old tiger's Blog

So..finally after a visit to San Marino..goodbye to Rimini as well..
hitch hiking out of Rimini towards Ancona...was difficult..
I stood for 2 hours before I got my first ride..reached Ancona..
I must say..the Adriatic coastline is a marvelous sight anyway..
from Ancona...again hours of waiting...reached finally Pescara..
slept somewhere in an abandoned building in the outskirts..
next day..was aiming for Brindisi..but..as expected..
hitch hiking was real shit..did only manage the town of Bari..
they told me in Venezia...watch out in Bari..
it's got a reputation like Napoli..pickpockets??
Bari was a ferry departure point for Yougoslavian towns..
like Dubrovnik etc..these days..it was still under Tito..
I loved Yougoslavia when it was united..now..it's split up..
by war..I thought for a while..taking a ferry to Dubrovnik..
but I had set my mind up on visiting the island of Corfoe..
so...I had to go down to Brindisi..to take that ferry..
will tell you peeps later on...aww..Greek islands...
please..do me a favor..if you ever go to Greece..
visit at least one of the islands...it's fantastic..
http://www.timeout.com/travel/bari/intro.html
Tiger..

Well..from Rimini..one has to take a bus to this place..
this country..yes..it's the third smallest in Europe..
after the Vatican and Monaco..well....this place..
to tell you all my honest opinion..I did not like it..
it was very hot..overrated..and full of tourists..
the kind of tourists..taking a pic..and then saying afterwards..
look at me..I have been in San Marino..
this place got some value maybe..
for stamp and coin colletors..but for the rest..
it's a handkerchief big..living on tourism..which I agree with..
if you ever go there..just enjoy a shopping stroll..
you can buy these bullshit souvenirs..keyhangers,bottle-openers..
anyway..I spend some hours there..and oh..well..count me in,O.K??
I've visited San Marino..so what??I visited 50 countries..
after San Marino..went back to Rimini youth Hostel...
by a hot bus ride..full of Japanese tourists..in short trousers..
and little white hats for the sun..camera always ready..
omg..I loved these Japanese and Taiwanese..
I was gonna get ready..to hitch towards Brindisi..
that's South Italy..folks from South Italy..
are very different from North Italy..ask any Italian..
I prefer South Italians..they tell it..in your face..
a link for San Marino..if you wanna have a peep..
http://wikitravel.org/en/San_Marino
crazy Tiger
Tiger

so..I left Venezia..really a nice town..I recall the canals..
the pigeons at San Marco square..the little back alleys..
someone who ever has been to Venice..never forgets it..
hitching out of Venice..was not easy at all..first I stood..
for more then 2 hours at Mestre..got a ride to Chioggia..
it's loveley to see the Adriatic all the way..
omg..and it was summer as well..that means SUN..
from Chiaggio i got a ride in these mini Italian Fiat cars..
they pump a whole family in it sometimes..
reminds me of these Federico Fellini movies..typical Italian..
Italian mentality..one must be able to catch...
they are emotional folks..either they are very joyfull..
or raving angry..ahah...yes..they talk with their hands..
usually some dirty words like *va fangullo* follow.
I'm not going to translate that..no way..
so..that mini car..brought me to Ravenna..historical city..
some nice piazza's(squares)with the usual caf?s and shops..
did not see much of the sights of Ravenna..
got on towards Rimini..now..that's a beach resort..
I decided to stay in the Youth hostel here..
and visit the small mini country San Marino..
it was only a handkerchief big..mostly shops..
but it was a country on my list..
I went to the beach at Rimini..very busy..hectic..
the usual Italian macho's hunting for the local chicks..
I even had a swim into the Adriatic..
water was not to clean..pollution??
I preferred the Yougoslavia Adriatic
Rimini..was bit to busy for this Tiger..
I will try to find a good link on this place..
http://www.visit-rimini.com/
Tiger

So..I hitched towards the southern tip of Garda lake..
needed 2 rides to reach Verona..this is a touristical place..
it's know for Romeo and Juliet from Shakespeare..
the Adige river flows through town..so..that means..
a few nice little bridges..which give character to the place..
pity..but I had no time..to stay here..money??instead..
I was going to stay 2 nights in the youth hostel of Venice..
I did hear so many things about this place..the canals etc..
I had to see this..it's extremely touristic..millions a year...
even in the 70's..Venice was on the list for Italy tourists..
I came to a place called Mestre...car traffic stopped there..
took a bus towards Venice..first impression was great..
first got into tourist office for a map..very necessary..
sunny day..Piazza San Marco with its pigeons..
Venice is of course a city to walk through..I did that..
traffic goes by water taxi's called vaporetto...quite efficient..
I saw the Rialto bridge...dating from 16th century...
the Grand Canal gave such a powerful expression..
Venezia was quite expensive...I stayed in the Youth hostel...
one can only reach that place by boat..reasonable prices..
food..is typical Italian as well..had a nice sphagetti somewhere..
followed by a cappucino(coffee)these little restaurants are worth
checking out...they are called trattoria's..but..a big but as well..
tourists..drive up the prices..I had a talk with the owner of one
of these trattoria's...he told me..there was soo much competition
between Venice caf? and restaurants holders..so..prices??
there is an island around Venice called Murano..famous for glass..
did not go there..The 2 days I stayed in Venice..were not even
enough to taste the marvells of this town..so many tourists..
wanting to do a gondeliers boat ride on the Grand Canal..
it's expensive..but..I guess for honeymooners..very romantic..
little streets..shops..and all that water around...it was magic..
I did not take that gondeliers boat ride..not for my pocket..
in the youth hostels one always meets Americans,British,
Germans etc..it was nice to talk to them..some of them..
did not believe me..saying I was going to India overland..
after Venice..my plan was the Adriatic coast via Rimini..
down to Brindisi..ferry to Corfoe(Greece)
I'll try to get a good link on Venezia for you peeps...
http://europeforvisitors.com/venice/
and one more thing here..thanks..for visiting my gallery..
I believe Hippievixen who also got a journal here..
has been in Venice..I would like to hear her comments..
Tiger

Milano..is just south of Como..a big city..a big highway net..
I did not like Milano as a place..I got a ride from Como..
straight to Milano..I was dropped at a highway connection
towards Monza-Bergamo..funny thing happened to me there..
it was summer...and lots of hitch hikers..waiting for a ride..
a whole line of them before me..hitch hikers's rule is..first come..
first serve...so..since I arrived last..I went a bit to far beyond
the highway notice...one moment...a policemen..on a Moto Guzzi
motorbike..stopped..called me..gave me a whole shit in Italian..
like *che fai lei??fa l'indiano* etc..etc..point was..I kept my cool..
but the bastard..gave me a ticket..a penalty..to be payed directly..
no way to refuse..I payed a little amount..few dollars i believe??
Italian currency was Lira that time..I asked for a prove of my fine..
the fucker..just gave me a scribble on a piece of paper...
I bet..he put the money in his own pocket...damn..what a bastard..
strange world..but..it was a sunny day...and some Italian couple..
who were hitching a ride there too..told me..I had been a fool..
to pay that penalty..O.K..that's life..one learns by mistakes,is it??
so Milano..no good rememberings for me...got a ride to Bergamo...
this is a nice place..but did not stay there..someone had told me..
to visit the Garda lake..Riva..so.I hitched there via Brescia..
the Garda lake..is a marvell of nature..I loved that lake..peaceful..
i slept somewhere around Riva..overlooking the scenery of the lake..
http://www.gardalake.it/index.htm
Tiger