166 – 171: Lakes Good and Bad, Milan and 6 Month Milestone

Posted on October 11, 2015 by Clunegapyears

166 – Saturday 3rd October 2015 -K to Brescia

K ran the furthest yet … 5 km… felt good. More laundry and then an early lunch. Cycled to the train station and travelled the 24 mins to Brescia. Very uninspiring near the station: drunks and druggies! However, the main part of the city is inspiring. I had seen that there were two museums up at the castle … quite a steep walk up and I should have counted the steps! Unfortunately the museum I wanted about the unification of Italy was closed and the armaments museum had little interest for me. The photographic temporary exhibition about the 1904 was quite interesting, given that Milan is hosting the world fair 2015.

A proper cobbler – he glued and stitched my walking shoe …. EUR2!!!

Back down the hill, I bumbled around the squares, which all became alive about 3 p.m. … lots of exhibitions about sustainability, selling books, cookery demos and giving away seedings. Buzzing. Attractive architecture. Highlight was the Basilica as it was also a church with a crypt and mosaics – a spiritual place. Not too touristy and worth a visit.

James returned from Dublin via taxi, which the campsite manager had kindly booked … it would not have been possible to get the van back into the campsite after about 9.30 and it saved K trying to park up at the airport when airport carparks are not designed for 8m vans.

167 – Sunday 4th October 2015: Rest and Cycling in the Rain

A late start. After lunch, the rain seemed to have cleared so we cycled past Iseo town and onto the peat bogs …. fine until we lost the route. We decided to cycle onto the next largish town for ice creams and coffee, but the heavens opened – a serious deluge. We watched the stair rods and lightening from the shelter of a tree for about an hour. Once it eased off we about faced and headed back to Iseo. By this time the sun was out, so we stopped off and ate the planned ice cream.

Watery view from our Iseo ice cream stop in Iseo

And then check out the most amazing sun set from the campsite

Received a pic message from our Bristol neighbours, Kay and Stephen … they had a super duper caravan and the pic is of an amazing motorhome. Apparently the caravan ‘morphed’!!!! They claim our ability to move on easily is partly to blame for the transition. We are so delighted to see the birth of Phoebe. Sort out the dog passports and please join us, very latest, end March / early April in N France. Grinning from ear to ear for you.

Phoebe – can’t wait to see her.

J sporting his Ireland cap. Could not mange to watch the game as all fee paying channels. TY Stephen for text updates. A wonderful win… K will now HAVE to support Ireland, although so long as an European team wins…

Our pitch – could not be any closer to the water.

View from the campsite over the lake

168 – Monday 5th October 2015: Boat to Monte d’Iseo and Circular Cycle Wine Tour

We cycled to Iseo port and caught the ferry to the 1) European 2) largest 3) inhabited 4) lake island … quite a lot of criteria here to reduce the competition in this category. We helped out some fellow Brits who knew they were catching a ferry but not where to and how to get back again! We are just so organised … some of the time!

Once on the island we turned right on the 9.5 km bike route around the island perimeter. No cars, just the odd moped and three wheeler car and paths good. Until, K suggested we detour from the shore path inland a bit to see a Medieval village …. the path became cobbles and it was VERY steep uphill. For a loooong way. At one point we considered turning back to the nice level shore path …but that would have been defeatist and surely we must be at the top soon….. NOT!

As soon as we passed though the Medieval village … more of a cluster of houses all on top of each other, we finally descended and found a cafe for a couple of glasses of wine and a snack. Did I omit to mention, we’d had several glasses already … seemed wise the break the trip up and contribute to the local economy!

Another stop for the mandatory gelato. Phone call from Maddy about why she may like to read History at Uni … Horrible Histories seems a good starting point, but what do I know about personal statements?!?

Time for another glass before we caught the return ferry.

