From italy into Austria

Fri.28^th June :  Our German neighbours whom we met in Menaggio turned up early yesterday afternoon and became our neighbours again for one night.  Evi and Jochen live near Wurzburg and have invited us to call on them when in the vicinity and have offered to show us around that city, an offer we’re keen to accept.  We had a relaxing afternoon, went walking around the town in the late afternoon/evening before dinner and before the storm forced all the campers indoors…thunder, lightning and heavy rain for most of the night but this morning, sunshine!  Weak, but sunshine nevertheless.  Leaving Lasize, we drove along the shores of Lago di Garda, stopping for coffee at a café at the end of the lake where we were surprised to see a souvenir Australian car number plate on the wall.  The young man running the café had visited Australia 10 years ago and has fond memories of his time there so was happy to talk to us…hoping to go back someday, maybe when his young children are older.  After a pleasant half hour sitting in the sunshine admiring the spectacular view of the lake,

we continued on through very scenic countryside to our overnight free stop at Rovereto.  This was another surprise!  Expecting to find little to see or do here, we were told by our next door neighbours from Stuttgart who ‘adopted’ us, that there is a walled city within the town…they hopped on their bikes and led us there and we spent a happy couple of hours in their company, somehow managing to hold conversations in our limited German, their broken English and sign language. 

 When we returned to Boris, there was activity at the stadium next door in the form of an athletics meet…dozens of young athletes warming up on the soccer pitch before competing in their chosen fields on the stadium track. 

 We all watched for a couple of hours, marvelling at the high level of competition displayed and admiring the athleticism and dedication of all the young people participating.

Sat.29^th June :  We said farewell to our new friends and headed north, took a wrong turn and couldn’t 

turn around, turned right after emerging from a 2 km tunnel and were confronted by half a dozen motorbikes with their riders waving frantically at us to pull over.

Luckily, there was a pull off place handy and it was then we saw the peloton…there must have been a couple of hundred cyclists whizzing past…a gap, then another hundred or so…and still they came!! 

 We waited until all but a few stragglers had gone through, bought some fresh fruit and vegies from the stall on the roadside, and drove on.  Back on the correct road, we continued north along the autostrada till a little way past Bressanone, then turned right, stopping at a service station for a coffee break.  Here, though still 30 or 40 kms from the Austrian border, we were surprised by the counter staff and most of the customers speaking German and had to consult our maps to make sure we were still in Italy!  We were, but from then on, all signs were mainly in German and the houses all had a distinctive Austrian/German look about them.  Travelling on through the Dolomites, we came to the little town of San Lorenzo, near Brunico…we stopped there to check out the cable car which was marked on the map and were delighted to find that it was working, we had a car to ourselves and it went up, and up, and up, till we reached the top at 2275 metres.  It was cold up there with some snow still lying around and plenty of snow on the surrounding mountains.  There are several ski lifts there on different sides of the mountain, no doubt very popular in the winter.  So…we were back into jumpers and jeans after a few weeks in shorts and t-shirts but it was spectacular. 

 

The après-ski café was open so we went in for a warming coffee…a couple of elderly men in the café were playing a guitar and an accordion and singing, accompanied by the bar flies there…all were having a jolly time, we enjoyed the entertainment for a while then it was back down the mountain to complete our travelling for the day at Versciaco, 200 metres from the Italy/Austria border.  Our last night in Italy!

Sun.30^th June :  We crossed the border this morning…twice…once on foot and then with Boris and headed east to Lienz. 

 

From there we were planning to head north through the Felbertauerntunnel, on our way to Salzburg but…signs in Lienz told us that the tunnel was closed!  On asking a service station attendant when it would re-open, she told us it would be in 6 or 7 weeks…so, another map consultation, another change of plan and we continued east to Dobriach am Millstatter See, where we are staying tonight and possibly tomorrow night (Mon.1^st July).  It has been a very easy day’s travelling, through some gorgeous scenery, the sun is shining, the birds are singing…what more could one want?