Ok, so we got back on Thursday evening with no loss of life or limb and the aircraft still in one piece. Great trip all around, with the exception of the Austrians--thank god we've got a sense of humour.
I've posted some
trip pictures on the web, and there is also a rough
route diagram for those of you using Google Earth.
Briefly, after a late departure we stopped at Cannes for fuel and latest weather, then Bologna as it was too late to make Slovenia, plus we had to go around some storms. Next day we flew to a small field called Molinella to get some Avgas (which fuel is indeed a bit of a rarity in Italy), then off to Portoroz. Spent a couple hours there planning and talking to people and then we decided to hop off to Vrsar, a small place in Croatia 20 minutes flying from Portoroz, where we overnighted.
Next day we went for lunch and a swim to Unije (the highlight of our trip, I would say), then off to Rijeka to clear customs and refuel, and latter on we departed with the intention of getting somewhere where we could clear customs and immigration for the last time. The closest EU and Schengen country happens to be Austria so there we went.
We found Graz airport and the Austrians in general to be, well, very Austrian in a Kafkian sense. We unsuccessfully spent six hours and over €100 on telephone calls trying to get a simple piece of information (which airports in Germany we could fly to night VFR), so we ended up staying until the airport reopened next morning, at which point I tried to fill in a flight plan to get us out of there. Not going into the details, but we were unable to file with the Austrians (do not ask, I couldn't help thinking of Kafka) so I went for the sure fire way, which is to call one of the BRIAs (
Bureaux Régionaux d'Information et d'Assistance au vol) in France and file a flight plan through them, which always works a charm wherever you are.
So once out of Austria, we flew straight back to LEAP, with only a fuel stop in Bale, and another brief stop in Perpignan.
And that's about it, other than to say I was pleasantly surprised with the service we received from Italian ATC. Other than AVGAS being expensive and hard to find, I found Italy to be an enjoyable experience.