Part of the long push up

Glass Number 1

Glass Number 2 – forgot glass 3 pic

We ate at the campsite restaurant. The lake is known for its Perch, which I had with a lemon sauce …. yummy. J went for his usual – Wiener Schnitzel and chips (seems to have replaced scampi and chips in Euroland) and could not manage a Tiramasu after … shock / horror! I managed cheese … all of it and there was a lot! But cheese and ice-cream go into that other stomach. And the campsite manger sent through a complimentary Limoncello – had to buy a bottle the next day – developed a taste for it! He was also roasting chestnuts over a fire pit for the campers … a really excellent site. The washrooms seemed to be constantly being cleaned.

I managed the lot! May have been some dairy induced snoring that night!

169 – Tuesday 6th October 2015: Come on Como

We left our lovely lakeside pitch and headed towards lake Como. The lake is actually in 3 parts, like a person with two running legs. Imagine and upside down Y. Lecco is at the bottom of the right hand leg and Como off the tip of the one on the left. Bellagio is in the crotch where these two legs of the lakes meet. The guide book says that Bellagio is the prettiest town on Lago di Como, so this was our via point with the intention of driving after down the other leg to Como. However, by the time we had shopped … twice (K looking for a pressure cooker … Lyn, who we met in Idryia and then Piran in Slovenia, cooked lots in one … so I wanted one!) … time had marched on.

By the time we arrived in Bellagio it was knocking on the door of 4pm. All the car parks, again like Lake Garda, are not motorhome friendly. We managed to find a free parking by the cemetery which was a bit of a walk into the town, but not suitable for overnighting in. We asked in the TIC and the young girl said it was OK to overnight in the main carparks after 8.00 pm until 8.00 am. Our plan was to stay up at the cemetery and then move at 8.00. Does anyone know the French for cemetery … we were with 4 French motorhomes at one point, in a non friendly motorhome car park, and I could only describe a cemetery as a ‘champs des morts’ … but they understood! We relaxed and watched the world go by over a coffee and an ice-cream. We then relaxed some more and did the 1 hour walking tour around the town and managed (just) not to buy a very expensive, but beautiful green Italian handbag that I need like a hole in the head.

Best laid plans awry again … we had the collywobbles (what a wonderful old word that is) about staying in a non friendly motorhome carpark with no other vans. It was a long drive the Plan A, Plan B and Plan C that K had identified in Como and it was now starting to get dark! Oops! One of the Italian apps described a motorhome parking up the hill between the legs and only 30 mins. Bollocks on two counts. It was a frigging mountain with the tightest hairpins we have done on this trip and it was now dark! And it took the best part of 45 mins. And we could not find it in the pitch black. So we parked off the road and made sure all the blinds were shut fast so we did not alert people to our whereabouts by sending out light sabres. Being now 9.00, we dined only on the leek, potato and blue cheese soup that had been in the slow cooker all day – lunch planned for tomorrow!

We also agreed, again, that not having a Plan A -C within reach is not on and that we need to possibly get up earlier!!! Gulp.

170 – Wednesday 7th October: Narrow Misses, Ferry and onto Milan

K woken in the night to the sound of Alpine cow bells … VERY close. I stuck my head out of the bathroom window to be greeted by a very relaxed flock of sheep only about 1.5 metres from me … it was so still and quiet I could even hear them ripping at the grass. Don’t they sleep?

We set the alarm … our new found and probably short lived new early rising discipline! Discovered that we were next to a helipad … yep, so remote up this mountain it would be a necessity. J took on the challenge of the hairpin descent … at least I had had the benefit of on-coming headlights going up last night. In theory, I should have been able to enjoy the lake views … but it was seriously steep and the hairpins were very tight. Not relaxing.

The next stage of the trip back along the lake to Bellagio was, if anything, even less relaxing! Narrow roads with on-coming traffic and a resurfacing vehicle that decided to reverse suddenly – missing us by millimetres. J managed a polite ‘Oh No’ … my reaction was unprintable.

