Terrafirma Travels

Lesley's run was very unlike the first one she did. The wind was wild, skies grey, and white waves flew across the lake surface. Once again, it was a challenge to get back into the secure campsite. Perhaps someone was late opening the gates. Anyway, she searched around the site until she found a bent-back section of fence, and crawled under it, dirtying her kit. So embarrassing, but no-one saw. We set off for Maggiore with a stop at Lake Iseo, a smaller lake surrounded by tall mountains.  It was lovely even in misty drizzle. We found a place to park by the water and a cafe for decaf coffee and cake. We retraced our steps around the lake on our way to Maggiore, to the village of Sarnico where we watched some yachts sailing and had our usual sandwiches in the van. How very British.  The journey to Maggiore took us around countless roundabouts and on to a very full and fast motorway which skirted Milan. The Italians drive like racing drivers, swooping across lanes with no signals...

Last night we discovered the source of a rhythmic high-pitched cry - a Scops owl. We could not see it because it is only the size of a starling and it was deep dusk. In other bird news, we heard another cuckoo this morning during our unintentionally leisurely up and breakfast. Had a SWIM in the lake at the foot of the campsite (yes, it slopes) which was very refreshing. Yes we were the only swimmers ... well, it was 0930. We found the ladder entry much better than the lethally slippery pebbles.  After some research we decided to take a drive up the west side towards the pointy bits. At the south end where we are the landscape is very flat. After a million roundabouts we were driving alongside the lake, first high up then at water level, and in company with a million Italians - it's a sunny Saturday. When we got to the pointy bits there were many tunnels, narrow and poorly lit. Does not compare well with the Swiss and Austrian ones. We spotted a cafe with stupendous views so dived i...

Slow getting up. L went for an early run along the beautiful, deserted lakeside but had trouble finding a way back in to the campsite owing to locked gates! We decided to take the tripper boat to Sirmione, a honeypot destination in this part of Lake Garda. The ferry doesn't run often during the day, so we took a lunchtime boat that would return about 4pm,  thinking that 3 hours of tourist hot-spot would be about enough. We walked to the ferry pontoon and had a coffee while waiting. The rather old fashioned boat was surprisingly full. It was pleasant sitting up top under a shade, watching the blue lake pass by, for 40 minutes, but it was very hazy and a bit soporific. Arriving at Sirmione was like being tumbled into an ants' nest. It was rammed full of tourists, ice cream shops, pizzerias and tat shops.  We visited two beautiful, tiny churches and a lovely quiet side street where the houses have ornate ceramic plaques for house names, all by the same artist.  And we ventu...

As I start this we are in a 5km stop-start on the Brenner Pass due to road works <sigh>. Also the cloud level is much lower today, we can't see the tops <boo>. Occasional sharp rain showers, first rain of trip. Stopped at border for hot choc (no decaf!) and pastry. The Brenner at 1370m is one of the lowest Alpine passes, yet it is impressive in its winding through the chasm between the mountains. Much roadworks on the Italian side (South Tyrol) too. We stopped at a servicio to swap drivers, then barrelled on south down the A22 in company with an endless stream of enormous trucks. We turned off at Affi and wound our way into the Parco Termale del Garda, a thermal lake resort. For a significant sum we spent the afternoon there, after a modest lunch served in a surly manner. The main lake is 31°, with huge jacuzzi sections at 35, 37 and 39° - the latter two advised at 10 minutes max. All very lovely and fairly empty. We sat on a verandah for a while drinking mineral water ...

One of the reasons for visiting Innsbruck was that Lesley and her mum came here in the 60s, a first continental trip via a Cosmos coach tour. She has memories of seeing the Golden Roof, a tourist must-see in the old town.  We took the free bus from the campsite into Innsbruck and immediately bought a hop-on hop-off bus tour, to avoid excessive walking. It was a good way to get around the city, which is overshadowed by v tall mountains. We stopped at another Schloss which had extensive green parkland, for a breath of fresh air. And then it was back on the bus, through busy streets, many glitzy shops and finally up to the Panorama not far from the ski jump. There we decided to have a leisurely lunch of risotto and spatzle, with a fine view over the city below.  Back on the bus, to the much-vaunted Golden Roof, which did look spectacular against the dark grey sky.  We saw some lovely old streets and  buildings in Innsbruck, including this wonderful door. Briefly we thou...

L went for a run at 0615. N slept on. After a leisurely up, breakfast and pack we just avoided the temptation to go back to the cheese shop. Headed up through Vaduz and out the top end into Austria on the A14 toll road. As in Switzerland, there's no obvious way they are reading our number plate to check our Vignette. It's a mystery.  En route we went through the Arlberg tunnel which at 14km (!!) is the longest in Austria. Had to pay extra €13 on top of our Vignette. The drive today was only 2.5hrs but we stopped about halfway at Landeck and inspected their modest Schloss - used to the Tyrol capital, now a splendid municipal museum. Much fantastical content. Bought a coffee from them then had our own lunch in the van. Back on the road with many more tunnels and much roadworks got us to Camping Nattersee a few km south of Innsbruck. Huge site, very posh. Can't swim in the See (lake) because it's not filled yet! Booked the sauna hut for an hour but it was too hot to bear a...