Road Trip Italy

Hello All! Great to be back on the Freedom Trail! Vacanza Italy!

This time it is a road trip to Italy via a stop over for the night in Germany. Road trip with Ed (The Lexus  [Already 425000km plus on the clock and with a fresh service 2 days ago] and Ingrid. Bags were packed and it is rather pleasant not to have to fly as one can take that extra pair of shoes with (Ladies)! 

Saturday morning after a good breakfast we packed the bags into Ed's spacious boot and set off for our first nights stay somewhere in Germany. It was a 7 hour drive the first day and with Ingrid sharing the driving it was once again a pleasant drive. Having learnt our lesson on our last drive in Germany we skipped the weak coffee that was on offer at the rest station. Once again driving with Ed we can take some extras with us and soem droe wors and mixed nuts and water was all that we needed, as the coffee had been tanked at home before we left.

On our arrival we were set for a driver versus passenger battle. How and where to park the car? Google maps said go in here and the road sign defiantly blocked us entrance. Around and around the parking lot we went and then we took a side road with no luck either. Back to parking and I told Ingrid to get out and walk to the hotel to find out where we can let Ed sleep for the night. It just so happens that our hotel was inside the citadel and "Old Town" walls, so Ingrid armed with her Google maps and walk mode went off to find the hotel and ask for assistance. I waited in Ed in the parking lot hoping for a break and a space. No luck!.

Ingrid returned with news that the hotel was literally just inside the walls of the Old Town and we were unlucky as this weekend is a medieval festival in the town and billions of millions and a hundred persons were in town for the festivities! Unload the bags and Ingrid waited as I went with Ed to search for a parking spot. Lucky or not, I found a space about 300m from the parking lot. After a little walk I found my wife again and we trundled through the fortification to the Hotel. Time for a shower and a beer! Loved both!!! We decided to have dinner on the terrace at the hotel and then walk into town to inspect the goings on.

Yip all sort of people dressed in olden day clothes and doing olden day things and knights in armour and woman sewing and doing them things. It was rather interesting to see people from all walks [all with different walks] taking part in the whole event. (Glad we have modern day plumbing though)! Apparently Ingrid has a friend who goes to these kind of events in Holland as she has an eager interest in these goings on. Nighty night sleep tight! We missed seeing the fireworks, but did definately hear them.

Breakfast. Me loves a breakfast in a Hotel. I do not normally eat breakfast, but in a Hotel I like to fill the tank to prepare me for the day ahead. The day ahead involved a 6 hour drive through Germany and Austria to Italy. With his belly filled too Ed made hay as the sun was shining, but pretty soon we were in traffic country. We were even turned around at one point as the chosen road was closed for the weekend! Short drive long, but we finally drove into Bolzano, Italy and parked Ed in the parking garage next to the Hotel which is directly across from the main train and bus station in the centre of Bolzano. 

After check in we moved Ed to a private garage of the Hotel. Just a garage box with a slide up door. Ed has never slept inside before and all in the dark. I hope he does not suffer a trauma! After that refreshing shower Ingrid and I walked into town to find a bite to eat and have a beer or wine. We went to the central plain and had a bit of a walk around before settling at a Pizzaria (who would have thought?) Veggie pizza for Ingy and a mushroom and Italian ham (prosciutto) for meza. Boy did that beer taste good. I am guessing that the wine was also pretty good as Ingy had a second glass. Once again it was early to bed. This driving in traffic is pretty energy sapping.

Breakfast. Today we had brekkie in Italy. I am guessing that all hotels on the planet have agreed on the basic ingredients for a brekkie, but the Italians also added a lot of sweet type of pastries and cakes for consumption. I kept to my standard with an Espresso or two as they were very lekker (nice). After our breakfast we put on our hiking outfits and headed to the bus stop to catch line 107 to the ski area of Seiser Alm. 30 minutes of bus going up a windy pass that was barely wide enough to fit a bus and a car next to each other. I was nipping (worried) about the return journey down the pass as then we would be on the outside closest to the ravine!

We took the cable car up to the top of the mountain and embarked on a 4 hour walk around the mountain top. Lies! All of it lies! We were about 3 hours into our walk before we hit the half way point, so we cut the walk a little short and walked to the Panorama Hotel to sit on a mountain top and have a lovely beer and a typical ski restaurant lunch before heading off for the last 30 minute walk back to the cable car.

Seiser Alm is a ski area that I am guessing you need winter for for it to snow! No sh.t Sherlock! At the top of the cableway there was some form of market and the umpah bands were in full swing. They call the area Sud Tirol (South Tirol) and it is an extention of the Austrian Alps so we pretty much felt that we were in Austria as the langauge of choice was German and the servers wore lederhosen and the beer was German.

Back down the mountain the time had gotten away from us as we had planned to go to a Lake in the afternoon or go up another cable way close to us, but by the time we were home it was 16h30. Time for a shower and a little rest before we hit the streets of central Bolzano. Yesterday we had only walked from the hotel to Point A and today we pushed on to point B and the real Bolzano came to life. Narrowish streets with crowds having a aperitivo's all over the place and Gelato (Ice creams sold like hot cakes). The town was alive! This time our dinner was believe it or not once again at an Italian restaurant. Still a fusion of Italian and lets call it German meals. Lovely none the less. 

I think that I will be a little stiff tomorrow, but we shall see. Next stop Lucca. I think that this is were we will find the real Italy!