We arrived at Bellagio and J queued in Chard whilst I went to buy the ticket, having read about a supplement if you buy on the ferry. J was been ushered on board whilst I was still waiting for the card machine to connect with the UK via Mars, Venus and Pluto .. thought I was going to have to do an Indiana Jones style leap across gaping water to catch up!

The west shore of the lake is supposed to be the more attractive …. the plan (can you tell this one went awry too!) was to leisurely meander down to Como, and spend the night there. HOWEVER, the roads around Como are NOT designed for traffic … of any kind. And again, we could not find anywhere to park. So we kept going to Como … drove in and drove out! Large and not inviting.

Top tip: if you want to visit Lake Como – arrive at a main town and go everywhere by boat. Max two days, as although pretty, all the villages look the same! What was good to see was some of the fantastic waterside villas that I remember from my childhood – all pink and yellow.

We found a huge supermarket complex which delivered:

K bought a pressure cooker
J had a MacDonalds …. even if a slight comms issue and he needed up with a Happy Meal 🙂
We managed to ring Camping Milano to see if they had a space to take us … no need to book – just turn up.

We arrived at Camping Milano mid afternoon and got ourselves set up. We then caught the bus and Metro into the centre. Coming up from the Metro to the Duomo Piazza is quite something. The architecture of the cathedral alone is special, but then add in the Vittorio Emmanulle mall … wow factor. We eventually found the Expo ticket office and bought our consecutive day 2 day tickets…. so pleased J is a senior again …. EUR57 versus EUR42! Then found the TIC and picked up info for when we come to the do the city properly.

Vittorio Emanuelle Mall – after the First King after Unification in 1861 and this was completed in 1867.

And inside it – largest glass work after Crystal Place World Expo. Glass lit originally and had little wind up ‘mouse’ that trundled on a track around the top … the first ear knocked the top off the gas pipes and the second ear was the incendiary. Must have been quite a sight.

Old trams everywhere: some had wooden panelling – we will have a ride.

Expo Gate: where we purchased the tickets … statue and church behind

The cathedral – mellow evening light making it look golden. The quarry belongs to the Duomo so no other building has this stone. It is rippled with blue, grey and pink, so takes on a different colour in different lights.

Rounded off our quick visit with a glass before the return … and home cooked perch with a compot made in the new pressure cooker 🙂

171 – Thursday 8th October 2015: Expo Exposed

We caught the campsite shuttle to the Milan Expo – theme of food sustainability and feeding the world. A LOT, and I mean seriously a lot of people, and so many school groups, all arriving at the same time.

Herded.

We had googled the best bits and had a shortlist of country stands that we really wanted to visit.

So we started with UK – they do this kind of thing well – a bee hive with a live feed to a bee hive. Given we visited an amazing bee museum in Slovenia and K listened to a Farming Today broadcast about the importance of bees and pollination … this exhibit gave very little info, but it was sensory with a wild flower meadow and the bee sounds.

Ireland was next … best bits … a thunderstorm audio and giving kids a soft cuddly toy of a cow. If you knew nothing about Ireland you would think it rained all the time and all the landscape is covered with cows!

So it rains all the time?!

We don’t do well in queues, so the only other country we visited was Czech republic – no queue and it was evident why! UAE had a 3 hour queue. Korea 2 hour etc etc. One spends this long at the airport to fly to these countries, not to spend 5-10 mins seeing a stand! We got into some of the smaller countries, such as some of the African nations who were part of the Legumes section, but that was it. We still managed to spend 5 hours walking it … It is truly vast! And so busy! People kept pouring in.

Wine to help us with the crowds!

We have decided not to use our day 2 tickets … our time will be better spent exploring Milan for an extra day.

Milestone – 6 months

We have reached the 6 month travelling mark …

3rd April: Vacated our house in Bristol

4th April: Flew to Jordan for a 11 days driving trip

We cannot tell you how pleased we are to still be loving this. The time has just flown by. We do not miss TV (even the rugby or Strictly, which has just started), washing machines etc. Just people.

