Bear Trakker: Day 07: Prato allo Stelvio (Bolzano) to Muslone (Lago di Garda)

After a very comfortable night 'camping' and with only a relatively short drive ahead of us today, we took our time in the morning to relax and recover from what had been a fairly busy week since arrival. Whilst we had enjoyed everything to date, we hadn't had much down time, and the comfort of the camping facilities was good to recover.

At this stage we were still travelling fairly lightly with regard to the amount of clothing that we had, so whilst we sat down to a fantastic breakfast the washing machine and dryer at the camp sorted us out with fresh clothes until we could get a chance to buy some new ones. Gerle also took the opportunity to enjoy another swim, whilst I set about repacking the car and trying to organise things a little better inside. The packing puzzle would continue to evolve...

The place where we stayed was called Camping Appartements Sägemühle. We would definitely recommend it to anyone travelling nearby, it was luxurious at a budget price with very friendly staff.

Yummy breakfast!

The view over breakfast

The drive south was swift, mainly on the the Autostrada. Originally I had planned a slower, more scenic route, but leaving late and wanting to spend more time on the ground given that the weather was sensational meant compromising with a more boring drive. Even though we were whizzing past things at 130 km/h it was still very scenic for most of the way.

Down from the mountains, the vineyards emerged.

Turning off the Autostrada near Trento, the remaining 50 kilometres to Muslone was stunning. Turning a corner on a downhill approach granted us our first panoramic view of Lago di Garda, and it was simply mesmerising. The water was a brilliant blue colour, the hills were covered in dark green forest with lots of buildings interspersed. On the water was a small army of little sailing boats, ferries, wind surfers and just about every man and his dog who could muster up a dinghy to go fishing.

Initially passing through Riva del Garda, Gerle was a little upset that we weren't stopping here but rather traveling about a third of the way down the western shore. Things changed however as the magnificent scenery continued and we climbed up the steep bank until we reached the campsite approximately 400m higher in elevation than the lake - which afforded magnificent panoramic views.

After checking in and being allocated a camping spot, we headed back down to the lake for a bit of site seeing and food shopping. We spent about an hour walking by the lake, amidst throngs of mostly Italian tourists sun bathing, fishing and swimming, stopping to take a few photographs here and there. This was the first day of the holiday where it felt hot. The temperature gauge in the car read about 33 degrees Celsius for most of the day, which though isn't really too hot, when coupled with the humidity and that we were used to Mongolian temperatures was pretty warm.

Having gotten some exercise now outside of the car, we sat down to cool off a little with some slushies and an ice-cream each. I don't think that too many foreign tourists come to Lago di Garda (Lago di Como is far more well known internationally), and we attracted plenty of inquisitive looks. Our skin tones made us stand out significantly to the almost walnut brown Italians, smothering themselves with tanning lotions.

On the western shore of Lago di Garda.

I hadn't broken a sweat, yet...

Cooling down

Strutting her stuff!

Back at camp we relaxed a little more before getting ready for dinners. The campground also had a pizzeria restaurant onsite, enjoyed by both locals and tourists. A few beers as the sun lowered in the sky was pleasant with 'sea breezes' coming off the lake to cool us down. We were joined for a drink by a German lady also staying in the camping park who was most interested to learn some more about Mongolia.

The view from the tent

Our camp setup

Big camera and tripod see action for the first time this holiday

With the sun almost set, we headed to dinner. Gerle as always took some time to make sure that she was looking good... me being a lazy Australian went as I was, expecting that the restaurant would be a little more casual. Whilst it wasn't formal, walking in I figured I should have rethought my decision not to shower and change. Oh well, we're on holiday.

We indulged in some local wine, and appetisers (almost large enough to have substituted for mains) and then shared a pizza topped with local produce. The weather was still balmy, but the light breeze continued and the evening was very pleasant. After more than enough food and wine, we declined dessert and retired to the tent.