Day 24 – to Arta Terme, Italy

Some days of rain have arrived. They are greeted with mixed emotions by the locals, as it has been very dry, but also much colder than usual, and it seems like it won’t warm up until at least next week.

It doesn’t really have much effect on me, though it is more pleasant to spend time with the van door open, which it is a bit cool to do for more than half an hour or so.

I was keen to visit Kobarid. This was the scene of the largest mountain battle in wartime in 1915, and has a good museum, and a historical trail around the town, taking in various Italian fortifications and trenches, as well as the graveyard up at the church which looks down to the town. Shrouded in cloud and rain today, it had a particular atmosphere to it, that made the experience so much the better.

Kobarid is on the Walk of Peace. This was put together in 2018, a century after the First World War linking the historical heritage from the Alps to the Adriatic. Beginning (or finishing..) in the Julian Alps, this crosses the Brda Hills and the Kras, to the Adriatic Sea sticking close to the Isonzo Front, one of the most extensive warfares in high mountains. www.thewalkofpeace.com

At the museum, the first stop on the trail, I was told the dog wasn’t welcome. He will always sit at the door of shops, and attracts the attention of lots passing, but here, the curator started chatting, and as I was the only visitor, decided to make an exception. Hence, I got a very personal tour round, with his commentary and answers to my questions, throughout.

The town is the setting for Hemingway’s A Farewell To Arms also.

It isn’t a big museum. A half hour is plenty to see most of the exhibits, and a good way to start the 6 kilometre trek.

As much as remembering the dead from this amazing battle, it was the living that I will recall when I look back at the visit. On the steps up to the Italian trenches I spotted a Fire Salamander. Though not endangered, they keep themselves hidden pretty well, but they enjoy these moist conditions. Photo below, but that doesn’t make it obvious that it was about 25 centimetres long, and they are quite poisonous. They shoot their venom like projectile vomit at the unfortunate victim for almost a metre. Fortunately the dog had missed it. You won’t drop dead if puked on, but you would need medical attention. Their black and yellow colouring makes them stand out as such magnificent creatures. Some facts – they are called Fire Salamanders as myth has it, that they put fires out, and in some cases are ‘born of fire’. Legend says they taught the first humans how to make fire. They are, to a degree, cannibalistic, though only when there is little other insect life on the menu. This one is a particularly big specimen; their usual size is about the length of a pencil.

From Kobarid I drove into Italy and stopped off at Udine to stock up at Carrefour. From there it is just 50 kilometres back up into the Alps in the Carnia region of the province. I parked up at the sports facility of Arta Terme where there is a free campervan area, with electricity and water, not that I needed either. The sports facility is all new. This is a spa town, and attracts skiers. It has a new indoor spa (sauna and pool), which was quite busy, despite being pretty expensive, 15 euros a visit, to get into.

Friday night Premiership Rugby night, so I was happy with a decent 4G signal and a Belgian beer from Carrefour..