Category Archives: Tourism

Day 22 – Back to Germany

Our lovely campground provided us with superb German bread rolls for a small fee. It was a great last breakfast in Italy, as we were really close to the Brenner pass or Brennero as the Italians would say.

Number 3 is getting a lot better taking pictures with his own camera

Packing didn’t take long; we hadn’t even unpacked the awning. Once we decided to get going, we were on the road in good time. Flo had planned the route for today which would bring us from Brixen to Illertissen through Austria and to our next Covid test. Organising all this takes a bit of getting used to.

The Brenner was a letdown, especially for Number 3, as it’s neither an especially high pass nor a tunnel. Suddenly, we were at the gate to pay the 10€ toll for the pass we had just taken without realizing it. Ooooh. Number 3 who we primed for an extra long tunnel, was disappointed. Our next “exciting” stop for today was lunch next to a fast charger. On the way there, in search of a bakery for fresh bread, we made the mistake of stopping in front of a Spar supermarket. Number 3 saw the car-shaped trolleys for kids and would not leave this place before he’d driven around in one for a while. With Flo refusing to buy bread in a supermarket when we were “surrounded by bakeries”, we bought fresh milk and left again. Number 3 was beyond happy about this experience.

The notorious car-trolley and a happy Number 3

Having bought bread rolls at a bakery, we found the charger. It was next to a fuel station and a restaurant which you could only enter when recently tested or fully vaccinated. In search of a place to have our picnic, we used the tunnel underneath the motorway and sat down in the shade of a parking lot on the other side. It was rather hot already.

After the break, it was a straight ride to Illertissen. We’d booked a Covid test there at 4pm, but arrived at 3pm already. It was no problem to just get tested earlier. The results would be send to us via email in about 20 minutes as we had a bit of time to kill before we could get to the campground. If you wanna stay somewhere in Germany overnight, you have to be tested.

Ice cream while we wait for our test results

We opted for the usual “gelato and go” ice cream option and sat down in the shade. Before Number 3 had even finished his ice cream, we had our results on our phones and drove the last five minutes to the campground.

The campground was lovely. The owner put us in a nice grassy area with shade, there was a table and a bench next to it and the new facilities were close by. Both kids enjoyed having some free time to play and explore. In no time, both of them looked like piglets.

Flo treated us to a pancake dinner and we brought the kids to bed. We thought we were in for a quiet night, maybe even chat to friends online. Wrong. I was still in the tent with the kids when Flo started to look for his phone. He last used it to show our test results to the owner of the campground…after that he’s not sure what happened to it. So we turned everything upside down. For one and a half hours, we looked into every box, every little place in the car, asked the owner twice if someone had found a phone, looked in the bathrooms…and Flo got grumpier and grumpier. We had to face it, his phone was probably stolen. Bummer.

This is when Flo started to try the “other” solutions. He realised “google find my phone” was an option and got a location on the campground though on the other side of it from where we were. Then, he’d force it to ring even though it was set to silent mode and, on the third try, he could hear it ringing before someone stopped it. In the end, an old lady had it in her hand and he got it back. We’re not sure if she and her husband wanted to steal it or if they just have dementia. Her reaction was “who are you? What is your phone doing in my trailer?” Anyway, he has it again. Phew.

Day 20 – Padua II or some things deserve a second try

Today, we left our campground at the doorstep of Venice bright and early. We had good reason to be on the road at 9am. I had booked tickets to see the Scrovegni Chapel at 10.45am! We need to go in the direction of Padua anyway to start our way home and Flo said there would be time to see the frescoes if we got tickets. I was very happy about that.

Having said our goodbyes to Venice yesterday, we now said goodbye to the campground and our Swiss neighbours. Their dog had entertained our kids for many, many moments. Especially this morning, it meant that I could pack in relative peace.

look at this blue, and the stars in the “sky”

We left on time with the intension of having a second breakfast in Padua after having picked up the tickets. These plans changed, however, when we got into a traffic jam because of an accident further up the road. We wouldn’t be too late but there was no time for a second breakfast.

