Head for the hills!

As usual our plans changed and we didn't leave the site at Cavallino until
the Monday. There was a good reason for this though. We weren't up to it! I
had a bad cold, and Sue had hay fever and a bad cold. A picture of health
the two of us! The weather was good, the site very nice, so we just relaxed
and only left on Monday when we felt a bit better, not 100%, but better.
We had decided that we wanted to head off into the Dolomites so we aimed in
that direction and ended up staying the night in a delightful place near the
town of Mel, Castello di Zumella. It was a bit off the beaten track a few
miles into the middle of nowhere on a very narrow up and down road, but a
very pleasant find indeed. It was quite a new camper sosta near Castello di
Zumello, a recently restored castle. It had free electric and fresh mountain
water, not to mention great views. It was only a shame that the weather
didn't hold otherwise we might have stayed there for a couple more nights.
Oh and we were running short of supplies too, bad organisation! Anyway, I
managed to give Noddy a quick wash before the rain settled in.
We hit the road again Tuesday morning and headed further north into the
mountains only making it as far as Agordo, after hitting a few shops for
provisions. The town of Agordo was very nice indeed set amongst some very
ragged looking peaks. We stayed the night in the overflow parking for the
swimming pool, as indicated in our Italian camper book. However, on taking a
stroll around the town we did see signs for another camper sosta but did not
manage to locate it, as it appeared to be quite a way out of town. So on our
way Wednesday we sought it out. It was down below the town in the industrial
area. It was a brand new parking area for campers with very smart water and
waste facilities. It would have been a nice spot to stay but not as
convenient for the town centre. We made use of all the facilities emptying
out and filling up and then proceed off further into the mountains.
Our planned route was up and over the Passo Pordoi (2239m) just north of
Marmalado the highest peak in Italy. It was a spectacular drive, a steep
climb with loads of hairpin bends. The views on reaching the top were great!
There were several hotels there, none of them cheap, and also a cableway
that went on up to about 2900m. We didn't take a ride on it, too expensive,
but I don't believe the views could have been that much better than they
were from where we were, although you probably would have got a better view
of Marmalado.
We had picked out a couple of possible places to stay that night, but none
looked great. We decided to move on a bit further and head into Trento. The
right decision! What a lovely place, 'the Painted City'. Many of the old
buildings are covered on the outside with frescos, some a bit faded, but
most were amazing. The town itself was a cool place to hang out, not
touristy, but very busy and lively. We stayed there two nights in a large
car park that had 5 places reserved for campers, just a few minutes walk
form the centre of town. When we arrived we met another English chap, Bert
from near Bolton. Retired and on tour for a few weeks in his 17 year old
motorhome on his own as his wife didn't fancy the trip. We joined him for a
cuppa (at about 17h00) and then after a lengthy chat and a few glasses of
wine the three of us headed of into town to find something for dinner (about
21h00). After a stroll around town we found a nice restaurant and had pizza
and wine. The pizzas were bloody great, and the wine wasn't bad either! A
bill of less than 30 euros for the pizzas, a litre of wine, and a free
Limoncino (lemon liquor), not bad! We had a nightcap back in Bert's
motorhome, more wine, and then finally retired to bed the wrong side of
midnight. We all slept very well!
Bert headed off Thursday morning, after his daily fry-up, and we went off to
explore the city. It was market day, which explained the mayhem in the car
park. The weather was scorching, 35C. We retired to Noddy for lunch and had
an afternoon doze in the heat. When evening came we went back into town for
another stroll. We wandered for ages and eventually decided to have a drink.
Two bars and a few Spritz (sparkling wine, Alperol, soda) later we couldn't
resist another pizza! No wine this time though after our drunken night!
From Trento we headed northwest, back into the mountains, eventually ending
up at Sondrio. Not a very pretty place, but there was camper parking
allocated next to the tennis club, so it suited us for the night. It was
festival weekend and we came across a band (pop) setting up on a stage doing
sound checks. After dinner back at Noddy we returned to see if they were
playing. Unfortunately the group we heard, not bad, didn't appear to be on
until getting towards midnight. The early bands, we listened to 3 of them,
were err interesting. I think we must be getting old! We gave up at about
22h00 and headed for bed.
The heatwave we had been having for the last few weeks finally came to an
end today. Much cooler and wet! Our route took us to lake Como, well we
think it was there, couldn't really make it out in the rain. I think we will
have to come back this way some time and check it out when the weather is
better. We had planned to go to a campsite near Lugano at Melano, but
weren't sure about it if the rain was going to set in for a while. The day
gradually brightened up in the afternoon so Lugano it was. The site is right
on the lake about 10 miles south of Lugano. We were thinking of staying here
a few days and getting a bus or train in. However we forgot one thing about
Swiss sites, tourist tax and environmental tax. The site which costs 14€
suddenly becomes 18.80€ with the taxes added. Oh and the rain has returned.
This evening, I think we will be putting our thinking caps on!
Ciao
M&S