1st to 3rd June A few days in La Plage D’Argnes campsite with
numerous other German, Dutch and various other European retirees enjoying the
early summer weather in the south of France.
There is a lovely swimming pool, a nearby beach and a few other beach
resorts to cycle to. Having seen the
weather forecast for Italy we are not too eager to rush over the border and
head north to the lakes.
22nd June.
We are on our way to Venice today – Gill and Rob are flying in this
afternoon so we need to be in place to meet them tomorrow. It’s so hot here just now so we are usually
up and out early while it’s still cool and today we noticed a small walled town
of Cittadella on our route and as it was still only 10.30am we went to
explore. This is another totally walled
town with medieval origins but had such a vibrancy about it, the small and
varied shops were all buzzing and the bars just beginning to fill up and spill
onto the pavements. After just an hour
we had to leave and get on our way - what a pity we couldn’t stay longer but
Venice awaits!
4th June. A lovely drive today along the coast road -
corniche towards Cannes. The cliffs rise
above us as the road winds it’s way and the rocks get redder at every
turn. We pass lots of cyclists young and
old on the way but just wish they wouldn’t stray into the middle of the road
just as we are trying to get past. There
are a few places to stop and take photo’s but as usual the camera can never
quite capture it all especially when motoring along. These are my best so will have to do!
5th June. Our anniversary today! We have had a
lovely day travelling along the Italian Riviera where the road is squeezed
between the cliffs and the sea breaking out every now and again to lovely sandy
bays and resorts. There are a few small
carparks and other cars park anywhere they can, the one or two others have
height barriers on them so it was very difficult for us to get parked to look
around. When we did, we were very impressed
by the Italian friendliness. First of
all the local baker gave us some olive bread to try after we made a great hash
of speaking Italian in his shop, then, after having been told our data Sim for
Italy would be 27€ in one shop, the next assistant in the Euronics outlet sold
it to us for just 17€. A short way down
the road, when we were confronted by a low railway bridge on a back road we had
to manoeuvre out by reversing into a queue of traffic. Everyone was smiling and helping us - although
people always seem to be in a hurry here our mistake appeared to be of some
amusement to them. Definitely looking
forward to some Champagne to-night to celebrate!
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| And snow warnings too! |
6th June.
What a surprise our overnight stop turned out to be at the interesting
town of Aqui Terme. As the name suggests it’s a spa town dating back to the
Roman times where mineral waters at flow at 75°C from the central fountain …
even in the summer the steam rises all around.
The town has a relaxed feel and it’s a pleasure just walking around
taking in the atmosphere. If all of
Italy is like this we will be happy.
7th June.
We are still making our way towards the lakes stopping at one or two
towns along the way. We have been surprised by the vast rice growing area here
– miles and miles of paddy fields culminating in the small town of Arborio – so
that’s where the risotto rice comes from?!
The main supermarket in this region seems to be the Co-op….
but definitely not like the good old Co-op at home. These, have home-made
pasta’s, gnocci, anti-pasta …. the lot - and we are salivating just walking
around. As usual, we came in for a few
items and came out laden! Not as expensive as France either.
8th June. Lake Orta - our first Italian lake and what a gem…..quieter
than the other well known lakes and all the more charming for that. We have a free night at a parking place with
7 other vans – we are so lucky – let’s hope the threatened thunderstorms don’t
materialise. Just a few spots of rain
last evening so today we are taking the walk around the San Guilio peninsular
where a small ferry takes the day-trippers over to the tiny Isola and
monastery. It’s lovely to be able just to stroll right by the waters edge with
no traffic noise at all and take in the views.
We are thinking about staying another night here and relaxing.
9th June.
A road trip today around to Lake Maggiore – there is a wonderful view of
the three islands in the town of Stresa the resort I visited for a holiday
around 20 years ago with my Mum aunt Margaret – definitely a place with fond
memories …. just a pity the weather has deteriorated slightly but not enough to
stop us trying a tasty Italian ice cream in the Galeteria.
