Catherine needed to get on the Internet briefly for work so we rode into Torbole and found a bicycle shop with an Internet point. The owner was a bit funny about me dumping the bike on his plot then he charged us 5 quid for 2 small bottles of juice. Won't be going there again.
We'd planned to ride around the lake then head west but a Dutch chap told us it's a good 3 hour ride due to traffic. I can't cope with this heat so we picked up the 240 and headed west to Breno.
Road was pretty bad. We saw one nice section around Storo but the rest was slow, bumpy and narrow. One or two villages looked nice. Think it was Bagolino that we rode through and liked, but our memory aint what it used to be so don't quote us.
Stopped at Breno for fuel and food. Catherine picked up some bread, cheese and meat from the shop and the chap at the petrol station let us use his gazebo to eat our little picnic. We now know the Italian for gazebo is 'gazebo'
We couldn't cope with any more of these roads so took the S42 north to Edolo then S39 and 38 west to Domaso on Lake Como. Didn't turn out to be much quicker or cooler in the end. The only notable section for riding was Passo dell Aprica between Aprica and Tresenda, which was superb. The rest was slow and dull. These roads are full of lorries, coaches and day dreaming Sunday drivers.
Tried the first campsite in Domaso but the guy wanted 39 euros for the night! It had a pool but that was closed anyway. Thought he was taking the mick so went next door where the nice chap gave us a plot for 19 euros and huge bottles of ice cold Peroni for 2 euros a pop. Perfect!
Our neighbour was an incredibly entertaining woman called Vicky and her fella Mikey. Mad as a box of frogs but great company. She told us her very colourful life story of moving from California to Germany in the 70s. They were currently renting a holiday chalet for a few weeks. 59 euros a night but it looked really nice. They cranked up some Pink Floyd and had their own little Italian Woodstock.
Went for evening swim in Lake Como. Certainly not as clear or clean as Lake Garda. I seem to recall that no motorboats are allowed on Garda and this keeps it crystal clear. Como was still nice though. Plenty of people swimming in it and we all lived to tell the tale.
Nothing for tea so over the road to a pizza restaurant for takeouts. Very nice pizzas washed down with more ice cold Peroni.
Sky was perfectly clear so Catherine managed to see her first ever satellites. Vicky joined us for a nightcap and to watch the sky for a while. This naturally led on to tales of her UFO sightings, although she'd seen lots of crazy things in her time. We're not sure how much was 'under the influence', but I'd imagine most of it!
146 miles
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