The ferry was about and hour and half late leaving but I managed to secure luxury accommodation on the rear deck under the stars for the night but had to pack my stuff up sharpish the following morning when the crew started to hose the decks down.
Met Viv without any problems in Ancona and as instructed by Gareth gave her a big hug and kiss then repeated it a few times as it felt good.
We set off north and found a campsite about 30-40 miles north of Ancona for the night. Funny how many Italian campsites seem to be sandwiched between a railway line and the beach. About half the units seem to be little wooden huts with shutters and porches and the rest caravans with just a few tents. We enjoyed sharing a couple of different pizzas and a carafe of local plonk before bed.
Next day we decided to put a few miles in and try and clear the coast so drove north of Venice looking for a place to camp near the mountains. We saw signs for a site and just before it found a Lidl to stock up with dinner. Whilst in there we heard a couple speaking English and to cut a long story short starting chatting and they invited us back to their place for a Bar B Q saying we could camp in their garden for the night. We followed them about an hour north into Austria to their place in a little village called Hermangor.
They have a house they are doing up but it will be beautiful when finished and the views across their land to the mountains all around are just fantastic.
The drive up was in the mountains and like in France, Switzerland and Italy they don't shirk when it comes to roads in mountains, it either goes over a bridge, through a tunnel or crosses the valley on stilts.
We eventually reached the house and were joined by another English couple for a really nice evening. Below are Barbara and Colin who were visiting Ingrid and Mel our hosts with Viv centre stage. We chipped in our tea and some wine whilst Mel and Ingrid provided the meat, beer and more wine. We sat chatting until late and I even had a play on a guitar once owned by Eric Clapton that Mel had bought some time ago, he had a fantastic collection of really great guitars.
By the time we had finished chatting and drinking it was a bit too late to pitch a tent so we ended up sleeping on the sofa bed in the front room.
It was amazing how many coincidences we shared, Mel and I had both been in the police we both had sons called Gareth, each had a daughter with nearly the same name Leah and Lea and had worked the Miners Dispute, Mel having been posted to Warsop which I went to a number of times when he must have been there.
The following morning Ingrid made a great breakfast and after saying our goodbyes to them and their lovely daughter Isabella (5 years speaking 3 languages) we took our leave to visit a local beauty spot with a walk along a gorge.
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