Onwards to Lake Garda
After the Pompeii visit we had one more day in PDS; Alena decided she wanted to go to Sorrento, I wasn't in the least bothered as I'd fulfilled my need for history and in fact felt that I had overdosed in an unrestrained manner. She decided to walk there while I kicked back in the apartment and planned the next stops and routes as we proceeded northwards to Lake Garda. I had decided not to try and make it in one journey so I looked for a stop somewhere around Florence. We have both visited Florence before so I wasn;t planning to visit it again and I was looking for a hotel just off the motorway so we would have an easy exit back when we left the next morning. I found just the place north of Florence, a town called Barberino Di Mugello at the Hotel Barberino, right by a large lake and just down the road was a fuel station so I could fill up ready for the next day, ideal. I went onto Trivago, found the hotel and booked it.
Next, I wanted a place to stay on Lake Garda, again Trivago proved invaluable and I found the Grand Liberty Hotel at the north end of the lake at Riva Del Garda, I booked it for two nights for £70 a night which included breakfast, this turned out to be a bargain, more later.
I planned the route to Barberino, 337 miles and the route from here to Riva Del Garda was only a further 166 miles.
Routes plotted and downloaded to the Garmin, I enjoyed some downtime reading last month's Bike magazine and snoozing until Her Ladyship came back. We had our last meal in PDS and I informed Stefania that we would be leaving at 9am the next day. We arose at 7am, did the usual, had a tidy up, got rid of the trash and exactly on time, unusual for Italy, Roberto rocked up to say goodbye and to collect the keys and he also handed us over two cakes for out journey, a little gift from Stefania. Car loaded, satnav set and off we went back up the mountain road northwards on exactly the same route we took the day before to Pompeii. The weather was dry, traffic was a bit heavy, after about 25 minutes we hit the autostrada, The traffic was also heavy as we had to get round Naples so mostly 50-60 mph and then it started to clear, set the cruise and we settled back for the journey. The satnav said something like stay on the road for 198 miles
We had a pee, nibble and coffee break about midday. If you are ever in Italy at the autostrada service stations gagging for a coffee you would probably do what I do and that is head straight for the coffee counter and order - wrong! What you have to do first is go to the till, order and pay and they give you a ticket which you take to the coffee counter, this helpful hint is brought to you for no charge. We bypassed Rome and the journey was totally uneventful; at times the road was three lanes. I have noted that the Italians will not use Lane 1 on a three laner, it is as if they deem it beneath them so more often than not it is totally empty and I was quite happy to sit in it only moving out now and them m to overtake slower vehicles. We exited in a slight drizzle, filled up and checked in. Over the road was a huge designer shopping mall and there were a few restaurants around including the first MacDonalds I have seen this trip.
We ate at the restaurant next door where I had roast rabbit which I haven't had for years, it was rather good.
We didn't rush the next morning as we only had 166 miles to go; we woke up to our first bad weather since arriving in Italy on January 27th, it was honking it down with rain and sleet and it was just 5C. We left about 10.30 and due to the bad weather I set the cruise to just 60mph, visibility was not great, there was a lot of water on the road surface so why push our luck? After about an hour and twenty minutes the rain eased off, the sky ahead looked brighter and the roads dried out. I stayed at the same speed and the economy was showing 60mpg, the ETA showed as being 13.30 which was ideal. We left the A1 onto the A22 towards Milan, Verona and Brennero and exited with just 11 miles on a well surfaced SS240 with light traffic into RDG. The hotel was dead easy to find and boy had we struck lucky, it was a 4*, the entrance/reception was all marbled floors and chandeliers, works of art decorated the walls, lounges with sofas and antique looking furniture, it had an indoor pool and spa, a fantastic place.
It also has Sky TV so I tuned in to watch France v Scotland and Her Ladyship went down to the Spa for a couple of hours of swimming, jacuzzi and steam room. When she returned we went out for a walk and dinner and found an Irish Pub just round the corner with a good selection of German draught beers, we had already noticed that there were a lot of German voices in the hotel and RDG is clearly a popular location for German tourists hence the beers. I went for a pint of the strongest at 8.2%!
it was bloody delicious. A mixed salad, pizza and lasagne later and we were done.
So to today; Alena suggested that we should stop for a third night, at this price it seemed daft not to so after a leisurely brekkie which had bacon and sausages available for the first time, another nod to the abundance of German visitors, I went to the front desk and asked if we could extend our stay by another day at the same rate - no problem, job done.
We went out for a walk and RDG is a huge improvement on the disappointingly mundane, mediocre and very busy Piano dei Sorrento. Elegant buildings in abundance, large open piazza areas, churches with towers, beautifully clean, hardly any traffic, lots of bars, cafes and eating places and smart looking shops. Although many of the shops were closed which I found strange, oh and there is also a Honda dealership within a minute of the hotel. Many of the buildings had the ubiquitous notice boards on them giving some historical context, much of the town originates from the 13thC with lots of additions over the 14-18th C. It is an absolute delight. Then to cap it all we wandered into a square and in the middle, below surface level there was an area roofed over, clearly to protect what is underneath. Below it is the remains of a Roman bath complex discovered in 2007 during excavations, I was cock a hoop as like a drug addict I had my fix of ancient history. There is a set of steps going down to the complex but sadly the gate was bolted, I guess it is opened up when the tourist season really kicks off. We explored the churches, archways, towers and alleyways - unusually there is even a circular church.
We headed for the lake. The temp was in single figures but the air was still, we got right down to the lakeside, there are lots of boats moored up which take tourists onto the lake for trips, none of them operating yet. The mountain in the background still has snow on it reminding us that we are not out of Winter yet. There is a grassed area with bench seating by the shoreline, the lake was tranquil with reflections of the mountains on the surface and the water is crystal clear with lots of wildfowl to watch and enjoy. We just sat down on a bench and for half an hour just took it all in, the calm and serenity ,and munched on some oranges that we had just bought at a fruit and veg shop. Behind us was a museum based in a fort, but again it is closed.
We wandered back into the town, the wind had kicked up and had dropped the temp by a few degrees so we went for coffee and cake. I went back to the room to update this thread and Alena stayed out a while longer. First impressions of RDG are very good indeed.
So onto the pics, the first few are of the Grand Liberty hotel.
I shan't try and replicate the information on the website and I recommend you watch the video. As you proceed up the steps the surrounding banks and gardens are planted with a magnificent collection of plants from all over the world and there is a Zen Buddhist garden. For those fish lovers amongst us just before the lower cave entrance is a pool loaded with Koi carp.
