Nothing quite like a thunderstorm in the mountains

Every day day starts at 7am.., whether I want it to or not... it has to because the church tells me so.  There might be a tree growing in it's  tower and birds nesting there too, but every day the bells ring loudly and for E.V.E.R at 7am...dammit!

Drama the other day in Feltre when the mother of all hail, thunder, lightning and wind storms all took place together and for what seemed like for a very very long time...front page news with roads blocked, cars damaged and rivers flooding.  I got soaked and my car is now peppered with hail damage.  Could have been worse...and  for some it was..

Telling it as it is..Italian style

I've been reading about the serial road poo poopers..apparently there are quite  a few around...even in Aus.  I'm not quite sure if this one counts but whoever wrote the note wanted everyone to notice and take care, afterall it was situated right at the main entrance into the old mediaeval part of the city....please note I was not alone with the camera

Gigante

After a couple of days of serious bike training I needed a day off so what to do to burn up the calories/keep the crazies away?...visit Marostica and climb a hill!  Torture for a cyclist really.

High humidity and 27 degrees C made me wish I was in shorts not jeans.  The path up to the top is cobbled, steep...extremely steep in places and just, well, tough..last year Alex and I went up and down in the rain and it was a bit dicey descending..  But when you get to the top, the reward makes it all worth while.

THE view

In the town square there is a giant chess board when you can play with giant  chess pieces and in September there is a  festival with humans, horses etc as chess pieces..

Waiting for someone to play

Here in Italy banks, jewellers and post offices have security doors..the double airlock types...maybe, given all those raids in Melbourne over the past years or so  jewellers in Melbourne might need to follow this trend. I only discovered the jewelry shops were also secure last year when I needed the battery in my watch changing....I felt a bit foolish being scanned and checked out and then to ask for a battery!

and finally... I've never quite understood why people buy water when the stuff coming out of the tap is ok........

 Roadside DIY..6 cents/litre natural,8cents/litre fizzy

I asked if the tap water was bad..the answer was no but this is better.