We are just so incredibly lucky and we know it.

162-165: Trento Top Lunch, Disappointing Lakes and Cleaning

Posted on October 3, 2015 by Clunegapyears

162 – Tuesday 29th Sept 2015: Trento Top Lunch

We had stayed the night in a Sosta for EUR5 / 24 hours. It was gated, fenced and under CCTV but right at the end of the motorway in Trento, however we had both slept well … must have been the gentle drone of traffic, or was it J’s heavy breathing? The only problem was getting out … on foot. We had to jay walk a fairly busy roundabout as there were no footpaths. 10 mins and we were in the old town.

Trento’s main claim to fame was that the Council of Trent met here 1545-63 to consider Catholic reforms that would entice protestants back to the fold. Very attractive architecture with English signboards and smart shops.

The main Piazza and out lunch view

Also smart restaurants …. we did an around me on TripAdvisor and look what we had ….

It was the lightest Tiramasu ever and J raised a glass to Sylvie!

163 – Wednesday 30th Sept 2015

We were inspired by another motorhomer …. he used the sosta facilities to briefly wash down the sides of his motorhome. We spent about 1.5 hours doing it properly: The ladder came out and J went up on the roof. Chardonnay badly needed a good clean as she had not been done since June when the Bakers cleaned her. We had lunch at the sosta before setting off for Lake Garda.

We had planned to stop at some of the villages on the east shore, but it is all so motorhome UNFRIENDLY here. All the carparks have height barriers or big signs saying Feck Off – motorhomes cannot park here. As it was, the towns seemed to be crawling with people and we were both dirty (having transferred Chardonnay’s grime to ourselves) and tired. We needed to shower, so we identified a campsite just at the bottom of the lake. All the campsites were not designed with motorhomes (of any size) in mind and all those we had passed had really tight entrances. Fortunately our campsite choice did not have a tight entrance … but very tight turns in the camping pitches. We must have been tired as we nearly had one of those … oops we’ve got Chardonnay stuck / another hole in her side moments … until a kindly Dutchman came to help and spotted one side, with J on the other as we negotiated the spare inch in which to turn.

It is J’s first time to the Italian Lakes and I was disappointed for him. I remember pretty villages and sumptuous villas with motor launch pads from my childhood visits. I checked with the Aged P’s … they had been back to the Lakes a few years ago and also been disappointed … all too commercial and over developed. Ho hum.

164 – Thursday 1st October 2015 – Cycle to Sirmione

We started the day watching the several hundred youths wander past on their way to the dinning hall. Have they no clothing imagination? Nearly all were in jeans and hoodies! K counted 10 coaches later in the morning, so I exaggerate not on the volume of hormonal youth! Eventually this entertainment petered out so we had no choice but to get up and exercise; we both ran 4 km along the lake. Flat so a good time (by K’s standards!)

A packed lunch made and we cycled to Sirmione. It is at the end of a spit on the south side of the lake, which is not very attractive as both sides of the central road are hotel upon hotel. However, at the end there is a walled medieval castle with a small town: pretty winding streets and small squares. Very busy, cars, coaches and people every where. We ate our picnic sitting on boulders on the lake shore, until some swans came too close for comfort. Then we decided that an ice-cream for K was in order (daily quota) and then we finished our lunch off with 3 glasses of white each. We managed NOT to wobble on the return ride.

Lunch spot number 2: Swans just visible, now bothering someone else 🙂

By Yoko Ono … we had one simultaneous thought … WE’RE LIVING IT!

My favourite picture of the day – more akin to how I remember the lakes … a private pontoon.

BBQ for supper and J packed his toothbrush ready for his trip to Dublin on the morrow.

