Upside Down Chronicles 2: Saturday 14th January 2012

Our endless tour of the playgrounds of Europe continues. That's not another way of saying 'entertainment centre'... I do mean, playgrounds. Slides and swings. Today, Treviso, Italy.

Our first full day in Treviso - yesterday was spent to a surprising extent on the 'road' (tracks, road, whatever) from Zagreb. The visit to the parks was only after a pretty full morning of work, tantrum, and then a 'Whale Party', which included Alessandra, who was over (Mino wasn't up to Pin the Tail on the Whale). I believe I won the Whale Relay (name types of whale until you can't think of any more) but Lara won a surprising number of the others. There was Musical Whales, Pass the Whale, Tossing the Whale, Whale Sing and Swim, and Whale Hide and Seek, to name but a few.

After a fair spate in the park (not that any of us nearly fell asleep on a bark bench or two, what with the buttery caress of the sun and incurable laziness) we visited one of the many local establishments skilled in procurement of beverages, hot and cold. Adults had spritz (which was remarkably intoxicating at that unseasonable hour - well I blame it on the hour, not on alcohol content, of course) and Child had a hot chocolate thick as custard, which slipped down with almost as much ease as the other drinks.

Always engage in a leaf-fight when having an afternoon drink. It helps the digestion of accompanying crisps.

Look carefully at this picture and you'll see that Lara's in the middle of throwing a paper aeroplane. She was doing this all the way home: meant it took so long to get back I was nearly sober by the time we arrived. OK, that's an exaggeration. No-where near sober.

First morning over Treviso. I mean, first morning for us. First morning in Treviso makes it sounds almost Biblical.

We came back to irresistible scrambled eggs and smoked salmon, and an even less resistible selection of cheeses. If I don't put some weight on here there's no hope for me.

Of course, there's FRIDAY 13th, which was our travelling day - much to the Woofie's horror. The bus from Zagreb left at 8am: not all that early, really, by our recent standards. Here's Lara on the bus. It was judged even superior to the train. She is becoming quite a seasoned traveller.

The Woofie and Whaley met us at Padova, which is where the bus stopped closest to Treviso. Poor things had not been able to drive because of the combined effects of Fog, Lack of Parking and Confusing Padova, so they'd already spent ages either waiting on platforms or changing trains and had missed out on seeing the Scrovenni Chapel by the time we saw them. However, the train trip back was a hoot, if slightly slow. Sorry, can't resist posting this one... Woofie's expression is actually because of a train passing ours but it's almost impossible not to think of several alternative captions.

Back at home, among other entertainment there was a stack of presents for us, including a hat for the Littles in the shape of a husky, which she is delighted with. Well, I think it's a husky, others consider it might be either a cat or a skunk. Unbelievably, she also received a remote-controlled helicopter. 'Unbelievable' because this precise item was a late addition to her Christmas wish-list which Santa hadn't been able to fulfil. She is shockingly adept at piloting it, despite warnings on the packet that it's not for children under the age of 14.