Remember that song - part 2

In 2003 Jem and I were living in a town called Avellino in Southern Italy. I was playing basketball there and as we had some days off we decided to take a trip up to Venice. Em and Rich just so happened to be riding around western europe. When their amazing journey crossed paths with us, cycling up the Italian coastline they made a detour and decided to stop at our place for a few days and come with us to Venice.

We had a wonderful time with them, truly an amazing place and somewhere I will always want to go back to. Em, Rich, Jem and I stayed at a small hotel called 'Reiter' out on an island a few kms from Venice itself. We all shared one room that consisted of one queen bed and 2 singles. Jem being pregnant with William, we scored the queen! Thanks Will. Therefore Em and Rich had a cosy little fold out single each. Having spent the past few weeks on a saddle and in a sleeping bag, they didnt seem to mind.

In the hotel one night I played a song by an Italian artist called 'Elisa'. She had a hit at that time in Italy called 'Broken'. Rich ended up singing the song in his own rendition that he liked to refer to as 'His mums opera voice' - high pitched and out of tune. He sung with 'red faced gusto', definately making his mum very proud. We all joined in for the chorus in our own 'classically trained' voices! Im sure the staff of the hotel were very happy to be working that night, listening to 4 idiots from Australia destroying Elisa's no.1 hit.

Funny night, and whenever I hear that song it always takes me back to 'Hotel Reiter' - Venice.