Technically, the destination of this trip was Mestre, Italy, a suburb of Venice. But it is virtually impossible to drive to Venice and that was really why we were staying in Mestre. So I will call it a trip to Venice.
We had breakfast of coffee, bread and cheese in our room, then packed up and checked out.
Our home for the two nights in Salzburg was the Leonardo Hotel Salzburg Airport. Breakfast was extra at this hotel which is why we ate breakfast in our room. But parking was free, which was a big plus. It also had a comfortable king bed, a very nice bathroom – clean and spacious – and a teapot, an espresso coffee maker and a minifridge. The who place was very modern and attractive. And not very expensive. 8 out of 10.
We started the trip by gassing up. This tankful was less than $60 which sounds expensive, but it was only 1.54 euros per liter which is cheaper than most of the gas we have consumed, so I was happy. Then we set off on a 7-hour no-toll trip to Venice.
The trip out of Salzburg was through the Austrian Alps which were quite beautiful. The fall colors weren’t as vivid as in New England, but they were nice. I had never been in Europe in the fall and was a bit surprised that the fall colors were this good.
We took a short break in Warfen Austria which had a castle hovering over the city and a cute church. It was plain on the outside but surprisingly ornate inside.
We stopped again in Villach Austria for coffee and a bio break. It also had a cathedral which was large and ornate.
We stopped a couple more times to catch the beauty of this section of Austria. It was dark by the time we entered Italy. That was probably beautiful, too, but we couldn’t see. We arrived at our hotel just before 9pm.
