2008 ITALIAN ODYSSEY - Gargnano

Tuesday September 23, 2008 – Gargnano

There was a bit of thunder during the night and it was still dull and showery this morning. The lady of the house had celebrated her sister-in-law’s birthday last night and when we didn’t hear our friendly rooster crowing, we wondered if he had featured on the menu? Not so, we were told – it was just the weather that was keeping him quiet.

After duly checking out, we went to pick up Sue and Mike – and to drop off our excess baggage – at the Bastarolos as there is no  way we could have fitted all our luggage and the Crones’ cases in the boot. As it was, with one small case each, the fit was good. We were on our way before 09.00 heading for Lake Garda along the Milano Autostrada. Although there were some showers, they were not enough to delay us and we sailed along splendidly until we hit some severe traffic congestion where roadworks were being carried out. Not a big problem, but it did delay us a little around Verona. We were aiming for Desenzano to avoid the heavy tourist presence at Simione at the foot of the lake – and our plan succeeded. We were still flying one of the while ribbons used to indicate that our car was part of the wedding party and laughed as passersby shouted “Sposi!” (newlyweds!) or hooted as we went by.

The first sight of the lake was glorious as the sun was shining by then. After driving along the lakeside for a while we decided to turn off and get a cup of coffee. My three guides were unable to agree precisely where we landed up but it was a lovely spot with a small harbour in a sheltered bay. We had a very welcome cappuccino, a delicious pastry each and some bladder relief before going on our way up a bit of a goat track one way ‘street’ that had me folding in my wing mirrors. The girls had a huge laugh about the facilities provided at the café, which was a squatter toilet. Sue’s advice was to always use the disabled toilet as there was usually a throne there.(In this video clip, Mike explains which hand should be used in the toilet and Rab gives her opinion. Video may not show up on tablets.)

Church ceiling

The views of the lake got even better as we headed North. We stopped off in one small town to have a look around and to post some letters and cards. The church, although small was delightful. On we went and at one of the photo stops we found we were above a little village that looked very attractive. As lunch was calling, we agreed to investigate further and found ourselves in Gargnano, a small part of heaven as things turned out.

Gargnano - Riveira Hotel on the point

It was a lovely sunny day by lunchtime and we sat on the boardwalk sipping our choice of beverages – birra/campari soda/spritzer and saying how lucky we were in our lives and how fortunate to be together in such a beautiful place. (An old uncle of mine had emphasised the importance of recognising how good things were when they were.)

Sue, Mike and me

After we had eaten a delicious light lunch, Rab suggested we should think about staying for a night or two and using Gargnano as a base to explore the local area. She found a delightful hotel right near the restaurant. This was the Hotel Riviera, just two storeys of rooms, but very comfortable and very reasonable at Є65 per night.

The owner/proprietor, Gianni was a very nice bloke. He spoke good English, was very helpful and he and his wife were widely travelled. They shut up the hotel for two or three months every winter and spend most of that time travelling – what a life! We had a meal this evening in the restaurant in front of the hotel, on the lakeside. I had the local speciality of thinly sliced salt beef and bortolli beans which was delicious. The others had veal dishes of various sorts and were enthusiastic about those as well.

A good start to our joint travels.

Gargnano by night