Italian fuel strike!

I've just been reminded of a little problem that Dany failed to mention to me before I arrived in Italy. Every petrol station we've seen has been beseiged with customers trying to fit just a few more drops into their tanks and apparently now 8 out of 10 stations have no fuel at all. The queues are just crazy and do little to help a city already paralysed by too many cars. All very reminiscent of the UK protests a couple of years ago that were rumoured to be repeated this week.

I think I have 145 miles of diesel left which will hopefully get me far enough into Austria to find supplies. Otherwise it's going to be a long walk home. (Perhaps the BBC will send Ewan and Charlie's crew so we can make the third episode in the "Long Way" series.)

Trenitalia to Venice

Having escaped the morning mist and morning traffic(!) of Milano, we're now on the fastest train we could find to take us to Venice for the day. Out of the window we've got the fantastic vista of Lake Garda and the mountains on a clear day - picture postcard stuff.

My drive down yesterday went well in the end, despite the A1 being closed overnight and a late ferry crossing due to heavy seas. I decided to try the German Autobahns and this time they lived up to expectations. However, speed was tempered a fair bit by the rain from Koblenz to the Switzerland. As soon as I got to Basle everything got much colder and the driving snow as I headed up to the Gotthard tunnel was very exciting. Once on the other side everything was much drier. Tomtom had a laugh guiding me through the city centre to Dany's home in San Donato to meet with Frank and Nobuko. We then ate and drank the local fare before collapsing in preparation of an early start today.

A brief update on Nobuko's visits so far. After arriving on Saturday she's done: Lake Como with Dany on Sunday, Florence on her own (!) on Monday, Verona with Frank yesterday and Venice today with me. Tomorrow she's off to Madrid (flying via Roma) to see Javier before flying home again the following Monday.