We have circumnavigated the lake and explored the towns and villages around Lake Garda in so much as we know where they are, R has hurt his foot and is finding walking a little painful (which means it’s killing him).
The lake is amazing and there are so many birds around, we went to feed the ducks and were presented with an arial display by these dinky little gulls, so much politer than those in Brighton, who flew down and caught little bits of bread that were thrown at them. There are flocks of mandarin ducks like little red and gold toys floating along and there was a great big baby swan following some boys along the road hoping for some food, Sunny was terrified. We drove beneath an enormous flock of migrating starlings, they make beautiful patterns in the sky, we were mesmerised until the poo arrived and we couldn’t see through the windscreen.
R bought some Italian clothes, hoping that he could emulate their sense of style, I must say they did look good, I looked for some but Italian women aren’t shaped like me! We had lunch, delicious pizza and wine, outside in the sunshine overlooking the lake and discussed what we should do next. We decided to go to Austria and see the Christmas market in Innsbruck.
The drive was not so inspiring because there is a lot of industry, granite and marble being mined from the mountains but as we got into the mountains the scenery improved, the temperature dropped 15 degrees! As we were driving the weather deteriorated and the wind and snow arrived, about ten minutes after R said how interesting it would be to drive through a blizzard.
We arrived at an amazing campsite just outside Innsbruck, it was -1 and snowing with zero visibility but Vanley was cozy and warm and it was quite exciting to think that we may get snowed on in our ‘tent’. We didn’t, we have brilliant sunshine, the trees are covered in snow and the surrounding mountains are spectacular. This campsite is amazing, it has little cabins and old fashioned gypsy caravans to stay in and the toilets and showers are fantastic, in the summer there is a lake with an obstacle course and another one with water polo nets, they’re frozen at the moment but this is definitely a place to visit if you like the outdoors.
We’re off on a bus and Sunny has to wear a muzzle on public transport in Austria so that might be interesting!