.

When I reached I the southern edge of the old town I walked up North through the main street.

After ending up in suburbia with a harbour and posh hotels I found the western beach and started walking along the coast towards our camping slowly. This particular piece of beach seemed like it was alone in the desert, funny.

I came from the distance and found myself at the start of the promenade that lets you walk along the water. of the mediterranean sea.

There it is.

At some point I came across some World War II remains. Looks very German...

There was a statue for fallen "airmen". But the German reads "Luftwaffe" which I believe is just the German airmen...

There are these funky fountains.

After one more cappucino I found myself walking back to the camping.

Beautiful Alfa Romeo.

Not so beautiful Fiat truck. Looks like it's been in one or more Dakar rally's.

After a 2 hour walk I was back at the camping. In the evening the animation team performed the musical Grease which was good fun. I have to say that the animation at this camping is very, very good. here are some Grease shots to conclude: