3rd September - Lake Garda Day 2

Billy cooked breakfast and we sat outside eating our breakfast watching the world go by below us. 

We saw people on the lake, swimming, sailing, water ski-ing, playing with dogs and some with bikes.  We saw the people on the bikes cycle around the bay so we decided to grab our bikes and see where the path around the bay went.   We cycled to the other side of the bay but decided to walk back with our bikes.  It was a busy walkway right near the beach so there were lots of people walking backwards and forwards.

We then walked along the path in the other direction and found another campsite (San Baggio) this site was right on the lakeside.

When we got back the friendly Germans had gone to be replaced with another friendly German young couple. They were from Koln and spoke very good English. They regularly visit UK and were in Cornwall last year in the fog and rain.  Billy told them they should try Hampshire and Isle of Wight next time.

We again found ourselves at Santa Clara in the evening but this time we had a pizza each, Billy’s was a calzone again. We were going to go to the bar for a drink but decided to go back to the van for a Baileys as the view from the camper was much better.

2nd September - Lake Como to Lake Garda

Woke up and enjoyed breakfast in the sunshine before leaving for Lake Garda.

We left magic lake and Billy ended up driving all day as we decided to go via the toll roads.  Up until now we had kept to motorways and 'A' roads without paying any tolls.  My brother in law had advised that we should use toll roads as we would never get anywhere.  We set the sat nav for Lake Garda but did not avoid toll roads.  We made a mistake by not checking the map against the sat nav directions.
For some reason we ended up in Monza where there were major roadworks and an accident on the toll road,  we were stuck in Monza not knowing what to do.  We did not have a clue where we were as we could not read the traffic signs.  We ended up going round in circles trying to find our way out.  This made us both very fraught.  In the end we decided to head back to Bergamo, the last major town we were heading for before we ended up in Monza. 

We eventually arrived at San Francesco campsite (recommended to us by my sister) at about 5pm to find that they only had a pitch for one night and we would have to leave by 10am.  The cost for this would be 48 euros, so we decided to head off somewhere further up the lake.

I had done some research before leaving and knew there were a couple of sites in Manerba del Garda, so we put GPS co-ordinates of Belvedere campsite into the sat nav and headed off . On checking the Sat Nav it looked as if we were heading South instead of North.   I kept saying to Billy we should be heading North but he kept going until we started driving through cornfields and the we could not see the lake anymore, then he realised that perhaps we were going the wrong way.  He eventually stopped and  we then entered Manerba del Garda into the Sat Nav and were told to turn around. Not a good day for relying on the sat nav. 

We eventually arrived at Belvedere campsite but they did not have any free pitches but pointed us to the campsite nextdoor - La Rocca .
They did not have a lot of pitches left at La Rocca and the ladies looking after reception did not speak a lot of English but they gave us a map of the site and pointed us to a pitch through a tunnel.

We walked through the tunnel and did not know where we were heading but could not believe our eyes when we saw the pitch.
It was a lovely spot with a beautiful view of the lake.
The time we had wasted driving around was well worth it.

We pitched up alongside a a German family and got talking to them as they were leaving in the morning and wondered if we were putting an awning up.  They were very friendly and told us where we could get a lovely pizza close by or further afield in Montanelli. We were introduced to Sandra, Christian and Maria. Maria told me that Montanelli was about 5km away. Christian then handed Billy the keys to his scooter for us to borrow his scooter to do go and get one. Billy declined the keys. It is not often that this would happen in England! A complete stranger handing you the keys to their scooter.
We finished setting up and went for a walk.   100 yards from the site was a very small port with a couple of restaurants and bars. Just what we needed.

Relaxing at the port

We ate at Santa Clara, half a pizza each followed by a flavourless spaghetti carbonara and then walked back to the van for a Baileys on ice, admiring the view. A very hot sticky night.

1st September - Magic Lake, Lake Como

First thing in the morning we cycled back to Gravedone as the market was on, it was a small market with enough stalls not to get bored of looking at the same things. 

We stopped for a cappuccino in a bar and then headed back past the campsite and on to Dongo in the opposite direction for lunch. 

We found a restaurant beside the lake, this is where we had our first of many Pizzas, 

Dongo



Pizza Marinera

Speck and Mushroom

Billy saw someone with what he thought was a roast chicken but I thought it was a Calzone. From then on Billy was on the hunt for Calzone.

We then headed back to the campsite on our bikes

In the evening we were going to find a restaurant for a meal but we found out that we could order a take away pizza and eat it at the bar.  When Billy saw calzone on the menu we decided to stay on the campsite.  It was delicious and much nicer than sitting in a restaurant.

First Calzone at the Bar in Magic Lake

31st August - Lucerne to Lake Como

Woke up to more rain and decided to head off to see if we could find the sun. We left about 9:15 after servicing the van before leaving and then headed off for Lake Como.

We travelled through Switzerland in the drizzle and the mountains were in the clouds:





Strange workmen in Switzerland:

 

We arrived at the Gotthard tunnel and drove the 15km through the tunnel, then as we came out the other end the sun was shining.




As we drove on so the clouds dispersed and the sun shone brighter.

The scenery was fantastic from the Gotthard tunnel and down to Lake Lugano. We stopped at a couple of places to take some photos and it was breathtaking driving alongside Lake Lugano. The road was quite narrow and twisty turny but stunning!