We kept Number 3 going with juice and snacks, while the Agent had pureed fruit to go. Because the frescoes are almost 700 years old by now, the athmosphere in the chappel has to be maintained and controlled very carefully. Moisture from sweat can lead to damages, including salt blossoms on the wall. Thus, the access is restricted (even more so in Covid times) and you have to sit in a room watching videos for at least 15 minutes to aclimatize and let your body adjust to the cool surrounding before you are even allowed in. The kids and Flo did quite well allowing me to do this rather kid-unfriendly procedure.

If you study art history, there is no way you haven’t had a lecture or a seminar on Giotto. To see it for real was pretty epic. Even if you’re ushered through and can only 15 minutes in the chapel. Even if the Agent got unhappy about halfway through and I carried her around telling her about virtues and vices. Yes, this was a win for me.

Afterwards, we went straight to a nice cafe for our second breakfast. It turned out to be rather fancy; it did have decaffeinated tea though which is a first in Italy. Number 3 surprised us a little with his wish to order macaroons. He successfully negotiated that he could have three though as this was the same price as one piece of cake and he devoured them all himself.

Afterwards, it was time to get going. The lago di Garda was our next destination. Still hungry, we got take-away sandwiches at a tiny place right next to the cafe that was recommended by the Lonely Planet. It was good value for money and we got huge sandwiches we could eat in the park right next to our parking garage. Number 3 even got a kids’ sized one with ham and cheese – which he also devoured dutifully.

Both kids slept through the car ride pretty much until we got to Lake Garda. It was hot by now and shade was hard to come by.

the lake right in fron of our campground

The campground turned out to be pretty, with views of the lake, and be entirely in the sun. I got grumpy until we had the awning up and there was at least some shade to be found. Sitting in the shade unmoving, waiting for the breeze to cool you down a little, the heat was becoming bearable again.

It wasn’t the kind of place with easy access to the lake. Flo and the kids checked out the lake but decided only to dip their toes a little. The kids were allowed to stay up late though, until the sun had disappeared behind the hills over at the far side of the lake. The tent was simply too hot to try and get them to sleep until then.

Day 19 – The wrong Ninja Turtle

It should have been Titian, Hannah Gadsby was right (if that sentence makes no sense, go google Nanette and watch it right now. Go on, I’ll wait)! But from the beginning …

It was how it has always been – the second day is a lot more relaxed, somehow more impactful. There is more time, many things are not brand new anymore. Even Number 3 already had certain preferences and assumptions formed. All in all, just easier – if only … let’s back up:

It is good to start a day knowing there is no rush. Funny enough, more times than not that leads to a smoother take off than with a deadline looming. So was this day. Unfortunately, the Agent of Entropy did not get the memo and continued her work of forming a habit hitting mama in the face with anything within reach around 4am. In the end, I dragged both rebels out with me and we gave Nina an extra half an hour after our 6.30am wakeup buzz to recover as much as she could.

We did recover, as much as possible, and were on a good early bus into town even though Number 3 spent some time observing the morning playtime of our new Swiss neighbor’s dog. Arriving so nice and early, we opted for a pass on the boat and a stroll through Dorsoduro and San Polo. But even before that, having spotted a little bar / café recommendation on the lonely planet app called Adagio, we opted for an additional early morning meal and had a second round of croissants and coffee in this young and relaxed corner café. We were the only tourists here among many locals – it was a real joy observing the comings and goings, the familiarity among neighbors and students on their way to class stopping by for one more little caffeine boost.

The mood was set for some calm and leisurely churchgoing – the looking at 500-years-old artworks kind, not the Sunday kind. There are priceless pieces of Renaissance masters in almost every one of them – and all are available for no or a really small entrance fee (an all church pass would be 12 €, we opted for the 3€ for the three we ended up doing.

