I was having vehicle
problems driving up the Adriatic coast, the vehicle battery wasn’t charging
although all the dashboard lights were off. I
found a commercial vehicle workshop in Trieste who fitted a new alternator.
There was a mix up over the new part so I had to spend an additional night
waiting for a new one.
While waiting for parts I found a place to park on the edge of the industrial
estate in sight of a number of very large tanks which turned out to be the
terminal of the Trans-Alpine pipeline.
https://www.tal-oil.com/en/installations/transalpine-oelleitung.html
I would have liked to visit Venice, but the Carnival started the same weekend and I can’t cope with the large crowds, the general noise and bustle that accompanies such events. Instead I headed north across the Venetian-Friulan Plain under cloudless skies to Palmanova.
Built in the late 16th and early 17th centuries as a 9 pointed star, Palmanova is a walled town. There are a few modern buildings but they don’t intrude into the streetscape. Monday, it seems, is market day so there was no chance of sweeping vistas of the Grande Piazza.
In one of the gatehouses is a small but well executed military museum. The two people on duty were Italian Army Senior Non-Commissioned Officers.
One night was spent on the banks of Lago Morto, north of Treviso, which is unusual in that there are no surface rivers entering nor leaving it. It’s in a deep valley and I was on my way before the sun rose over the tops.
Falcade was one of the many towns and villages I passed through in the Dolomites.
As one travels towards Bolzano road signs become bilingual, German first with Italian second. This is due to the province of South Tyrol formerly being part of Austria-Hungary until the end of the First World War. The province now has a very large degree of autonomy within the Italian state and German is the first language for the majority.
Still in South Tyrol is the walled town of Glurns (German) / Glorenza (Italian). I’d almost driven through before realising it was worth spending some time. A quick check revealed some parking back the way I’d come so I turned around and spent the night. A fascinating little town standing in the Val Venosta valley and well worth visiting.
http://www.glurns.eu/en/the-town-of-glorenza/the-town-of-glorenza/12-0.html
The Swiss border is about 6 miles further on where the Italians waved me through and the Swiss did no more than a swift passport check.
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