10th and 11th June. Trundling around
some smaller lakes and overnight at Lake Verese with a lovely view of the lake
from the van. We have decided to stay another night so we
can take advantage of the cycle path which goes right around the lake, just as
well that we didn’t encounter any snow – not dressed for it! There is a nice bar a few steps away where we
can take our Apero Spritz in the evening light……fantastic.
12th June.
A surprise road trip today around Lake Como and an even more surprising
15 minutes in Switzerland! (we were back in Italy before we knew it).
We had intended to just park up in a couple
of places situated in the south part of the lake but a combination of lack of
space and my terrible navigating saw us disappearing into a long tunnel and
heading towards Menaggio. This lake is
very mountainous so there are lots of road tunnels and we were pleased to come
back into daylight a few miles along the lake.
Perhaps it was all meant to be …. the views along this stretch of road
are magnificent and there are even a few lay-by’s for us to park in and take some
photo’s. We spent about an hour walking
around Menaggio, vowing to return again
one day by car to take advantage of the many ferry trips that criss-cross the
lake. Our stopover tonight is at a
smaller lake – Pusiano, where we have kindly been given a leaflet by a local
man showing the locality and all it has to offer.
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| A table just for us! |
13th June. Travelling further east to Lake Iseo
- quite a small lake but again very
mountainous. We have found a small private Aire holding just 10 vans but with a
great view of the lake from our pitch.
The weather is very hot during the day now resulting in a haze forming
all around the lake – perhaps we will be having a storm soon.
14th June.
We sensed there was something going on in Iseo today as the roads were
twice as busy as when we arrived yesterday – luckily we managed to park up and
followed the crowd, spending a good couple of hours strolling around the weekly
market. After lunch we found a route
over the mountains towards Garda always hoping the SatNav wouldn’t try to take
us a too arduous route although we could see there would be a few tunnels to
negotiate. Our new found experience of
Italian tunnels is that there are long, ancient and very dark, especially when
the driver is wearing his sunglasses upon entry! However, today one tunnel also had bends in
the road and then a junction ……. we were certainly not expecting that!!! Needless to say the SatNav wasn’t a lot of use
either but we managed to decide which direction to take in a split second and
came out unscathed. In a few minutes we
had arrived beside Lake Garda……Phew! Our
lakeside spot tonight is cunningly next to a beach bar serving delicious Apero
Spritz …. of course we just have to try them out!
15th June – 18th June. We have travelled north of Garda to the more
isolated small lakes of Idro and Ledro before coming back again to Garda from
the north. The road to Idro consists of
around eight separate tunnels through the mountains (before reaching the lake)
– some of which have various bends in them and most of which we shared with lots
of speeding motorbikes out for their weekend wiz. Imagine the normal bike noise magnified 5
times …… ouch - but I suppose that’s
what it’s all about for the little darlings . The small villages have speed
cameras to try to slow things down but as in England they soon blast it once
out into the open road again.
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| Idro Lake |
We found one parking spot at the top of Lake Idro next to a
nature reserve and as it was the weekend shared the place with lots of
picnicking and sunbathing families. The
wind gets up daily around lunchtime and blows from south to north and gradually
the windsurfers and kite-surfers take to the water. Later in the day we saw the novices practicing
their technique – what a sight! Later as
dusk fell we were treated to a marvellous display of twinkling lights ……. a
carpet of fireflies all around us – just like Christmas. We really are surrounded by nature in this
lovely place.
Travelling down the eastern side of lake Garda we chose a
campsite at Lazise assuming it would be a good starting point for a boat trip
to Sirmione or Garda town. What we hadn’t accounted for was the extreme heat
and the distance we actually were from the embarkation point at Lazise. We started off early making the 20 minute
walk. Lazise is a lovely place but we
had been advised that Garda was better so we boarded the boat. We had a nice trip up the lake and quite a
good, but touristy lunch so decided to catch the bus back so we could cool off
in the pool at the site. We had the timetable and had planned to get off at the
next campsite along from our. Unfortunately, we must have caught the wrong bus
as, one stop from our destination, the bus veered off to the left and over the
hills to some remote inland villages before we could decide what to do. A long roadside wait in blistering heat
followed with me actually trying to hitch a lift (no success) before a bus was
sighted coming our way in the distance. Back
we went with the bus taking yet another route through more villages before we
recognised anything – and we still had the 20 minute walk back to our campsite
- I so wish we had given Garda a miss and just stayed put in Lazise!