So, we marveled a while at Titians and Tintorettos, the Donatellos and Canovas! First at the Basilica Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari right next to our second breakfast stop. Then, a little walk later at the Chiesa Rettoriale di San Polo. I will mostly let the photos speak for themselves, but one of the artworks stood out for me. It was a newer piece, from the early Baroque. A huge monument to Doge Giovanni Pesaro in white and black marble and bronze. Really foreboding with four larger than life “moors” suffering the upper part on their shoulders. It sort of spoke to me, in its oppressive gloominess.

Right outside, Nina was stopped dead in her tracks. I don’t want to spoil a surprise too much, but she found a present for her mom in the cutest of shops. It had hand-made prints and little sculptures and was definitively preferable as a source of mementos over the myriad of tourist trappy “Murano Glass” shops. Nina was very happy to have found something crafted with care and personality.

Next up, the idea was to go for an early lunch with the option of adding another meal at some point. We hit a small bar selling cicchetti (a bit like Venetian tapas). They were good, especially with a glass of the house red, but a: did not offer much vegetarian variety and b: could not quite match our superb experiences in Spain and Basque Country. Not quite filled up, we hopped on a boat for a bit of a change in scenery.

Gladly, I had read beforehand that the Arsenale is not open for visitors except on special occasions. Seeing some of the fortifications in the Castello district that were the foundation of Venice’s might for many centuries was good enough for me today. The changes in architecture, but also the general vibe was interesting to us, regardless.

Sadly, the spot we chose for second lunch (and Nina’s first real veggie meal) had closed in the meantime – so Nina ordered a pizza and we scouted ahead. We met up in a small park at the lagoon facing side of the island, where men were currently hard at work with finishing touches on art installations for the 2021 Biennale of Venice. More art, but a very different century. But for free and as a backdrop for a quick lunch, who would complain?

A minor disaster manifested at the end of this, unfortunately. I had, against all better judgement, once again put my phone and my all-day bus pass in the same pocket and it must have fallen out when fetching the phone for directions – and it was lost for good this time. When we arrived at the vaporetto stop, things got worse by the fact that the ticket booth was closed at this time, against what the timetable said. With no seller in sight and the bus approaching, I decided to risk it. This dock did not have automated gates like some others, so if push comes to shove, I could faint genuine ignorance :S

In the end, nothing happened, and we managed to make it to the top rated gelateria unbothered. The ice cream was good, but we are in a way cursed with an excellent ice cream parlor in Höchst, so we were still left waiting for that absolute “wow” of a Gelato to convince us to move to Italy 😀

I made my whole family suffer for my mistake (but also tried to avoid another hand-wringing time for Nina) and suggested to walk back to the bus terminal as a good-bye token in Venice. Number 3 trusted me and took it as another adventure. It was not -that- far anyway. 20 minutes as per Google maps. On the way, I had an eye out for bite-sized roadside attractions on the Lonely Planet app. All in all, a very enjoyable send-off for our time here. Even though I managed to develop a blister on the sole of my foot – first time since switching to barefoot shoes. In perfect 3-year-old logic, the highlight of the walk for Number 3 was seeing one mostly whole tomato floating in a canal – he talked about few other things …

Number 3 fascinated by the dog of our Swiss neighbours playing

Day 18 – La Serenissima or Venice! Finally!

Okay, just as a warning, there will probably be a lot of squeeing. It is my first time in Venice. And Venice is one of these places that you know something about without ever having been there. It’s the city in the water. Also, being in Venice during carnival and going all out on a costume is on my bucket list.

The day started on our lovely campground. Flo organized two-day passes for the public transport in and around Venice which will make getting around so much easier. We packed up and left. Of course, I forgot the “Italian road trip” Lonely planet, which is the only guide book we brought, on the campground while the Venice guide book is still at home. -.- Oh well. At least we had the app.

Off we went. The bus left super close to the campground. Taking the land bridge to Venice, we already saw the sea and then buildings started to appear on the horizon. Venice!

The bus stop is where everybody got off for their own personal Venice experience. We opted to use the “face first” approach for the city and take a vaporetto to San Marco. Vaporettos are water busses which take you around Venice. Line 1 goes along the Canale Grande and stops at every lamp post. However, since we just wanted to get to our starting point, we used line 2, which took us to San Marco quicker but on a less picturesque way along the outskirts.

