Day 12 Lake Garda

Catherine landed in Verona. I rode down to the airport on the old road, the S12, to pick her up. It runs parallel to the motorway and apart from a couple of towns it really isn't much slower. It's a nice windy scenic road, and much quieter than the motorway. It's also free.

I had to wind it on a bit though. For some reason, me and the old Danish boy in the nearby pitch agreed the night before that it would take about 20 mins. Beer was involved. I gave it just shy of 30 before setting off. Satnav sparked up and told me it was a 72 minute journey.

I managed to shave a good 10 minutes off that time but was still late. I also flew through a speed trap but thankfully the two coppers just nodded and smiled at me. One raised his SMG, but it was more of a wave than taking aim. I hope.

We popped into Verona for a few hours. Took a wander about to do some touristy things. Went for a peek at Juliets house and then Romeos house. Somehow managed to join onto a French college trip which was quite pleasant until Catherine dragged me away.

Stopped for coffee and ice cream in a little back street cafe. Chilled for a while before heading back to base at Lake Garda. As lovely as Verona is, it's also 36 degrees and full of dithering tourists.

Catherine was introduced to Francesca, the nice lass who runs this site. Francesca had given me a hard time the previous night and insisted that I make the pitch up nicely for my sisters arrival. She'd offered me a table and chairs so Catherine would be comfortable. I told her Catherine's a tough old sod and she'd be happy roughing it. That didn't go down particularly well. Catherine wasn't too chuffed either when Francesca grassed me up as soon as they met.

To be honest, I thought I'd done wonders with the place. The site was heaving when I checked in so only had a choice of three pitches. One was huge but at the top of the hill and a long walk from the lake. Another was near the lake but campers at other pitches would have to drive or walk past ours for access to their own. The final option also sounded a bit poor - it was by the emergency refuge and surfboard store. Went for a quick look at all options and realised the refuge was absolutely perfect.

It's on it's own so nobody else has to walk through or past it. It's the nearest pitch to the lake. There's space for the bike. It's surrounded by railings and trees so securing tents and basha and washing lines was dead easy. I could also hang my new addition to the camping kit, the travel hammock, between the olive tree and the iron steps. It's the only pitch on this site that's hammock friendly. Residents at all neighbouring pitches were obviously both impressed and envious. Catherine immediately sank into the hammock and got into bone idle holiday mode.

The pitch was also a bit cheaper because it's not really a full sized plot. Bonus!

Popped into town for bbq provisions then back to the lake for a leisurely evening of BBQ and beers by the lake. Perfect.

117 miles