165 – Friday 2nd October 2015: Fiight and Cleaning

A very early start … alarm set for 6.00 am and we don’t even have to go to work. But James did have to go to the airport … His flight was unfortunately delayed 4 hours but it left eventually, so james will make his granddaughter’s Christening in Dublin on Saturday.

K drove non-motorway to Lago d’Iseo: on of the smaller Italian Lakes, but with the largest Europen lake island. A bit of a wait, as I was so early to get a pitch, but worth the wait. I am parked up 1 metre from the lake shore. Having been told that there was a market in Iseo town, I cycled in. A massive market …. filling virtually every street, but pretty much the same old rubbish. However, I did buy some salmon. I also managed to make the TIC before it shut for it’s 3 hour lunch and pick up some bumpf on the lake and cycle routes. On perusal, some of the cycle routes are extreme and will not be attempted!

PM was a massive clean … EUR3 only for a big washing machine load and then Chardonnay scrubbed within an inch of her life. Now spotless internally and externally. With the van so spick and span, K also abluted BEFORE a very well earned drink!

160-161: Hairy Hairpins?!

Posted on September 28, 2015 by Clunegapyears

160 – Sunday 27th Sept 2015: How many Hairpins and Porsche???

Best laid intentions and all that …. we planned to get the bus up to Tre Cime and do a big walk, BUT both of us slept badly (it only takes one to sleep badly and inadvertently, the other does too!) and J really could not stray too far from the facilities …. Today then became a Driving Day. But what a drive!!!

We took the Dolomites Road through the Passo di Fassa and must have done 4 major passes with amazing views, such as:

And the hair pins .. the major bends are numbered and one descent had 34, however they only number the extreme ones. Our brakes were hot and stinky (not J, his problem had settled fortunately!)

Our journey was very slow by necessity.

Porsche – we reckon at least 40 passed us going in the opposite direction. The dealers in Italy are onto a really good thing! And in equal number – cyclist both going up and down … they must be able to crack walnuts with their thighs!

Managed just to capture cyclist, no chance of the Porches!

We noticed the scenery become more mellow as we moved West. Canazei is a major ski resort and the mural painter must be fully employed:

We had planned to stay in a town called Bolzano, but the free parking was next to a train station and there seemed to be some ‘characters’ lurking. We ended up on a really lovely free parking about 12 km out of Bolzano. It meant we did not have a wander into the old town, but how many Duomos can one see and we plan to see Trento properly.

161 – Monday 28th Sept 2015: Pyramids and Porsches

A run for us both and then Pilates for K (slowly getting better at it). A housekeeping session with laundry and hoovering. We took the scenic route again down to near Cembra – 4 Porsches in under 15 mins, but a slow day for them as most of the drivers must be at work trying to pay for them!

We stopped at the Pirimidi di Segonzano.It was quite a steep climb up, but well worth seeing these remarkable natural phenomena. The stones in the soil prevent normal erosion, but apparently earth quakes, a flood etc mean that there are many, many less than 100 years ago.

Apples everywhere and being harvested. Interestingly, the grapes are mostly not yet being harvested, but they were in Slovenia. Roadside stalls selling apples and honey, so we had to stop and bag a bag of apples. EUR4 for 6 kilos! And they are delicious … nothing like the starchy soft fruit we get at home. But we will be eating them for a long time (if we can keep them without going rotten), as J counted 48 apples!

159: Sheer Drop Dolomites

Posted on September 26, 2015 by Clunegapyears

159: Lake walk and Jeep ride up … to snow, views and wow factor

K ran around the lake; J just giving his calf another day to make sure no twinge. Again, another lovely place to run.

Can’t beat running around a lake

We had decided last night to stay put for two nights to max the area … we had thought about driving back across Cortina to the 5 Torri, but a lack of sostas / parking that side of Cortina made it all seem a bit like hard work. We were running short of wine; I know in Italy … Piss Poor Planning!! So we started the day with a walk around the lake. In reverse for K, so it seemed more unfamiliar! Found a Spar with EXPENSIVE wine, so just bought one bottle. J, ever polite, attempted 3 Buon Girno’s and each time the staff ignored him – in fact they were inattentive and rude. After all the Slovinian charm we have experienced, J (really, normally is politeness itself) was move to say “Grazie nice people.”