A big task she had picked for herself there …

So, our day started on a boat. We were lucky enough to get seats outside, put our noses in the wind and eventually have a good view on a couple of amazing buildings, including the doge’s palace. Piazza San Marco was our first destination. It was already really hot in the sun and it was only like 10.15am. Then again, it’s just beautiful. You walk around and everything around you is just so lovely to look at. We are really fortunate to travel now as Piazza San Marco was nowhere near the level of crowds it usually draws. As our half-Italian friend put it when he saw a picture “Wow, it’s empty!”. J

So this was our start. Looking at the doge’s palace, San Marco basilica, the tower and the buildings surrounding Piazza San Marco…we just wanted to stay here for a bit. This is why we sat down in Cafe Florian, which has been around for the last 300 years, and the prime spot to look at the buildings and take it all in. It also has the most expensive coffee Flo (10.50 € a cup) had ever had. No matter, we were here to enjoy ourselves. We had coffee and tea and some macaroons and life was good. J

Coffee time moved straight into lunch time. Number 3 got hungry so we started walking around a little on our way to a little lunch place. As soon as you turn away from Piazza San Marco, the city quiets down. Sometimes, we were the only people in an alleyway. Just taking the city in through walking is something we really enjoy. The Rialto Bridge over the Grand Canal was busier again and in the sunshine and thus too hot to linger.

Further we went, into the little alleys with tiny bridges over canals, here a turn, there a tunnel…it’s a maze and I don’t know how people get around without google. You can tell who’s local just by how confidently people turn corners into what looks like a house entrance but turns out to be a tunnel underneath a house and your only way to get to where you’re going.

We had lunch at a tiny whole-in-the-wall type place which made amazing pizzas. So far on our trip, it was pasta all the way. It was really nice to change to the other staple Italian food for once. It was good pizza. Even Number 3 enjoyed it and he’s not the biggest fan of pizza. As a side note: Number 3 was utterly charmed by the city. It had everything he wanted: Boat busses, water and food; including sweet treats. After lunch, we went on another boat ride, this time straight through the city until we got to the railway station. We didn’t mean to stop here but Number 3 needed to go to the toilet and in a classic move, we went into the wrong entrance first and had a little tour of all of the railway station in our search. Number 3 was delighted by the trains on display – he thought this to be a highlight of the day.

I had looked up a pastry shop where I wanted to have afternoon coffee really close to the railway station. Also, the railway station has a vaporetto stop which is just *so* convenient. From there, it was just a couple of minutes to Dal Mas. Oh, they had great stuff! Still being rather full, we all could just get one thing but they were all delicious.

Our first day in Venice was a Sunday which meant that churches were closed for tourists as regular mess was held. Luckily, San Marco Basilica opened up at 2pm for tourists. We decided to get out of the sun and into a church. Another boat ride. By now we were professionals at riding a water bus.

The line to get into the basilica looked long, but it took 10 minutes tops to get in. We had our temperature checked, used disinfectant hand gel, got an audio guide for Flo and looked around inside. There is much to look at from the mosaics in the entry hallway to the colourful Venetian marble floors to the Pala d’Oro, for which we paid another 5 € to see. Given that the admission into the church is only 3 € per person, we could easily justify that extra expense. J

After this, we did a good bye tour of Piazza San Marco. Both kids were really, really tired and it was getting close to dinner time. So we took another boat, went back to Piazza Roma and took the bus back to the campground.

Such a great day. Number 3, especially, is the best city explorer I know. He walked so much today!

A “bus stop”, venice style. The boat on the yellow pier is one of the water busses

Day 17 – Flashbacks

Where others might spend their whole holiday, today must suffice for us on this campground. Venice is calling. Slowly but surely, we have built up genuine excitement for the Floating City. But before the leaving comes the packing. We took our good time. There are still some stragglers holding on to the last bit of moisture from our washing misadventure. Plus, the remaining distance to our Venetian base will be covered in no time on the autostrade. I did not share the reasons for my laid back-ness with Nina entirely, so she was a bit stressed out when I gave in to Number 3’s request for a final playground visit.

