With the sat nav set to the fastest route the road took us on a big loop southwards before heading north again. We started to see signs for Verona and the obvious stopping place. We couldn't afford the time to actually drive into Verona but it was plainly obvious that it would have been the better stopping place and taken a couple of hours off today's drive. We stopped at a motorway services on the edge of the town to sing our song for Italy.'English Boys Are Melancholy' was chosen by Kit because of the line celebrating the beauty of Italian girls on scooters with the wind in their hair. The line dates from a trip to Genoa many years before and lives in my memory as one of the most beautiful sights of my life. Who needs a crash helmet when you look good?
After Verona we headed for the famous Brenner Pass. I had no idea that it was famous for its traffic jam. Somehow my pre-trip research had missed this detail but we lost an hour at the border. At some point after Verona we had been stung by a toll which I found highly irritating but little did we know there was much more to come. After we crossed the border into Austria we were almost immediately stung by another and very expensive toll. I protested that I had already paid for a vignette only to be told the road we were on was excluded from the vignette system. I felt like I'd been robbed by both the Italians and especially by the Austrians. I thought that would be the end of it but there were two further tolls to pay and the road from Udine to Feldkirch ended up costing me more than the cost of a tank of petrol. The road passed through some beautiful scenery but also a series of traffic jams and progress was slow.
In addition there was a monotonous series of tunnels and the scenery started to disappear from view. It was early evening by the time we arrived in Feldkirch but arrival felt like a relief. Our hotel was a youth hostel but nearly empty and we were given a dorm all to ourselves. The ancient building was half timbered and the site of a previous leper colony. Even though we were tired after the most arduous drive of the trip we were also quite eager to stretch our legs and mindful that there were only a couple of hours of daylight left.
Feldkirch lies at the very end of Austria just across the border from Liechtenstein and became a stopping place along the road simply because Vaduz, the Leichtenstein capital, is horrendously expensive. Nevertheless, it is a lovely town and we enjoyed our walk around. Feldkirch dates back to medieval times and retains some unspoilt ancient buildings. We arrived in the main shopping area as the shops were closing and I was disappointed to find a CD shop I could only look through the window of.
To my delight we also discovered a brew pub that as well as having great beer served some great traditional food and Kit and I rounded of the day with one of the best meals of the trip. The pub was in a modern building with great big glass windows and a separate restaurant area. I love fresh asparagus and the pub was celebrating the beginning of it being in season with various specials. Kit started with asparagus soup and I had an asparagus salad. Both dishes were delicious. Kit had schnitzel for his main course and I had a really tasty liver dish called 'liver like your grandma used to make' or something to that effect.
We made our way back to the hostel and spent a little while catching up with Facebook and I posted some of the blog but we had to pay to use a PC. We liked Feldkirch a lot but today's driving was an ordeal. Maybe the Gods of the road will be kinder to us tomorrow.
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