Ciao from Lago d'Iseo

We're all together in Italy, staying on the shores of beautiful Lago d'Iseo. First of all, let us take you back to where the story begins. We landed in London on the 1st of August and met up with Tom and Fausta (the bride and groom).

Beers near Tom's place in London

My brother Michael arrived the next day and ever since I have been a third wheel to his and Brad's budding relationship. The weather in London was sensational; perfect for picnics in the park, walking around the city, bickering between the two boys and making crucial changes before the AFL supercoach lockout. We spent four days on the tourist trail and then set off on an overnight bus to Paris.

Buckingham Palace

Picnic in Hyde Park

In Paris, we picked up our brand new Puegot 208, which had 4kms on the speedo. We peeled the cover off the brand new in-built GPS and proceeded to continually circle a roundabout in Paris while we got used to the GPS. After much debate we were headed in the right direction... Which also had us approaching the infamous Arc De Triomphe. After convincing ourselves to take the challenge, we thankfully ended up on a road that took us UNDERNEATH the death trap and were safely on our way.

The next challenge was to buy diesel and find an atm. The petrol station we stopped at had no English speaking workers so we tried our hand at French. Unfortunately, the only words in our repertoire are "please", "thank you", "hello", "can you speak English" (and "repertoire" apparently). We pulled at the service station door for a good five minutes before all the customers were yelling at us and gesturing for us to instead PUSH the door to get it open. Once we made it in, I put my card into a very 'atm' looking machine before realising it was some sort of betting machine. The attendant was laughing so hard she could barely talk by the time we left the petrol station, euro-less and with a slightly bruised ego. We drove through the night via the French alps and Mont Blanc. It doesn't get dark here til 9:30 pm so we were able to enjoy the sights of snow capped mountains all the way to the Italian border. The drive was easy along the highways, and we enjoyed it... until our wallets were emptied in tolls.

All tuckered out on the long drive

Driving through the French Alps

We arrived in Lago D'Iseo in darkness and woke to an unbelievable view. Now we understand what Tom has been talking about. We are currently staying on a hill in a beautiful house, enjoying the sunshine (and the pool, sun lounges, balconies etc- thanks mum and dad). Endless games of 500 and table tennis have been enjoyed by all (with much bickering from the boys over both!) We have been welcomed by Fausta's family with open arms and they have been very forgiving of our extremely basic Italian. We have been treated to hikes in the surrounding mountains with Fausta's dad and sister and have enjoyed delicious home cooked meals from her mum.