Good morning Alba! – Good morning Agent!

But, as these things go – after we had had a brief chat to set the expectations straight it turned out it was quite fortunate. A few newer arrivals were also playing – and as the Agent of Entropy had another chance to socialize with the little ones, Number 3 got the chance to tag along for some livestock exploration adventure (he took off with the others all on his own, with our permission). He talked a lot about this little adventure. Even with those “delays”, we left at 10am and arrived at the targeted Padua parking garage by 10.45am.

I did not technically need a lot of charging, but when I saw that they had EV marked parking with unmetered power outlets, I thought – must try. Unfortunately, they were not only unmetered but also unpowered :/

The string of disappointment hit its crescendo though when we, after some looking around, found the entrance to our top ticket item in the itinerary for today: The Scrovegni Chapel, full of masterpiece frescoes by Giotto. Nina’s home turf – as a master of art history (literally, btw) would not let us in today – tickets had to be booked one day in advance. Nina was, justifiably, gutted. The deal was that we do a quick highlights’ stint, with art history for Nina and natural science history for me. I felt really bad now – even more so when this hitch prompted us to double check for the next item, the Palazzo Bo of the University of Padua, and snatch the last few tickets for the only guided tour in English available to us today. Spain should have taught us a lesson, we mused, but so far Italy has just been too effortless in this regard and we had let our guard down. Well, that and the lack of a physical Lonely Planet guidebook to plan.

The starting time for the tour allowed only for a quick lunch, but gladly the Lonely Planet app came to the rescue here. We dived into a real cool and friendly student bar / noodle house and got good quality lunch of carbonara, cacio e pepe and a poke bowl for under 30 €. Thus, fully reenergized we crossed our fingers for the hobbits’ stamina to hold and headed for the tour.

What a great tour it was. Of course, the big ticket items of “the podium from which a young Galileo Galilei had lectured” and the “world’s very first anatomical theater” were really cool. But the big thing for me was the history of the redesign in the 40s at the hands of Gio Ponti. Seeing what an architect and designer can accomplish when given the reins to do so is impressive. More so remembering that he did not work with a blank canvas, but an in parts 600-year-old structure at the time. The respect he payed for the past while also creating really cool designs will stick with me for a while.

Now a 45-minute guided tour that stretched in to 90 minutes in the end is quite the stretch for two younglings. They were a bit to manage at times, but we were able to do the full tour and all but the especially rude French lady on the tour put up with us with friendly encouragement. Thank you kids – that was amazing.

It was also our curtain call for Padua, even skipping the usual “gelato and go” routine. We did stop one more time, with both little ones fast asleep in the car, about 5 minutes from the campground to restock on ice for the cooler and a few essentials.

The campground – for a city camp chosen mostly out of convenience rather than the place itself – turned out to be amazing. Really fair price for Italy, our second cheapest yet, it has maybe the cleanest and sleekest facilities yet. We had Number 3 in a heartbeat when he saw that they have a whole bathroom, shower included, with every item in kid size. From there on, he demanded for every trip that he would only go in “his bathroom”. Seems like a good omen. Tomorrow – the Queen of the Adriatic.

Day 16 – Calm before the storm

We took a rest day at Agriturismo Alba. After two cities in a row, we needed a bit of a breather for the next two cities ahead of us. With this in mind, we relaxed for a day.

She’s going to be a professional climber someday

Number 3 really wanted to spend some time at the playground and the Agent tagged joyfully along. We were the only ones on the playground this morning. Bringing our sand toys with us was enough to keep both of them busy for quite a while. The Agent loved the slide though and in no time started climbing up the ladder all by herself.

Doing laundry was overdue so we put on the washing. Unfortunately, the machine was broken somehow and all our clothes were dripping wet when we took them out. The sky was overcast for most of the day, so it would take forever for them to dry.

