16 April 2024 – Lake Garda

Miles driven today = 0

Total Miles to date = 4,059

Status Update – You’ll be delighted to hear that our fridge is now running like a dream again and our rear tyre remains fully inflated.  We’ve also had a complete change in the weather.  In fact we’ve had several changes today.

We woke to glorious sunshine but with a fresh breeze to keep the temperatures bearable, so we decided to get the bikes out for what will probably be the last time on this trip and explore our surroundings a little.  

We found our way to a path which runs along the lakeside.  Here’s a few stats for you.  Lake Garda is the largest lake in Italy.  It’s 52 kilometres long, has a surface area of 370 square kilometres and a maximum depth of 346 metres.  According to the Rough Guide 7% of all tourists coming to Italy are attracted here.  I’m therefore extremely glad we have come at a time of year when most of them haven’t arrived yet.

The centre of Moniga del Garda sits up on the hill with newer developments for the tourist trade spreading down the hillside to the stony beach.

There’s a marina here with several million Euros worth of swanky yachts in residence.

We spotted this young family dodging between the pontoons.

The path continues along the shoreline but cycling is verboten so we didn’t explore much further.

Instead we headed up the steep hill to the old centre of the village and the well preserved castle walls.

Rather incongruously there is nothing inside the castle other than a series of predominantly chalet style houses, almost like a mini housing estate.

There are some lovely views to be had from around the castle walls.

There is also a café nearby so we decided to stop for lunch.  This is Lisa’s Grayson Perry look, courtesy of the windy conditions.

Lisa had a chicken salad while I had a huge “Moby” sandwich.  Basically a monster chicken cutlet with salad in a small loaf.

We had great views looking out over the lake as we enjoyed our lunch. 

After a quick look around the rest of the village we freewheeled our way back to the van.

We also noticed some rather ominous clouds coming in so we got the bikes stowed away as quickly as we could just in case the heavens opened.

It didn’t rain but we did have some very squally conditions for a while.  Looking out over the lake I half expected some of the plumes of spray to start turning into waterspouts.

But then the wind dropped away completely and the sunshine returned giving us some fabulous views towards the mountains and even some snow on the peaks.  Tomorrow we head towards the Alps where conditions will no doubt be much cooler and the long trousers, socks and fleeces will be coming back out of our wardrobes.  In fact, in a further weathery twist, the wind has picked up again and the temperature is plummeting this evening.  We could even get some heavy rain overnight.  Maybe it will wash some of the dust off the van. 

17 April 2024 - The Italian Alps