Wed Sep 11th, in a small village in South Tirol, Italy

Our routine seems to have become fairly standard by this point of the tour.... get up around 6.30 - 7am, start the packing process, make breakfast, some have morning showers, finish the packing and hit the road around 9.30am. We usually get to a campground between 5-6pm, sometimes later, go through the registration process, get the tent up, unload gear, get into unsweaty clothes and start making dinner (showers usually postponed till after dinner to make the most of the light). As it's dark now around 8.30pm, dinner is usually in the dark with our solar lights for illumination. Then showers and getting into bed around 10pm. 

One of our breakfast staples

Camp dinner last night, salmon, rice and corn

So as good as my intentions are, it's hard to squeeze in time to write my drivel! Hence I'm always a couple of days behind.

Since the last report about booking the shuttle up Reschen Pass, I'm delighted to report that it all worked out. And all the terrible weather reports and naysayers proved to be totally inaccurate. We got to the top of the pass and have had hardly a drop of rain since. And we've had terrific scenery and excellent cycle paths all the way.

Here we are at the summit of Reschen Pass. The shuttle took us most of the way up, but we did have to climb some after that. And it's not raining! Just before this point, we crossed into Italy. On the way up on the shuttle bus, we briefly entered Switzerland. Just simple signs let you know you crossed a border, nothing more.


Right after reaching the pass, at Reschen See

This sunken church tower is the result of the building of a dam which flooded an entire village. It's a well-known landmark on the Via Claudia Augusta

One of my favourite parts of the tour so far - the long downhill from Reschen Pass through countless quaint villages and lush pastures

 Glurns is a very well preserved medieval walled town. We camped just a short distance from here and walked into the town for dinner

We rode through miles of Apple orchards. South Tirol produces a large percent of Europe's supply. This was a help-yourself stand along the bike path

Happy bikers along the Etsch Adige river

A great viewpoint over the city of Merano. We didn't actually ride into this city - the bike path skirted by the city

Heading to Bolzano where we would take time to see the city

Mountain scenery as we headed towards our campground

It's interesting that although we are well into northern Italy now, everything is still very German. Most people here do not speak Italian, and the food is very german-austrian style.

Menu in German in South Tirol part if Italy 

Old town Bolzano on a sunny afternoon. This place was just buzzing when we ride in on Wednesday 

Bolzano street scene. Beautiful city


Our next big town will be Trento. Lots of rain in the forecast so we'll see how far we get. We'd really like to get to the north end of Lake Garda by Friday so Nancy has a day in the area before getting her bus back to Munich from there on Sunday. Let's see how it goes.


Blue dot shows where we are as of Wednesday evening/Thursday am at
 a lovely little campground. The lake south of us is Lake Garda


Comments

  1. AnonymousSeptember 12, 2024 at 6:34 PM

    So far how many KM? Does Nance kooked well? 😉 amazing from morning (6) to night (10) « routine » right. The landscapes are exceptional, as well as the little anecdotes, which are pleasant to read. Tks to all.
    I guess the trip is reaching the end right! So be careful as you did so far, I read no accidents have happened so far. 🙏🏻 big hugs 😘

    ReplyDelete
  2. DaphneSeptember 14, 2024 at 2:54 PM

    1000 km done up to Lake Garda on Friday Sep 13th for Frank and Daphne, and 560km for Nancy.
    I can't say any of us had done a lot of camp cooking, so can't really comment on Nancy's cooking!! Mostly we've been able to buy pretty good pre-booked meals in supermarkets and we just gave to heat them up. Nancy also made fresh salads for myist of her meals.
    Today Saturday was Nancy's last day with us as tomorrow she gets a bus back to Munich. We've had a terrific ride and we were fortunate to have had only one really wet day, one puncture and no technical issues or crashes.
    Frank and I will continue on towards Venice soon.

    ReplyDelete

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