We had a slow morning with some blogging and then a nap. Well, the kids had a nap as they alternated their time asleep: The Agent started and sleep through 1 ½ episodes of Benjamin Blümchen (audio play for kids about the adventures of an elephant who can talk) which is when Number 3 fell asleep and the Agent was wide awake again. Oh well. No sleep for tired mamas. 🙂

Like this, the madness even looks pretty

When nap time was over, Flo urged us to jump into the lovely pool. I hadn’t even seen it by this point. The sun had come out though so I was persuaded.

The pool was immaculate, blue and surrounded by a lovely manicured green lawn. I got into the water fist, which was up to about my waist right next to the ladder. That was as deep as I would go in today, I decided, as the water was really quite cold. The Agent in her pushy manner nearly threw herself in before she realized how cold the water was and refused to be put into it at all. Her screaming quickly convinced me not to try again. So we got out, changed into something dry (or baby-naked in the Agent’s case) and watched Flo and Number 3 splash around until Number 3’s lips turned blue about 10 minutes in.

The pool excursion ended, a little earlier than expected, with a lovely hot shower. Flo even improvised delicious dinner with the asparagus tips we’d bought two days ago and the potatoes we’d carried since we left home. XD

The Agent of Entropy was in A LOT of pain because her molars and a few bonus incisors are breaking through at the same time. We prepped her a little with pain relief before bringing her to bed in the hope that we might get a quiet night as another gaming session was scheduled. Indeed, we had a quiet, kids-free evening and when we went into the tent later on both kids had crawled towards the middle of the tent and were cuddling. Sometimes, the little ones just melt your heart.

Early morning – these two are just two handful!

Day 12 – Go with the flow

Since we left home with only a couple of days notice, we keep on deciding on our route while we go. We’d probably do the same if we’d had more time, to be honest, but it still feels a little more ad hoc this time.

Our morning was lovely. We had fresh bread rolls from the campground. Number 3 finished a whole one with yummy cherry jam we had bought in Piuro on our first day in Italy. Our intial plan said to only say here at Punta D’Oro for one night, but we really wanted to spend a day here so it was nonchalantly abandoned. Looking at maps and places to go we realized we weren’t actually that keen to camp at Lake Garda next. Maybe we might be a little lake-d out after another day here at lago d’Iseo. So, we decided to stay here and enjoy what we have, head a little south tomorrow to be close to Parma which we want to see on Wednesday, do a little tour of the cities we still want to see and then loop back to Lake Garda on our way out of Italy. We’ll see how much of this plan survives in the future but for now this looks good.

Clouds gathered in different formations all day

And it gave us a whole day at Punta D’Oro to relax. Number 3 wanted to go swimming but when we tried in the late morning, the water was too cold for him and the Agent of Entropy. We had a lovely midday nap after our warm shower, took advantage of the coffee place on the campground and (mostly Flo) chatted up our neighbours on the campsite. Lots of people were interested in the EV or our roof tent plus our immediate neighbours were Germans on parental leave as well.

The day ended for Flo and me when the kids were in bed and we had a last espresso and some cookies sitting on the retaining wall looking out over the lake.

I tried to make some tea … the Agent was scheming

Day 11 – Upward trend

For a camp of convenience, this site turned out fairly ok. Even the doom-and-gloom stories about the sanitary block from the google reviews turned out to be way overblown, or at least outdated. Number 3 had huge fun with the one squatting toilet they kept even through a recent renovation. He insisted on choosing this over the option of a throne, even though they would even have seats (very much not a given for public toilets in Italy).

Since we decidedly set up for a quick getaway, ditching the awning for the first time, we got back on the road in record time. I mean, there are still a million things to do, breakfast packing and so on, but we were quite proud of a 9:30am start (we get up at 6:30am).

The bit to Bergamo was relaxed if mostly slow going via the main roads. We had one pit stop at a supermarket to resupply nappies for the Agent. It took a bit longer than we thought – we did not expect everyone else to do a Sunday shop as well at the same time. But that gave Number 3 the chance to keep with our Sunday tradition of watching an episode of the Show with the Mouse (a German kids TV institution).

