Venizia!

Spent the day in Venice a couple of days ago.

Where all the boats and tourists like me arrive on the Grand Canal

A view of St Marc's Square

A view of the cathedral from the end of St Marc's square

Well, I couldn't not have taken a photo of a gondola!

The symbol of Venice

Off the main tourist area Venice is tranquil

The Arsenal

Obviously off the beaten track but not that far from all those tourists!

The other direction from St Marc's square

Will put some put up some photos when I have a better connection. I had bad memories of Venice but really enjoyed my half day stay although it is always tiring, hot and full of people. Yesterday we went over the road bridge to the city. I didn't know that it even existed!! I wanted to go to Murano to buy some glass but parking the camper was so far away and then we would have got a ferry and so on and so on. It gives me a reason to go to Venice again, next time for a weekend and staying in an hotel. We then made our way to Lake Garda,  the eastern side of which is really beautiful but they want to keep campers away!

Torri Del Benaco, Largo di Garda

Nothing said but most parkings have height bars over them or the fee is exorbitant for campers, like 5 times more than for a car! I looked closely at an Italian camper and saw that he had just paid the fee for a car. Perhaps we foreigners are too honest. We spent the night on a car park near the end of the lake for which we had to pay the guard 10€ to let us out! Not a bad way of starting your day! There were 11 or 12 campers so 120€ in your pocket a day then the salary on top or am I being cynical? Now on our way to Bergamo.

Lake Balaton, Hungary and Heviz spa town.

Stupidly I closed the navigator before saving so here I go again!!

According to Hungarian sources, lake Balaton is the largest body of water in central Europe. It is the place that everyone seems to come and not only from Hungary but throughout Europe. There are some lovely spots around the lake. On the north shore there is the town of Tihany where the first record of written hungarian is kept. On the southern shore there is Siofok, a town to let your hair down in. Balatonbery where there is a great naturist campsite and beach, Keszethely where you can visit a rather pretty palace and where I went yesterday: HEVIZ

In all the blurb I had the impression of a quiet little village, whith a volcanic lake in the middle, with spas around where people could relax. Well... I suppose it is a little like that!

A view of the lake

Heads in the lake. The water is warm at 38.5°C!

An entrance to the lake

But I followed some signs to the campsite and then a little further only to fine lots of Hungarians in the stream that flows out from the lake. They were swimming and enjoying themselves for free!

and this is the river out of the lake just 300 metres further where you just find the lonely fisherman:

There are some really lovely waterlillies.

There are some really quiet cycle paths in and around the town.

but the town itself is based more on this type of thing.

Life is beauty and all that kind of stuff!!!!

Perhaps that part of life is beauty but there is oh so much more!!!!!

Thought for the day.

So called 'cheap' countries.

It is said that Eastern Europe is cheap, well, I am not too sure about that and I really don't understand why those living here, as I am in Budapest at the moment, do not take up arms and say 'there is something wrong'.

I wanted to buy some shaving gel yesterday and found that it is 2€ more expensive than in France. When I eat out, it costs about the same as I would expect to pay in France. Diesel today costs 326 florint, that is to say at today's rate 1.16€ (todays rate is 281 HUF=1€), that is what I would expect to pay in France. I earn an average salary in France, that is to say 4 times more than the average salary in Hungary, but prices are almost the same, some of them are even higher!

So why do the average citizens in these so called 'cheap' countries put up with pay which is so low and prices that are so high? So many questions and no answers. Although, sometimes I think the same about people like myself in France when you see the excess salaries of some members of the population.

Man needs margins to show he can do better, but shouldn't there be some sort of limit when there are those who have nothing?

What is a Smartphone? Do I NEED a smartphone?

Over the past half year relatives and friends have been changing their phones and getting either Blackberries or iphones or Ainos, all of these, I think, are smartphones but I didn't know what a smartphone is so I had a look on the net and in fact it is pretty easy to understand:

From videojug:

What is a "smart phone"?

A smart phone is any device that has an operating system that you can install programs into, as well as being a personal information manager; managing your contacts, your calendar, your tasks, and your memos. It allows you to listen to music and play video games, and it's really just an all-in-one multimedia device.

But in the end what should I chose? Do I really need all of these things? I have a phone. I have a mac. I have a GPS. I have a camera so in fact I have everything that I need so do I need a smartphone?

Talking about phones there is a good video here:

Here are my phones!

Renny Gleeson on antisocial phone tricks | Video on TED.com

Renny Gleeson on antisocial phone tricks | Video on TED.com

Back in Budapest.

It took some time to get here but that was because I was stopping and visiting, after all that is what it is about, isn't it? Istvan came and joined me for the evening in Siofok which was good. A little mini mini Blackpool type of place. We ate there in the evening but as the only way to get to the lake there is to pay to go to some private beach thing we decided to go a little south to Zamadi where access is free and there are far fewer people. We spent a good day on the 'beach' which in fact is a lawn, going into the lake from time to time. I have the impression that the lake is only 1 metre deep but that mustn't be true as on the north side it is possible to see quite large boats, the type you see on lac Léman, sailing up and down.

Does driving show a person's personality?

I have just spent a couple of days driving from Briançon to Budapest and on my way I have met some fun drivers. But nothing was like the few hours I spent in Slovenia!! The motorways are only 2 laned so people should get over to the right but do they? No! Not only that, after overtaking a rather slow lorry and caravan, a slovenian driver pulled up in front of me and put on his brakes!! A way of telling me that I had held him up, this is rather French in character! Then in Ljubljana I had time to do a left turn at some lights and got a long hoot from an irate woman driver! I do hope that this is not the general characteristic of the Slovenes as it has left a rather negative idea for me. Although as I was going about the town in Ljubljana people were friendly! Who knows?

Toujours Briançon

While climbing to the ‘Col de l’échelle’ on the bike yesterday and minding my own buisiness a group of cyclist approached all dressed in black, red and white, chatting away then suddenly one of them as he came past me headed towards me and for no apparent reason roared at me! Fortunately the acquisition of firearms is restricted in France. Had I had a pistol it would have been one of the occasions where I would have taken it out and shot of the lot of them! There was no reason to be aggressive towards me. Young fools!

I thought I had done at least 5 kms on the was up only to find out when I got back down that the whole climb had only been 2,7 kms!!! As I was huffing and puffing up this never-ending slop I could hear and feel the flies around me. Unlike other cyclists who are a little fitter than I, at every stop my friends the flies flew about me licking up my sweat! Well I suppose if I can help the ecosystem.

One of the problems with the new DC/AC converter is that is screams all the time. On the box it was clearly marked that it could recharge a pc, well mine it can only recharge when I am on the move and at the moment that is not so often! At the moment I am stopped with the motor running – very good for the environment and my pocket!!

I spent last night on the ‘Col du Laurtaret’, just over 2000 metres. It was a great afternoon and evening. Sun, a breeze, a couple of people were out with kites and I read. At the moment I am reading a book by Stephen Fry – the Liar. It is only during the vacations that I actually manage to get any reading done. We talk a lot of climate change but are not really aware of the effects of the warming of the planet. I am no alarmist, but when you are sitting at what must have been the base of a glacier, probably 100 years ago, and look up only to see a smudge of snow on the top, well things are changing. Although I do have a picture of what is left of a glacier in the same valley and lower down.

It leaves me now to say ‘Happy Birthday’ on my blog. Yesterday was his birthday, 4^th August but I couldn’t get the net to work! Let’s hope I’ll have a better chance today.