LAKE GARDA CIRCUIT

September 7, 2012

Up in the morning to breakfast one last time on our lovely deck, then we packed and cleaned house and reversed our utility treasure hunt process.  Time to leave Piovere and travel on to Venice.

When we left Piovere we decided to take the lake road to the north end and around the lake along the east side.  There are many, many tunnels through the steep cliffs that drop down sharply into the lake.  This is the most efficient way to go around the lakeshore.  Otherwise it is up and down and up and down the river canyons, from village to village, for miles and miles.

So, we dropped down to the main lake road and began our trek, along the lake, then through the cliff via tunnel, and out again for a glimpse of blue, and back into another tunnel.  Trexie was complaining about lost satellites as we drove through miles of darkness. 

When we came out of the tunnels we were in the very touristic town of Riva di Garda.  Hundreds and hundreds of sunburned Germans were walking along the sidewalks, darting across the street, popping into shops, basking on the beaches, dipping into the lake.  It was very crowded, even into September, and Don had to be extra careful not to adorn our little Clio with a new hood ornament--a rosy red German tourist.  As we left Riva and continued along the lakeside we enjoyed the pretty scenes of beaches and lake, mountains, sailboarders, kiteboarders, sailboats, pleasure craft of every kind.

We stopped at a lakeside cafe, Taverna del Capitano, in Porto di Brenzone for a nice lunch and then continued on to the town of Bussolengo, where we turned east and headed for the peage to Venice.  We sped past Verona and Vicenza and Padua, agreeing to return to these towns another trip.  Don is getting a cold and his energy level is flagging.
  
Around 4:30 we got off the peage and started looking for our lodging, the Hobo B&B.  As usual, we did not write down an address, so we just had to wing it.  Don had studied the listing on Airb&b and felt that he could find it by driving along the main street,  This made me a bit impatient and grumpy.


But, he DID!!!  Kudos to Don.  And we were greeted by our very charming and friendly hostess, Valentina, and she showed us to our room, a spacious, comfortable accommodation with a big bed and a nice en suite bathroom.  Exhausted, Don flopped down and took a nap.

Later we went out for a quick dinner and back home to bed again.