Another warm one to start, though it was a bit grey. Start wasn't great. Within a few metres I'd already taken a wrong turning. Tomtom was just too slow to show the right turn, so I sailed straight on. It wouldn't be the last of the day, I think there were six in all.
Once out of the city, the roads opened out and quietened down a fair bit, so we were able to enjoy the ride and the countryside, even getting in a few overtakes, before our fuel stop. This was our first in Italy and a tad pricier, around €0.35 more per litre than Slovenia..
Next stop, was in Verona. I had planned a quick stop to visit Casa di Guilietta and the Arena, First though, we would need to find a parking place. I had some marked out but everywhere was jammed packed, until we came to one street with 4 motorcycle bays, all empty. Result. By now the temperature was north of 30 degrees, so we were glad to be off the bikes. Still, it's not much fun wandering around in those temperatures in bike gear. We found the Casa, took a photo to prove it but declined to join the queue and pay €6 to go in. I'm not even sure that gets you a chance to stand on the balcony either, maybe just into the courtyard for a photo of it. So, no Grizzerly, Oh Grizzerly, Where for art thou Grizzerly? I say that enough bloody times during the day anyway but more like, Where the f*ck art thou Grizzly? 😂
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| Casa di Guilietta, from the street |
We moved on to the Arena, another relic of a Roman sporting venue. Today they use it for lots of events but especially, it seems, for Opera. Outside in the square, were sets from the various Opera. Some very large roses, from the Barber of Seville, for example.
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| Verona Arena |
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| Fontana di Piazza Brà |
Both things ticked off the list, we made our way back to the bikes and tried to get out of the city. It can be difficult in any case but my headset decided, or maybe Tomtom decided, not to connect, so I had to negotiate us out with just visuals. No surpise then there were some wrong turns. Frustrating. It's not that far from Verona to Sirmione, so I managed without audio and was able to get us to the hotel without further mishap.
We popped down the road for a Grizzly coffee/cake 'stop', then I went for a walk along the shore of Lake Garda, whilst he went back for a nap.
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| Lake Garda |
There's a pizzeria over the road from the hotel, so we nipped over there for dinner, it being both handy for us and for Lorenzo, our Italian chum, to find us when he turned up.
Lorenzo, lives about 20 minutes away and drove over to see us and take a beer or three with us. I don't advocate drinking and driving but that's his decision. I think it'll be safer in his Fiat Panda, than on his Beemer.
We'd just finished our pizzas when Lorenzo arrived, so we went down the road to a bar. Last time we met Lorenzo, last summer, he was out of work and pretty depressed. Now, he has a good job, good salary and you could tell he was a lot happier and content. We had a good conversation with him, and he talked about possibly coming to the UK and to Ireland, so we may see him in our neck of the woods.
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| Lorenzo and Woody, Cheers! |
We only have one night in Sirmione. Tomorrow we head north into the Alps, ending the day in Bormio. With a bit of luck it won;t be 30+ degrees but equally, we hope it's not raining.
Wildlife Watch - not been much to report lately. We did see some egrets and some swans on our way to Venice. Today though, I managed to snap a couple of lizards as I walked the banks of Lake Garda.
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| Eddie and his mate |
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