Our two night parking. Stars out again last night.

Homemade leek, potato and blue cheese soup and then we bought tickets for the Jeep ride up to Monte Piana. It is an ex-military road and you can only get to the top by Jeep. As we ascended it was very apparent why. Narrow. Tarmac falling away. Hairpins. Various gasps on the journey: K awed as the scenery unfolded. J as he shut eyes, clenched buttocks and hoped he did not drop a Dolomite!

20 minute walk to the 360 views of the mountains. Simply stunning. Then walk onto several crosses and memorials to the fallen Italian and Austrians on this front of WW1. 14,000 soldiers died up here: some to the battles but a most due to a snow storm. We saw many, many trenches in the rocks, gun emplacements and barbed wire … so much evidence of the war not in a clinical museum environment . We walked along part of the Italian line and crossed the Austrian … so close. Such a beautiful place and tinged with such woeful echoes.

Dad, this was another ‘pinch me moment’

Jeep ride back down, saw J sliding across the bench seat away from the sheer cliffs, much to the amusement of our driver and the Austrians we shared with. K slightly flattered as she was told her German very good – seriously!!! (I think Europeans sadly are impressed when any UK person can speak another language) and the driver even tested her French, and then as we left, he said ‘Caoi Bella”.

BBQ and the Tre Cime BIG walk tomorrow. Heating on … September only … but it is snowy!!!!

157-158: Dolomites Discovered and SNOW!!!

Posted on September 26, 2015 by Clunegapyears

157 – Thursday 24th Sept 2015: Departing and Driving to the Dolomites

Our drinking buddies had mentioned the Dolomites and K remembered Nicky used to climb here and both she and Bron had described them as stunning. It seemed a sensible route to travel through Italy and onto the Lakes. It took a while to leave Slovenia … like it had some kind of hold on us. We had all Chardonnay’s services to do, a big shop, including a bike seat cover as K’s punctured gel saddle kept sticking to her bum, diesel and the LPG took a while as well as the pump needed re-setting – patient garage attendant.

Eventually we crossed a border point on a small road: tiny, one bend and we were through. No questions about migrants / refugees here. By this time Sally was showing 8.30 pm as arrival at Cortina, so we bit the financial bullet and paid £8.80 in motorway tolls. Ian (drinking buddy) had said he thought the Cortina Sosta (motorhome parking) had shut so we stayed a a superb FREE one just south of Cortina, and arrived in time for drinks! Managed to dry out the awning too from the previous day’s downpour.

Free sorta, with views and awning drying 🙂

158 – Friday 25th Sept 2015: Cortina and Cable Car

Slowish start and delayed by the chat to a lovely Aussie couple, who had bought a 30 yr old van in Britain and were doing a year in Europe. They were only 21 and 23 and so much more together than we ever where at anything near this age.

Arrived in Cortina and found somewhere to park; had to pay! Cortina is very posh! Saw a LOT of very expensive cars.

Not one Porsche but two! Must have seen about a dozen.

Cortina is nestled in the middle of some of the most stunning mountain scenery.

Looking for the TIC and J enquired in one of the posh frocks shops and the lovely lady even rang to find out which office was open still at midday. We passed lots more designer shops and yes, Bron, shoe shops, but managed to not dive inside! Helpful TIC: the lake we wanted to walk up to was shut due to snow, suggested another lake with a sosta, suggested a cable car and chair lift to get views and a walk … oops .. J allergic to chair lifts, so she suggested another mountain with only a cable car!

Pix can do the talking and it was hard to identify which ones to include in the blog. Passo Falzarego and the Lagazuoi Cable Car.