I though I had planned ahead this time, trying to register with the provider of the convenient charge point up in the old town – but had failed miserably. They have the worst app design I have ever seen. Provided in Italian only, it is just impossible to sign up (a single field for billing address that straight up refuses to accept anything I throw at it). So we opted for a parking garage downtown. They unexpectantly had charging facilities as well, but once again, I could not get it to work. New provider, long signup procedure … Europe needs to get better at this real quick.

Litteraly the funicular of the upper city

The lower city parking added one attraction to our day in Bergamo: A ride to the oldtown in one of the funiculars sparing everyone a rather steep hike 150m up a hill. When Number 3 realized what was going on, he positively jumped for excitement. We had to wait a little bit due to COVID related passenger restrictions, but it was worth it.

This time, we decided to make a concerted effort to lock in lunch early enough – but it turned out our preferred eatery was right here at the funicular terminal. PolentOne (yes, with that pun) is a hole-in-the-wall takeaway shop for reginal polenta dishes. The choice is between with or without cheese and your pick of sauce (is that really a choice, though?). I could not resist the wild boar “ragu”, while Nina got herself a good-looking veggie stew. It was delicious and both the Agent of Entropy and Number 3 tucked in harder than expected. I even had to briefly consider if we need to get a third helping to get both me and Number 3 full.

Bergamo was definitively the right town at the right time for us from here on out. We felt reminded of that beautiful day in Carcassonne. The tightly packed old town up on the hill was utterly charming, with just the right amount of infrastructure for tourism without going past the “Rüdesheim point” (medieval timber frame town near our home that became a Disneyland caricature for Oversees tourists).

Still managable crowds on the main street

I’ll let the pictures do most of the talking, but for a few remarks. The high town was one of those rare places where going off the “main” drag enhanced the experience for us. Some of the back alleys were as picturesque as the main drag, but we had it all to ourselves. Oh, and I am very proud of myself that I had talked Nina into going up on the Campanile and into the adjacent museum. The lift up was Number 3’s highlight of the day and the museum was hands down brilliant. Just 7 rooms, and hyper-modern in its concept for the exhibition with interactive exhibits in every room. I got to dork out without the kids getting bored out of their minds.

On our way back, we even stopped in a café to taste the local dolce of choice: polenta cake. We spend almost 5 hours in town, but it felt like time flew by.

For the last leg, we went on the toll motorway for the first time, without checking anything about prices first. Luckily, it was well worth it for 1.60 €.

The day ended with another spur of the moment decisions: We intended to stay only for the one night at this camp – Punta d’Oro. But after seeing past the first impression of the wall of white wales (RVs) it turned out this was a beautiful site. Great facilities, view of the lake and a shaded spot. We switched last minute from storm cover to tarp again, also to have a dry place to sit out the afternoon thunderstorms.

When we finished off the day with another exceptional coffee at the campground’s own bar, we were almost decided on staying an extra night, maybe even skipping Lago di Garda completely instead …

good morning, briefly visited Lago di Garlate

Day 10 – Along Lake Como

Getting up, there was still a bit of a consideration if we’re really going to leave today. After yesterday’s digger disaster, it would be hard to actually enforce a ban for the whole day. So in the end, we decided to leave ;). But we took our time and Number 3 got his good-bye round at the lake. It wasn’t warm enough to actually go swimming as he’d hope but he walked around a bit and observed the little fish along the shoreline.

They are starting to actually enjoy playing together

With packing, this time fully dried laundry, all our swim gear, two kids who’d rather run around and another diaper accident, we were finally on the road by 11am. Goodbye Camping Ranocchio! You’ve been wonderful!

We only drove a little while back over the pass to the next town on Lake Como where we took the ferry across to Bellagio. This is something the Lonely Planet for Northern Italy suggested as the drive from Bellagio to Como (or the other way around) is supposed to give wonderful views of the lake and towns. The thought of taking Purū Hiko and the kids on the ferry appealed to us…so we did it. Lucky for us, the ferry was only 5 minutes away when we arrived at the terminal. The Agent of Entropy was fast asleep by this point but Number 3 was excited. So, when all cars were in parking position, Number 3 and I went to the railing and looked out. It was much fun but a bit loud and cold for our eldest child. Shortly after, we returned to the car.