One of the many tunnels alongside Lake Lugano

We arrived at Magic Lake campsite

We parked up and decided to explore the nearby village on our bikes, it was beautiful cycling alongside Lake Como to Gravedone. 

Just arrived in Gravedone

We stopped for ice cream, but when Billy came back with the ice creams they turned out to be sorbets!

We cycled back to the campsite with the thought of going back to Gravedone for a meal in the evening. Back at the campsite we decided to take our chairs down to the lakeside.

By the lake just outside Magic Lake gate

Outside camper - just see lake in background

We did not stay long as it was quite windy, so we went back to the camper where it was sheltered. Whilst sitting outside we watched everyone prepare their dinner and decided that we would break the Cadac out and cook our dinner instead of walking into Gravedone.

After dinner we gathered the crockery and went across to the sinks to wash up with the other campers.  Then back to the van for a drink, more relaxation and a good read.

30th August - Luxembourg to Lucerne

Woke to rain again and decided to get on our way as soon as we were ready. It was 9am by the time we left after getting ready and trying to use the motorhome service point.  We could not fathom it out as the instructions were in every language except English.  We ended up filling the water tank and went on our way.

We continued through Luxembourg,  stopping for diesel on the way and then headed back into France.

We kept to non toll roads and went through several villages.  We were on the lookout for a French bakery and found one driving through Delme. We bought a couple French bread pizza breads and a loaf and then went on our way, the sun shone for little while and we got excited as we saw the temperature rise but then the clouds came over again and so did the rain.

We stopped for lunch in a motorway aire where we tucked into our pizzas. Billy had a sleep before setting off to Switzerland and Lucerne. We stopped at the Swiss border to purchase a Swiss vignette (to allow us to use Swiss roads) and then continued on to Lucerne.

We arrived at Lucerne at 5.30pm and it was still raining, we pitched up and went for a walk, we were going to walk into Lucerne as it was only down the road from the site but as we walked we felt that not a lot would be open as it was so miserable. 

We took some photos: 

We chose the campsite with the idea of finding a lakeside restaurant for something to eat and drink, but it was not the night to walk alongside the lake, we turned round and ended up with chicken and chips in the campsite café.

The lady in the café told us in broken English that the rain was going to finish that night.  Hurrah!
 
 

29th August - Ferry to Calais

Woke to the alarm at 6.30, Billy made tea and we had a bowl of cereal before heading off to catch the ferry for 9:15. At the port we were able to catch the earlier ferry at 8.30. Once embarked on the ferry we found the costa coffee shop and enjoyed a latte with a pain aux raisin. The time on the boat (90 mins) went very quickly and we were disembarking at Calais before we knew it.

Next came the drive through Calais to find the non toll road. This was remarkably easy, just a straight road from the port and before we knew it we were passing Dunkirk to our left and then Belguim followed very quickly and we were passing Oostende.

We pulled into a service area to sort maps etc. and then headed off again. The sky looked very dark and soon it started to rain. It wasn’t long before we were in another service area as Billy was feeling tired and needed a kip. An hour later we were on our way again and back on the road and into Luxembourg. We arrived at Kockelshiel campsite at about 6pm and it was still pouring with rain. We found out that the restaurant was not open on a Sunday night, so decided to eat in the van. As we were walking from the shop we saw some Germans heading for a shack and found a fritura, so ended up with Bratwurst and frites but took them back to the camper.  Then to bed.

28th August - Europe 2010 - Italian Lakes Holiday

Left 6am, this was later than thought, the idea was to leave at 3am so that we avoided traffic on the M25. When we went to bed, this swiftly changed to 5am as we put the alarm on for 4am .

By the time I got out of bed it was 4.3, and in the end we left about 5.30. Half way down the road Billy remembered he had left his phone behind so we had to turn round to get it. It was 6 am when we left home for the 2nd time.

Then came the decision as to whether we went the M5/M4 or the A303/M3. We decided to go the A303 because it was not such a boring road. Mistake no. 2 came when we went flying past the exit for the A303. So we trundled up the M5 ready for the boring motorway journey. Then I remembered the Taunton exit that I used to take to Southampton. So we cut across to the A303 and we were back on track.. By the time we got to Stone Henge we were tired so we stopped for a coffee but bought a take away and continued on our way as we wanted to get past the road to hell before stopping. The M25 was not too bad and we were soon past so decided to stop at Maidstone Services for another coffee and a kip.

We then continued on our way to Dover, arriving at about 12.30, we took a look at Hope Inn where we were staying the night and then drove down to the port for a reckie. On the way down we saw a B & Q and I remembered that we never got a full length mirror on the back of the toilet door in the camper as we had planned. Half hour later we came out with just the thing and whilst Billy was sticking it to the door in the car park I put the kettle on for a cup of tea.

We arrived back at the hope inn about 4pm. When we booked the campsite we had also booked a table in the restaurant for a meal. We had a lovely meal, and they were doing a 2 course meal for 2 with a free bottle of wine. I had tuna pate and chicken and leek pie and Billy had crab cakes and lassagne and they both came with home cut chips and I finished mine off with banoffee pie. Loverly!
We will definitely go back again.

Back at the camper we retired to bed after setting the alarm for 6.30