post the whole way, at a slight advance on the price of the eilwagen; but we were five—we must, therefore, have two carriages, and the expense was doubled. We did not find a voiturier much cheaper. Had we gone post, we should have gone by Villach, and reached Venice in four or five days. But we had set our hearts on the Lago di Garda, and that decided us. We made a bargain for two calèches, with a pair of horses to each, to take us over the Brenner to Trent, in five days and a half, for a hundred and forty florins.[1] We have now left the Münz and schein money, and have passed from the Austrian to the Bavarian florin: this is a gain—the former is two shillings, the latter two francs; and they are worth the same in expenditure. Settling this affair occupied us, at intervals, during the whole evening. We rambled a little about the town, which is remarkable for a large handsome square, with a fountain, built of white marble, and said to be the finest in Europe: it would be finer had it more
- ↑ On this subject only Murray’s Hand-book seems to run faulty—a lower price for voiture travelling is always named than I have found it possible to attain. It is easy to allege that we were imposed upon. It may be so; but it was difficult to believe this in some instances, where the bargain was made for us by friends, natives of the country. In the Hand-book of Italy this is the more remarkable, and I can speak with greater certainty. I do not know how it may be with a single man taking his place,—one among many, as it may chance,—but for a party, like ourselves, taking a whole carriage, the expense in proportion is far higher than he mentions.