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| The smiles before the catastrophe! |
19 June. Valeggio sul
Minco, just south of lake Garda is apparently famous for it’s home-made Tortellini
so that was our next destination. Nearby
is the small touristy village of Burgetto where the old houses are built on the bridge over the river
– of course these are mostly restaurants now but pretty all the same and there
is another very old bridge leading to the now ruined castle. While having our Aperitivi a local man
advised us of the best place to try some Tortelini - the family Restaurant
Cavellino did not disappoint. There is simply no comparison between the bland
stuff we are served up in England to this absolutely magic and so very, very
tasty home-made pasta …… no need for lots of sauce, just some good olive oil. By the way – a Dustin Hoffman look-alike lives
around here – he is running an Agritourism campsite and insisted we were shown all
around it even though we told him we were moving on. It was a lovely place though, the swimming
pool has views of the castle – maybe next time!
20th June.
We are in Verona today taking in the atmosphere of this lovely city. There
are lots of cyclists (most of them on creaky old fashioned style bikes) here in
Italy and we have joined them by cycling the short way from the van so save
energy in the heat. The history of the
place is evident all around us from the early Roman Arena and arches to the
palaces and towers owned by the wealthy families in the 14th to 16th
century, not to mention ancient bridges and castle. Of course we had to visit the Juliet balcony
with the other tourists, but I am sure there is much more to learn about this wonderful
city. Luckily Verona has moved with the
times too and there are also lively cafes, wine bars and nice shops – and of
course the food. Lovely local wine,
parma ham, brushetta and tasty pasta’s and proper Italian ice cream to finish –
what more could you want.
The many towers of Verona
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| How do they do that? |
21 June.
A nice day sampling the wine in Soave a medieval town dominated by it’s
castle and set in the wine region east of Verona. Italy is certainly growing on us by the day,
the people are very friendly and helpful, the countryside is so pretty and the
food and wine? ……….mmmm!
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| View from our overnight stop! |
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| Soave Castle |
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| Casttello tower and logo |
23rd to 25th June. A few days in Venice – see the blog
26th to 30th June. We have really warmed to Italy and the way of
life here so have decided to tour around the Padua region for the next few days
before turning north. The area is a
mixture of lowlands criss-crossed by canals, farmland and the Euganei Hills National
Park. Treviso was our first stop – a
lovely town with lots of history through which various waterways pass on their
way to Venice lagoon.
Padua, the county town is much larger but we found it too
sprawling for us and not as pretty as Treviso.
When we arrived a road race was just about to start – not unusual for us
….. we always seem to arrive in town when some major event is going with road
closures and parking very difficult.
We had a very scenic drive around the Euganei hills and
found a quiet spot for the night provided by the local council on the edge of a
picnic site. Luckily, another Italian
van joined us so we didn’t feel too conspicuous after raising the barrier to
let ourselves in!
Over the weekend, the walled towns of Monselice, Esté and
Montagnana saw us sitting out in the local cafés enjoying a Spritz or two and
just people watching – a lovely pastime. Our choice of lunch-stop, although
interesting, could have been better as all we really wanted was some local air
dried ham! Set in a quiet side street,
the young lady owner spoke no English so one of her customers assisted in both
serving us and translating. The trouble
was he only spoke German or French …. so far so good as I speak a bit of
French. After being told various items were not
available from the menu as the place had only opened that day, the ‘customer’
kept apologising profusely while running in and out with the dishes and wine. I think we may have been her first customers,
not a very good start poor girl and we wonder how she will cope if more than
two people arrive for lunch.
Have you ever spent an hour just to buy a few screws in a
small town hardwear shop? This one was
an Aladin’s cave but, us before, with no Italian we just couldn’t make the
owner understand what size and type we needed.
He brought all sorts out of boxes and even cut one down with a bolt
cropper - all to no avail, but all was not lost as there was a customer inside
the shop with an IPad to help with the translation! This helped but in the end both of them went
outside to the van to see what the problem was and at last found a
solution. And the price of all this
service? …… no charge.
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