Posts From Italy

Before getting on to todays report I want you to look at the photo of the green truck in yesterdays photos and note the seating position of the driver. We thought our Unimog was pretty smart with its variopilot which allows the steering wheel and pedals to be moved to the other side of the cab to make the truck right hand drive. Well the tug trucks that move trailers around the port of Patra go one better; they can actually turn the driving position around so that they don't have to reverse with mirrors.

Once awake this morning we moved our vehicle back into the ferry waiting area and the catching up with Gary and Monika continued. In addition now in the light of day we could take a few photos of the twoadventure vehicles parked side by side. However eventualy it was time for the Wescotts to checkin for their ferry and for us to get on our way.

We had a rude awakening and a few sick moments this morning. Lying in bed half asleep I could hear the engine of a nearby semi-trailer and deduced from the noise that the driver was manouvering around some kind of obstacle. After a few moments I realized that the gray mass just outside the window over our bed was not fog but the side of a truck and then that is was only 2 inches from the window. Yikes; the driver was manouvering around US. I bounded out of bed with the intent of either sounding our horn of moving our truck. I got the engine started, bare foot down on the clutch pedal to engage the gear, and my left calf muscle screamed in anger with a cramp. You see I was too quick; the truck had not built enough air pressure to provide power assistance to the clutch and my still sleepy legs did not want the stress of pushing the un-assisted clutch.

Today we were off to spend a day seeing Venice. The starting point for this adventure was a stop at the ferry ticket office where for 26 Euros each we got a return ferry ticket to Venice and a pass that allowed us to unlimited use of Venice public transport (mostly ferries running up and down the grand canal).

At Rome airport we found our taxi (organized by our AirBnB hostess) with no trouble, had a comfortable but fast ride to the city and our apartment. We were happy with the apartment as it seemed to have all the facilities promised.

One of the must see items on Nina's list was Pompeii. So to accommodate this necessity this morning we were up early and waiting at the Piazza del Popolo at 7:30am to meet our guides and group.