Left Venice around 10am this morning for the start of our journey home. We managed to make it to the train in Villach, Austria, on time - just! Nice scenery although it was a bit tricky to see through the rain and clouds. Next stop Dusseldorf - need to see how that works out as we are sharing a cabin with 3 very talkative Germans (correction - one very talkative german). Just wondering whether a couple of long days on the motorway would have been a better optio...

Visited the Seegrotte this morning - Europe's largest underground lake - used in the filming of the The Three Musketeers. Our departure from Austria proved a costly affair, as we were stopped at the border and both fined for not displaying a Vignette - a bit like a toll for using the motorways in Austria. Hadn't realised we needed one, but did comment yesterday that it was surprising that we hadn't had to pay any tolls.

200 miles on the motorway today through torrential rain - not much fun! Didn't stop us from making Goulash for tea though. Meal number 6 using the camping equipment. Looking forward to seeing the underground sea tomorrow before pressing onto Budapest in Hungary. P.S. Petrol is 25% cheaper in Austria than any other country so far. Everywhere else similar to the UK.

Wet and cold today (only 12 degrees), so decided to take the bus to Salzburg, for some Mozart tourism.

Just completed the Timelsjoch Pass (2509m, Austria) and Jaufenpass (2094m, Italy) routes on our day off!! It's turned into our longest bike day so far. Truly scary roads but also great fun.