We took the narrow and windy road to Como which had great views indeed. The Agent of Entropy fell asleep again, followed shortly thereafter by Number 3. It was a peaceful ride until about 10 minutes out of Como when the Agent woke up and demanded a pit stop with an extra feed. It was getting later and later…

Different Lunch choices…to be fair, we swapped about a quarter…

At 12.45pm we finally parked the car. Somehow, our heads were not in it though, as it took 30 minutes to sort ourselves and the charging for Puru Hiko (which didn’t work in the end). It also included Flo heading back to the car twice because we forgot such essential items as our sunhats, for example. Finally, at 13.15pm we started looking for a place to eat.

The Lonely Planet was not helpful in this instance as the first tiny eatery was already completely booked with customers and the second one was permanently closed by now. Getting hungrier und hungrier, we decided on the next eatery as a quick fix regardless of price. This is how we ended up at Aida right across from the Duomo. The food was good and we were glad to have navigated the hunger crisis before either the kids or I got too annoying.

The city of Como was a bit of a shell-shock for us as it drew crowds even during the pandemic. Yes, people wore masks but still, it was too busy too soon for me. Also, the city is very posh. Probably not quite our turf, to be honest.

We took another stroll to the waterfront, looking for a particular gelateria (Lonely Planet recommendation). Again, it was not our cup of tea so we decided against it and looked for another place down the road. The ice cream we had at last was delicious but by now we were ready to leave Como behind.

Back in the car to drive another hour to our next campground. We chose this one for tonight to be in striking range to Bergamo, our next destination.

Day 8 – Lake time

Got up, made breakfast, started packing. The usual things we do when we move to a new campground. As Flo hinted at in yesterday’s post, it was hard to find a campground for tonight as everything right next to lake Como was fully booked already. In the end, we decided on a site next to a small lake called Lago di Piano where we could at least stay right next to the water. It is only 58km away anyway and still on our way to our next stop Como.

Once we’d packed everything including our not fully dried washing, we were ready to go. Just…Puru Hiko wasn’t. The battery was flat … again. Somehow, we still need to nail that part. -.-

By now, we knew the drill though. Flo got someone to jumpstart the 12V battery, the fully charged big battery started to charge the empty little one and we were on our way with only a 15min delay.

Driving through Chiavenna on our way to the lake, we realized that this is the biggest town we’ll come through today and we still need to stock up on supplies. Thus, we stopped again after 5min on the road for a shopping break. The Agent of Entropy had fallen asleep already, so I stayed in the car while Flo and Number 3 got the supplies. It took way longer than I had expected but when they returned with a full shopping cart rather than with the 5 things that where on my list, I had my explanation. Oh, and there was even a watermelon to be stored in the car somehow. XD

We continued our way and soon hit the lake front of Lago di Como. Most of the lake front is privately owned so we couldn’t find a nice lunch stop for a while until we stopped at a car park next to where a river flows into the lake. With our new supplies, we had an extended lunch, including dessert.

All in (and a good first field test of No3 waterproof camera)

From here, it took us another half an hour to get to the campsite. Which turned out to be a good thing as the campground is lovely! First, Number 3 and I had ice cream. Then, we went to check out the lake and decided to go swimming straight away (Sunny and temps in the high 20s). Number 3 needed only a short time to remember that he looooooooves swimming and was happily splashing and swooshing in the water. The Agent of Entropy has never been swimming before (thanks Covid) but was intrigued. She hung on to me for dear life but when I went out of the water, she immediately pointed back to the water and make certain that we’d go back in. Where she continued to cling to me. Oh well.

After the swim and a hot shower, the kids and I were almost asleep. Flo whipped up an awesome dinner including our fresh zucchini and capsicum.

Getting the kids to bed was not a problem, however, it was still rather warm in the tent. We hoped for the best, kept the windows open and crossed our fingers for tonight’s gaming session. 😊