After leaving Venice, Chris thought he'd seen the last of posh Italians for a while as we headed into the mountains. Little did we both know we were headed for the most exclusive Italian ski resort - allbeit in summer, and would encounter the best dressed Italians in the world! To fully appreciate this point you probably had to be there when Chris went off for a day of Vie Ferrata a.k.a pretty extreme rock climbing, only to see a couple in all their finery, pressed designer shirt and all, doing the same thing. At the same time I was at the local weekly market where one might expect to find some bargains, instead seeing designer clad women haggling over 200 euro cashmere jumpers! After all of this it was time to escape to a cheaper and more relaxed place, and luckily Slovenia was just the ticket. We drove to Bovec first, a tiny town in the Julian Alps. Here you can go white water rafting, horse riding, paragliding, caving and enjoy excellent and relatively cheap food. We arrived late and went for dinner which was lovely, if a little off putting when Chris' dish was introduced as Bambi! There was a tennis complex to rival any and only two people playing, so we indulged and finally I won much to Chris' disappointment! Of course the racket was to blame. From Bovec we headed to Bled, a beautiful town set around a famous lake with a church in the middle. We hired a lovely swan shaped boat and Chris rowed me to the church. This is also a small ski resort in the winter and there was a fast luge run we both tested! Went for a good curry surprisingly, in a place where Paul McCartney had been last year, and ate at a hotel on the lake, passing the President of Aza Bijan on the way in...Slovenia is obviously still a relatively undiscovered gem that these people are taking advantage of. After a little rest we were off to Budapest which meant travelling through Austria and racking up three countries in one day! Exhausted but excited we parked up the van and went to Pest for a drink and traditional dinner by the river. Budapest seems to be a quieter version of Paris and London with not many people around. We found more people however when we went to a hotel to use the public thermal baths - the best way to spend a Sunday morning! This was a vast network of rooms canopied by a beautiful romanesque ceiling and pillars. A few too many bubbles characters were there, but ignoring that it was a fantastic experience! Hot and freezing cold baths, a wave pool with sun loungers, sauna etc..mmmm!