8 September 2007, 1.29pm: Villach, Austria
8 September 2007, 2.14pm: Kranjska Gora, Slovenia
8 September 2007, 3.08pm: Tarvisio, Italy
8 September 2007, 4.36pm: Austria
One of the benefits of living in this part of Austria is that we are near the border - the Dreiländereck (three country corner) where Austria, Slovenia and Italy all meet is just half an hour's drive away. Which means that, if we wanted to, we could go shopping in three different countries.
Last week we did exactly that. When a friend from Ireland came to visit us, we took him across the border to Kranjska Gora in Slovenia, and popped into the shops there. We didn't buy much, based on the fact that most of the labels were in Slovene and hardly anybody speaks the language (and we certainly don't).
Then we went across to Tarvisio, a few kilometres away in Italy. We have a better chance of buying the right thing here because Italian's an easy language (although you still have to remember that morbido just means 'soft' and not, for example, 'morbid'.
Then it was back to Austria - three countries, three languages, all within three hours. Having lived for nearly twenty years in a country that has only water for borders, that still feels weird. But fun.