On our way to Udine

Well, we finally got to sleep in this morning, but nevertheless were up around 6:30, had breakfast and were on the road by 8:00.


Well, what a day!  Never boring where we are concerned.  Woke up this morning and decided to have a shower.  It was not very bright in the long skinny bathroom and I wanted more light.  I saw a cord that ran from the top of the shower on a string with a small red ball on the end.  Thinking it was a light switch, I pulled it.  Nothing happened so I gave it a couple of good tugs.  Nothing.  Then I realized it was the Emergency pull cord.  I told Joe if they phoned or came to the door to see what happened, he was to explain that it was an error.  Well, no one came.  Lot of good that cord is!

Then I decided that because my breathing was really tight, I would use my nebulizer to get the airways open more.  Joe got it out and I set it up by the computer so that I could use the internet while I was using the nebulizer.  Great, got a couple of good breaths in and then noticed there was a lot more steam than usual coming out of it.
Guess what!  Not steam, but smoke, and getting worse by the second.  We unplugged it and it kept smoking so we put it out the window (on the window ledge) until the smoke subsided.  So much for breathing better!  Now I think it is "Toast".


475 KM through the Apennines to Udine. What spectacular scenery on the trip.
We went through 645 tunnels (not an actual count) on the way.
Below is #274. When we drove through the mountains we were either on a long bridge over the valleys or going through a tunnel when the terrain was high.  So the drive was really smooth just driving through the tunnels or over the bridges.  No hills to drive on!

Arrived at our hotel for today around 12:30. The hotel is the Hotel Executive and is quite good.
We have a bar and a restaurant on premise that serves authentic Italian food.
Free parking and free internet is a bonus as well.

We asked the fellow at the front desk if he knew where we could find a laundromat as we have been about 12 days on the road. He told us of a large mall with an "I clean" store that would do the laundry for about 2 Euros.
Off we went and after about an hour of driving around, asking 3 people (2 of which spoke no English) we finally found the mall. The charge is 2 Euros per item and after 12 days we have about 50 items.
100 Euros to do the laundry!!! No thanks.
Lunch at McDonalds (yes they do have them here) and they also have a motion activated garbage pail.
I know you all will want to see a picture of it, so here it is.

Just hold your tray or hands near the door and it automatically open then closes when you finish.

Back to the hotel to rest, write the blog and prepare for dinner. The front desk fellow asked how we made out at the laundry, we explained the problem.
Lo and behold, he told us to put the essentials for the next few days in a bag and his mother would wash it for us and return it tomorrow. Wow!!!

You could never find more friendly, accommodating people than the Italians.  We are very impressed.
However, not so impressed with the food here.  We thought we would get a lot of vegetables here, but really a LOT of pasta with fairly plain tomato sauce or cheesy sauces are served.  Also mostly white bread or buns.  Even the lasagna was no better than we make at home.  One good thing though, the gelato is VERY good.

Tomorrow we head for Codroipo and Zompicchia where Joe's grandparents lived before emigrating to Canada.