Haida Whales and Wine Rats

It's so strange to be traveling after being away from Canada for a year. I find myself looking for things that remind me of home, rather than the opposite as most travelers do. Don't get me wrong, I'm still enjoying the differences, but when I see something that makes me think of Canada I give an extra pause to enjoy it.

In the heart of Verona Justin and I came across a store called 'Canadiens' - A high end winter clothing company from Italy. Everything was super nice and had our maple leaf all over it. There was even Haida art in the store. It made me happy.



Overall Verona was really beautiful. Quite touristy. Lots of high end shops and restaurants. Lots of people making out for a really long time everywhere. Our campsite was in the botanical gardens of Castle San Pietro overlooking the city. It was amazing and unforgettable for the view and the site... but the toilets and showers were holes in the ground and there were lizards and 'wine rats' (as dubbed by a camper sitting next to us on  the terrace) which scurried over ledges and in the olive vines above us. This adds to the 'unforgettable' part I guess.

The Gourmet Camper

On our last night there I went all out at the Supermercato and made a creamy pesto gnocchi and bruschetta at our campsite. With 2 beers and wine it worked out to be about a €20 meal which was quite a lot by our standards, but much less than dinner out would have been.

We are in Venice now (Punta Sabbioni actually - a ferry boat ride to Venice) and leaving tomorrow. We will head down the east coast without really a plan from here until Sicily. 




A couple random things I wanted to document so I don't forget them:

Almost all of our campsites have offered fresh bread for an extra nominal charge in the morning. It seemed strange at first but it actually quite nice now. In Brugge there was a bread vending machine that was filled every morning. In Innsbruck the receptionist at the campsite game me flash cards of every different type of bread they offered. Most sites just have a store or restaurant you can go buy it from.

So far we haven't paid for laundry; we've been doing it by hand. Most campsites have a laundry sink that we have been taking advantage of if we know the weather will be warm enough to dry it. The first time I washed everything I was next to a German lady doing  the same and I watched what she was doing and learned a lot about handwashing. Seems like a simple task but there is a method to it.

On our last night at Lake Como the lady at the bar gave us free Limoncello shots. It was icy cold and soooo tasty, and really sweet of her. Well, she didn't speak English at all so I gathered they were free...   

Anyways that's my muddled blog post today. Hope you are all well and I'm really looking forward to seeing you soon.

Genevieve